Apple Yanks Dorsey's Bitchat from China App Store

Apple has removed Bitchat, Jack Dorsey's peer-to-peer Bluetooth messaging app, from its China App Store. Dorsey says the move came after demands from the CAC.

Bitchat launched in July last year and works without internet connectivity, relying entirely on Bluetooth for device-to-device communication. That makes it particularly useful when governments throttle or kill internet access.

The app has already seen real-world deployment during protests in Madagascar, Uganda, Nepal, Indonesia, and Iran. Five countries. Five separate moments where people needed to communicate outside state-controlled infrastructure.

Apple complying with local government takedown requests is nothing new. But pulling a protest-friendly, decentralized messaging tool hits different. Bitchat's Bluetooth-based architecture is specifically designed for exactly these scenarios — environments where traditional communication channels are compromised or shut down entirely.

Dorsey has not indicated plans to challenge the removal.