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<ul><li><strong>There are 692 million active internet users in India.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>Meta-owned <keyword id="790242" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="whatsapp" source="Orion">Whatsapp</keyword> suffered a two-hour global outage earlier this week, affecting 450 million India users.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>Business Insider India brings to you a list of alternative messaging platforms that can be used even when there is no internet connection.<br /></strong></li></ul>There are 692 million active internet users in <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/technology/indias-internet-users-grow-rural-areas-lead-growth/2610259/">India</a> and about two-thirds are on the popular messaging app Whatsapp. When the Meta-owned Whatsapp suffered a two-hour global outage earlier this week, it not only affected social connectivity but was a punch in the gut for a growing number of <a href="https://www.livemint.com/news/india/whatsapp-s-one-hour-outage-takes-toll-on-small-businesses-11666710531867.html">small businesses</a> that use this platform for business.<br /><br />With analysts predicting that these kinds of outages could occur more often going ahead, it is only prudent to look for alternative options that work even offline.<br /><br />Business Insider India brings to you a list of alternative options that you can use to send messages without using the internet. However, these apps come with a caveat – the privacy and security of some enlisted apps are still under scrutiny, despite a few of them offering encryption. <br /><br />Used by journalists, activists, for disaster management or by campaign managers and travellers alike, these apps can be an efficient alternative to popular messaging apps. <br /><br /> Here are the most popular options you can explore. <br /><br /><strong>1. Near Peer</strong><br /><br />Near Peer is an offline chat application that allows users with the app to chat without an internet connection in a 100-metre radius. The application is available on Google Play Store and uses a mesh network to create offline communication. It can be used for individual and group chats, although it is only available for <keyword id="6355645" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="android" source="Orion">Android</keyword> users. The app can also send files.<br /><br /><strong>2. Bridgefy </strong><br /><br />This application was widely used during the Hong Kong protests and the government crackdown that followed. <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.bridgefy.main&amp;hl=en_IN&amp;gl=US">Bridgefy</a> allows you to send and receive offline messages to users within 100 metres. The app uses Bluetooth to establish an offline connection to devices. This app works without <keyword id="107178" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="wifi" source="Orion">Wifi</keyword> or data and can even send encrypted broadcast messages. Data is encrypted during transit, the app claims. It is available on both Android and iOS.<br /><br /><strong>3. <keyword id="15362605" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="briar" source="Orion">Briar</keyword></strong><br /><br />Users can establish offline communication by sending and receiving messages without the internet through Briar. The app is available only on Android and can be accessed through Bluetooth, Tor (free and open-source software used for undetected communication), and even through Wifi. It also lets you create blog posts, share a link for adding contacts and even create a discussion group.<br /><br /><strong>4. Meshenger </strong><br /><br />Meshenger is a free and open-source Android application that lets you make voice or video calls without any internet <a href="https://f-droid.org/en/packages/d.d.meshenger/">connection</a>. Users have to generate and scan the QR contact code of one another to access this app without even signing up. It also provides data backup and encrypted communication. The app is available for download on F-Droid, which is a free and open-source software.<br /><br /><strong>5.  Rumble</strong><br /><br />Rumble is an offline Android microblogging application that also does not need an internet connection to stay active. It lets users share images and exchange messages, activating anonymous communication via Bluetooth. “Using only the social fabric as an infrastructure, it makes Rumble suitable for use cases where the Internet is either best to avoid, (surveillance/censorship) or simply not available,” claims <a href="https://f-droid.org/packages/org.disrupted.rumble/">Rumble</a>. <br /><br /><strong>6. Serval Mesh</strong><br /><br />Serval Mesh is another offline messaging alternative that connects nearby devices via Bluetooth. It aims to enable communications for the unfortunate who are experiencing chronic loss of the internet. “Search and discovery have become invaluable elements of the modern internet. However, for communities experiencing transient or chronic loss of <keyword id="382594" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="internet-access" source="Orion">internet access</keyword>, these facilities are not available,” <keyword id="15362604" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="serval-project" source="Orion">Serval Project</keyword> said in a <a href="https://servalpaul.blogspot.com/">statement.