• Jilanico@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Aren’t mobile phones just radios that communicate with towers? Could a smartphone app accomplish this?

      • gears@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        There are apps to do this using Bluetooth, but no audio iirc. They were used in Hong Kong. I have no sources because I read it on the internet a few years ago, lol

        • Jilanico@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I mean instead of using the radios to communicate with towers, use them to communicate with each other. Don’t know if the phone’s cellular radio could be used but certainly WiFi direct would work?

          • KoalaUnknown@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            You can but signals can only go so far and the earth is round so you need a mesh network with a lot of users to make it work.

            • Jilanico@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Yup. People in rural areas could probably set up powerful radios to connect cities. Crossing oceans might be a problem.

              Found an app called Briar that does this sort of thing for messaging.