Knit

Knit is a messenger that works with no internet, no cell service, and no accounts. It connects directly to the phones around you over Wi-Fi Aware and Bluetooth, passing messages device to device.

When you send a message, nearby phones receive it and pass it onward to the phones around them — so your words hop across a crowd, a building, or a campsite, far past your own range. The more people using Knit nearby, the further it travels.

WHY KNIT

• No internet or mobile data required

• No account, phone number, or email to sign up

• No central server — nothing to shut down, monitor, or leak

• No ads, tracking, analytics, or Google Play Services

• Free software — anyone can read what the app does

PERFECT FOR

• Festivals and crowded venues where signal dies

• Travel, flights, ships, camping, and the backcountry

• Power outages and emergencies when networks fail

PRIVATE BY DESIGN

Direct and group chats are end-to-end encrypted. Each message is sealed so only the people in it can read it — every phone that carries it onward, and every relay, sees only ciphertext. Keys are generated on your device, protected by hardware-backed Android security. Confirm who you're talking to with a safety number or a QR scan.

ABOUT THE PERMISSIONS

Knit asks for nearby-devices (location before Android 13) as Android needs it to find peers over Wi-Fi Aware and Bluetooth LE and reach a paired radio. Location is read only when you tap Send location. INTERNET is declared because Android counts the local Wi-Fi Aware socket as network access, and because relays and link previews use it once switched on. No account, no backend: a fresh install makes no network calls.

FREE SOFTWARE

Knit is released under the GNU General Public License v3 or later; the full source is at github.com/getknit/knit.

FEATURES

• Public "Nearby" room to broadcast to everyone in range

• Private 1:1 messages (end-to-end encrypted)

• Multi-member groups (end-to-end encrypted)

• Quoted replies, emoji reactions, and @-mentions

• Image sharing, including GIFs

• Voice notes, files of any type, and big files phone to phone over Wi-Fi