Overview
- Jack Dorsey shared Apple’s notice on Sunday confirming that China’s Cyberspace Administration ordered Bitchat’s removal, with Apple saying the delisting actually took effect in February.
- Apple told the developer it also shut off TestFlight access in China, while keeping the app available in other countries and reminding developers they must follow local laws in each market.
- Bitchat works over Bluetooth and mesh links without the internet, which lets messages hop device to device and makes the app hard to block during shutdowns or firewall filtering.
- The app has topped three million downloads across platforms, with more than 92,000 installs in the past week and over one million on Google Play, though outlets noted no regional breakdowns.
- Existing users in China can still use Bitchat because it runs device to device, but new iOS users there cannot download it through Apple, underscoring China’s push to control decentralized tools after earlier actions against other Dorsey-backed apps.