Briar Messenger

Today I want to share my experience using the Briar messenger

Briar is a tool for the toughest situations, when the internet is unavailable or almost unavailable

There can be many scenarios where it can be used — from remote areas somewhere in the forests to blocked internet in cities

I will try to explain using a simple example

Let’s assume we have several characters in our story:

1. In the city, with full internet access

2. In a village where there is a 3G tower

3. In the forest on a tower, monitoring the weather, without internet, a few kilometers from the village

He periodically meets with a person from the village

4. On a remote tower far from everyone, without internet

On the diagram it will look like this:

Our friends who are in the forest need to send reports about their work to the city, but they have no internet at all

Their only connection is the resident of the village, who comes to the first tower, but never to the second one

Now I will demonstrate how all of this works.

I have 4 phones to simulate all participants

First, you need to register on each phone. The main thing is not to forget the password — it cannot be recovered, only reset everything and start over

On this screen you can control which connections you want to use

Next, on the city phone we need to establish a connection with the person from the village.

They are never near each other, so they will add each other via links sent, for example, through email. Choose Add contact at a distance

Then each person pastes the received link and assigns a name

In the city, my contact is called City, and in the village — Village

Now the city resident creates a Forum on their phone — this is where communication will take place

Important: through third-party contacts, messages can only be exchanged in a forum

Now you can click Share Forum and add the person from the village

We switch to the village and see the invitation from the city, accept it, and now the forum is available

Now the city and the village can already exchange messages in the forum via the internet, like in a regular messenger, securely through the Tor network

The main part begins when the person from the village meets the observer at the first tower

Since they are nearby, they can add each other to contacts via QR code by selecting Add contact nearby

And they need to scan the QR code on each phone

After that, we will see a new contact — Forest

Now on the village phone, we invite the tower observer to the forum — all communication will go via Bluetooth

On the Forest phone, we see the invitation and accept it

Now Forest is also in the forum

While the village person is nearby, they send the first report from the forest tower

The village person immediately receives it via Bluetooth

Now our hero from the village returns home (to the village), and the phone connects to the 3G network

At this moment, in the city (City), the report from the forest appears, because the village person synchronized them

The city sends a confirmation, and we see it on the village phone

Now the village person is again near the forest tower and synchronizes via Bluetooth

The person on the tower receives the confirmation from the city

Next, we connect our super remote tower number two

Of course, they need to meet once to add each other to contacts, since there is no internet between them

Also, the second tower phone does not have the app, but it can be installed using the first one!

To do this, use the function Share this app offline

It creates a Wi-Fi hotspot with a link to the app, and on the second phone it can be downloaded as an .apk file

Then they add each other as described above, via QR codes

And the person from the first tower adds the second one to the forum for report exchange and immediately sends a report from Remote

Now both tower operators will be far from each other, and to demonstrate another feature of the messenger, let’s imagine a drone regularly travels between them

An SD card is placed in it, and data exchange happens through it

In the chat, select Connections

and then Connect via Removable Drive

When sending, choose Send data

And save the file to the SD card

Then the SD card flies to the first tower, where it is inserted into the phone, and again via the Connections menu

Select Receive data

Select the file from the SD card

and done

At the first tower, a report from the remote one (Remote) has been received

And then the standard flow: the village person comes to the first tower, syncs via Bluetooth, and then with the city via the internet

In the city, they receive a report from the second tower (where there is absolutely no Bluetooth or internet)!

So, through chains of different connections, you can build a whole mesh network for secure message exchange.

The scenarios can vary — I tried to describe as many as possible here. You can adapt it to your needs.