Some apps sell themselves on a promise. Bleep is a peer-to-peer messaging app that promises unparalleled security. It offers this security by eschewing cloud servers for storing and delivering messages in favor of a distributed hash table (DHT). This emphasis on security – as well as the method with which it's being achieved – is no surprise, as Bleep was developed by the team at BitTorrent, who famously disrupted the file-sharing paradigm by popularizing the peer-to-peer model using DHTs in particular. Bleep doesn't offer quite as polished of an experience as we've come to expect from our messaging clients, but it's an app with a clear direction, strong stance on privacy, and a talented dev team behind it.
In the early- to mid-2000s, file-sharing security and ingenuity was high priority as user practices were outpacing the common infrastructure. As the tech world caught up with user practices, systems were put in place that could manage extensive user interactions efficiently, but with time, these systems grew so massive and encompassing that many users had to begin sacrificing control for convenience. Messaging has been engulfed by architecture that feels as seamlessly connected as ever before, but this too has come at the cost of control and security. So in a post-Snowden world, the devs at BitTorrent enter the scene with an intriguing, vulnerability-free promise that can resonate with an increasingly concerned public. At its most basic level, Bleep works, but it doesn't yet eclipse the smooth fluidity of some of the more popular messaging options available to many users. But, founded on the strength of a promise and a relentlessness to succeed, Bleep won't long remain at the back of the pack.