<br /></a><br /><strong>7. Peer Chat</strong><br /> <br />Peer Chat is available for iOS users and is a group messaging application that allows users to chat with upto eight contacts. The app claims all messages are encrypted, and no data is logged. This application does not store data on servers and thus makes communication more private, with no registration <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/peer-chat/id725947328">required</a>.<br /><br /><strong>8. Signal Offline Messanger </strong><br /><br />The popular messaging application Signal also provides offline communication through WiFi Direct, a technology that allows nearby devices to create their own Wifi network without using the internet. This technology allows free peer-to-peer connection, enabling users to exchange files, audio, video, and messages without data. <br /><br />SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/cybersecurity-platform-blusapphire-raises-9-2-million-in-barings-pe-led-funding-round/articleshow/95117744.cms">Cybersecurity platform BluSapphire raises $9.2 million in Barings PE-led funding round</a><br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/q2-corporate-earnings-report-banks-perform-well-moderate-growth-in-fmcg-auto/articleshow/95120418.cms">Q2 corporate earnings report: Banks perform well, moderate growth in FMCG, auto</a><br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/facebook-picks-15-indian-online-communities-for-accelerator-programme/articleshow/95120189.cms">Facebook picks 15 Indian online communities for accelerator programme</a>

Here are a list of apps that lets you stay connected even offline - for the next time your  favourite messaging app has an outage

<p>This month's terrorist attacks in France have been linked to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/al-qaeda-is-back-in-big-way-2015-1">Al Qaeda's powerful franchise in Yemen</a>. France has a built-in advantage if it decides on some kind of foreign military response to the attacks or to the more general p: the country actually has one of the most forward-deployed militaries in the world. </p>
<p>And its military has been active recently. France has played a pivotal - and at times unilateral - role in tackling extremism and civil unrest throughout sub-Saharan Africa.</p>
<p>This role is <a href="http://country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=1801832364&amp;Country=Chad&amp;topic=Politics">aided</a> by France's history of colonialism in Africa. Although a painful aspect of modern French history, the often-brutal and exploitative colonial project left France with a network of major military bases across the continent that survives into the present day, as shown below and <a href="http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20140217-infographie-mouvements-forces-militaires-francaises-afrique/">according</a> to Radio France Internationale. </p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>Currently, France has over 3,000 troops <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/17/france-military-africa_n_5594618.html">spread across</a> five countries in Africa - <span>Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad - as part of Operation Burkhane. Based in Chad, the operation aims at disrupting potential militants threat across the Sahel region of the continent.</span> </p>
<p>Aside from combatting jihadist militancy, France also pushed heavily for intervention in Libya during the the country's uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, and has been involved in peacekeeping operations in various African countries.</p>
<p>Here are some of France's most notable recent interventions. </p>
<h3>Mali</h3>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>On January 11, 2013, France <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2013/01/french-foreign-policy">launched</a> airstrikes against jihadist positions in northern Mali as part of Operation Serval.</p>
<p>The goal of the intervention was to prevent "the establishment of a terrorist state" after armed groups linked to al Qaeda took over vast stretches of Mali starting in March 2012, after a military coup in the capital of Bamako that led to a nation-wide power vacuum. France became involved in Mali following a request from the new Malian president and after jihadist columns began approaching the country's populated south. </p>
<p>French involvement in Mali eventually morphed into a larger operation that involved ground troops and French special forces.</p>
<p>France's successes in Mali, <a href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR770.html">according</a> to RAND, could serve as a model for future US expeditionary warfare as French troops operated in small, efficient, and scalable units that made significant efforts to ingratiate themselves with the local population. </p>
<p>Operation Serval, which ended in 2014 and at its height involved 4,000 French soldiers, was <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/01/13/charlie_hebdo_no_one_in_europe_is_tougher_on_terror_than_france_that_didn.html">largely successful</a> in helping Mali push the al Qaeda -inked rebels out from the north of the country.</p>
<p>France has <a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20140508-infographic-france-military-in-africa-sahel-le-drian-mali-chad/">followed</a> Operation Serval with <span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Operation Barkhane, a task force of 3,000 French soldiers dedicated to tracking Islamist rebels against the wider sub-Saharan area. </span></p>
