Privacy concerns are probably at an all time high as of late. While it was probably always in the back of your mind that someone, somewhere, was somehow watching, listening and stealing all your stuff, it doesn’t always seem real until it makes the news. The efforts of a number of companies have lead to some great apps and software that keeps your stuff safe, and most importantly, private. BitTorrent is one that is doing its part to help keep you, and your communications, a little further off the radar.
Today BitTorrent has opened up the public release of the alpha version of a new communications, voice and SMS, app called Bleep. The alpha app is available for Windows, Mac and Android in its current state with iOS on the horizon. BitTorrent is utilizing the same principals of BitTorrent technology to connect people directly without any form of centralized connection to a server or a cloud.
Here are the latest options and features in the Bleep Alpha:
- Sign-up with email, mobile number or incognito (no Personally Identifiable Information needed)
- Make voice calls or send text to online contacts only
- The option to import your Google address book contacts
- Invite friends using their email address, SMS, or their public key
- Move an existing desktop account to a mobile device (new)
- Receive inbound messages on all devices (new)
- Messages are sent fully encrypted and stored locally (on your device)
- Easily delete your encrypted message history
- Deleting contacts is now possible on Android and Windows (new)
As with any alpha, you can expect some hiccups, glitches and potential problems. It could still be worth checking out if privacy is a huge concern of yours. If you are an extremely technical person you may want to check out the BitTorrent Engineering blog about how it all works. If you are more interested in getting in on the alpha and trying it out for yourself, then head to the alpha download page. You can grab Bleep for Windows and Mac there. They link to Android as well, but it just directs you to the Play Store to download it.
