Bit Chat v4 Released

Technitium Bit Chat is a secure, peer-to-peer (p2p), open source instant messenger designed to provide end-to-end encryption. Primary aim of developing this instant messenger is to provide privacy which is achieved using strong cryptography. It can be used over Internet and private LAN networks for instant messaging and file transfer.

Technitium Bit Chat version 4 (alpha) is now available to download from the main website and via automatic update mechanism for existing installations. The software checks for new update automatically with every start but, you can also use the Check For Updates option in the main menu to get an update instantly.

Bit Chat v4 Released

The latest update includes many protocol level changes which are not compatible with previous versions, due to this, all peers will need to update to the latest version to be able to chat. New features in this update are mentioned below:

• Kademlia based Distributed Hash Table (DHT) implemented for allowing Bit Chat to rely less on torrent trackers for finding peers. DHT implementation uses a UDP based protocol to connect to other nodes.
• Socks 5 Proxy support implemented to allow Bit Chat users to hide behind a proxy. User can even configure Bit Chat to use Tor Network, which provides a Socks 5 interface. However, since Tor doesn't support routing UDP packets, user will have to rely on Http torrent trackers to find peer.

Bit Chat Socks 5 Proxy Config

• Bit Chat can now act as a TCP Relay for allowing other peers behind NAT to accept connection requests. This should allow two peers to connect with each other via a random 3rd peer. This feature depends on DHT module to find peers to start a TCP relay.
• Network Info feature added to allow user to get internet connectivity related information including UPnP port forwarding & Socks 5 proxy status information.

Bit Chat Network Info

As the number of Bit Chat users increase, the peer-to-peer connectivity will improve due to DHT and TCP relay features.

Know more about Bit Chat by reading Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). You can also view Bit Chat source code on GitHub and compile Bit Chat client yourself.

And as always, send your feedback to support@bitchat.im or add comments below.