• Jilanico
      link
      fedilink
      English
      29 months ago

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

      • @gears@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        49 months 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
          link
          fedilink
          English
          19 months 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
            link
            fedilink
            19 months 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
              link
              fedilink
              English
              29 months 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.