Apple Pulls Dorsey's bitchat From India's App Store
India's removal order, following China's in April 2026, puts the same Bluetooth mesh tool on two national blocklists while it stays downloadable elsewhere and openly published on GitHub, so the restriction hits distribution rather than the software itself.
Reporting from 1 source: GIGAZINE.
Apple removed the Bluetooth mesh chat app bitchat from India's App Store at the request of India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The removal notice, posted by developer Jack Dorsey, says the app contains content that is illegal in India and violates the App Review Guidelines. bitchat works without internet or an account. It stays available on Japan's App Store and its source code remains on GitHub.
The notice Apple sent Dorsey states that MeitY requested the removal because the app contains content that is illegal in India and violates the App Review Guidelines, and directs questions about the removal to MeitY. It is the second storefront to drop the app this year, after China's App Store in April 2026.
bitchat builds a Bluetooth mesh among users, so messages move device to device without Wi-Fi, mobile networks, or an account. The build depends on that mesh forming; the app is not usable by a single user alone.
India's App Store listing is gone, but the Japan listing remains and the source code is still published on GitHub.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.