<s>
FireChat	B-Protocol
was	O
a	O
proprietary	B-Application
mobile	O
app	O
,	O
developed	O
by	O
Open	O
Garden	O
,	O
which	O
used	O
wireless	O
mesh	B-Architecture
networking	I-Architecture
to	O
enable	O
smartphones	B-Application
to	O
pass	O
messages	O
to	O
each	O
other	O
peer-to-peer	O
via	O
Bluetooth	B-Protocol
,	O
Wi-Fi	O
,	O
or	O
Apple	O
's	O
Multipeer	O
,	O
without	O
an	O
internet	O
connection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Though	O
it	O
was	O
not	O
designed	O
with	O
the	O
purpose	O
in	O
mind	O
,	O
FireChat	B-Protocol
was	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
communication	O
tool	O
in	O
some	O
civil	O
protests	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FireChat	B-Protocol
is	O
now	O
discontinued	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
app	O
was	O
first	O
introduced	O
in	O
March	O
2014	O
for	O
iPhones	B-Device
,	O
followed	O
on	O
April	O
3	O
by	O
a	O
version	O
for	O
Android	B-Application
devices	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2015	O
,	O
FireChat	B-Protocol
introduced	O
private	O
messaging	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2016	O
,	O
FireChat	B-Protocol
introduced	O
FireChat	B-Protocol
Alerts	O
,	O
which	O
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
"	O
push	O
"	O
alerts	O
during	O
a	O
specific	O
time	O
and	O
in	O
a	O
specific	O
place	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FireChat	B-Protocol
became	O
popular	O
in	O
2014	O
in	O
Iraq	O
following	O
government	O
restrictions	O
on	O
internet	O
use	O
,	O
and	O
thereafter	O
during	O
the	O
2014	O
Hong	O
Kong	O
protests	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2015	O
,	O
FireChat	B-Protocol
was	O
also	O
promoted	O
by	O
protesters	O
during	O
the	O
2015	O
Ecuadorian	O
protests	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
September	O
11	O
,	O
2015	O
,	O
during	O
the	O
pro-independence	O
demonstration	O
called	O
Free	O
Way	O
to	O
the	O
Catalan	O
Republic	O
,	O
FireChat	B-Protocol
was	O
used	O
131,000	O
times	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
students	O
were	O
reported	O
to	O
have	O
used	O
Firechat	B-Protocol
after	O
the	O
university	O
shut	O
down	O
its	O
Wi-Fi	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
June	O
2014	O
,	O
Firechat	B-Protocol
's	O
developers	O
told	O
Wired	O
that	O
"[p]eople	O
need	O
to	O
understand	O
that	O
this	O
is	O
not	O
a	O
tool	O
to	O
communicate	O
anything	O
that	O
would	O
put	O
them	O
in	O
a	O
harmful	O
situation	O
if	O
it	O
were	O
to	O
be	O
discovered	O
by	O
somebody	O
who	O
's	O
hostile	O
...	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
July	O
2015	O
,	O
the	O
FireChat	B-Protocol
developers	O
claimed	O
to	O
have	O
added	O
end-to-end	O
encryption	O
for	O
its	O
one-to-one	O
private	O
messages	O
.	O
</s>