<h3>Central African Republic</h3>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In 2008, France </span><a href="http://www.cfr.org/france/french-military-africa/p12578">moved</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> 300 troops into the Central African Republic's (CAR) capital of Bangui. The soldiers were involved in helping to helping to stabilize the country in the face of rebel attacks spilling over from the conflict-torn Darfur region of neighboring Sudan. </span></p>
<p>In December 2013, France <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-2910319/France-pull-1-200-troops-Central-African-Republic.html">began reinforcing</a> these soldiers in an attempt to stabilize CAR after a rebel coalition overthrew the country's government, sparking a brutal sectarian conflict between Muslim and Christian armed groups. France increased the number of soldiers in the country to 2,000. But now that UN peacekeepers are being deployed to CAR, France is expected to dial back its number of soldiers in the country to 800. </p>
<p>The UN Security Council, following a resolution submitted by France, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/un-peacekeepers-to-central-african-republic-2014-4">will send</a> 12,000 peacekeepers to the country. CAR <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/france-risks-long-stay-after-misjudging-central-african-republic-2014-2">faces</a> ethnic-religious cleansing after the country's Christian majority started carrying out reprisal killings against Muslims following the rebels' overthrow of the government. </p>
<h3>Chad</h3>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">French troops have played some role in Chad since the late 1986 as part of </span><a href="http://www.geneva-academy.ch/RULAC/peace_operations.php?id_state=67">Operation Epervier</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">. The operation was designed to help Chad maintain its territorial integrity according to a bilateral agreement signed after Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's failed invasion of the country. </span></p>
<p class="p1">However, French troops never fully left Chad. Instead, the French <a href="http://africanarguments.org/2014/09/03/operation-barkhane-why-france-chose-chad-as-key-counter-terrorism-partner-by-celeste-hicks/">established</a> a base at N'Djamena, Chad's capital. A contingent of approximately 800 French soldiers remained at the base and helped provide Chadian authorities with aerial surveillance on the advance of Sudanese government-supported rebels, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7221632.stm">acting as a crucial force multiplier</a> for Chadian dictator Idris Deby during battles in the capital in 2006 and 2008. </p>
<p class="p1">As part of a global mission to tackle militancy across Africa, France launched Operation Barkhane in 2014 as a continuation of Operation Epervier and Operation Servel. Operation Barkhane will be <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21607847-french-are-reorganising-security-increasingly-troubled-region-fran-ois-hollandes">headquarted</a> at N'Djamena and 1,200 troops will be stationed in Chad. </p>
<h3 class="p1">Côte d'Ivoire</h3>
<p class="p1"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">France has had an </span><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13047838">uneasy history</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> with Côte d'Ivoire, also known as the Ivory Coast. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">After gaining independence in 1960, the two countries had positive relations that worsened under President Laurent Gbagbo starting in 2000. In 2002, a civil war split the Ivory Coast in half and the French </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Unicorn">intervened</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> in Operation Unicorn. </span></p>
<p>Peace was largely brokered in the Ivory Coast by 2007. But the country remained effectively divided and French soldiers continued to stay in the country. In 2011, violence <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/world/africa/05ivory.html?_r=4&amp;">again flared</a> as Gbagbo refused to hand over power to his democratically elected successor, Alassane Ouattara. French troops played a key role in removing Gbabgo from power. </p>
<p>Under France's reorganization of its military in Africa, the French plan to <a href="http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/france-to-create-new-africa-outposts-to-better-fight-terrorism-1.1649084">reinforce</a> their base at Abidjan, Ivory Coast's capital. The base will be used as an entry point onto the continent as well as a logistical support post. </p>
<h3 class="p1">Libya</h3>
<p class="p1"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">France was decisively behind the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya during the Arab Spring uprisings against Muammar Gaddafi. France's </span><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/15/opinion/france-mali-opinion-blanquer/">interpretation</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> of UN Resolution 1973, which imposed a no-fly zone over the country, was bolder than either the US's or the UK's position. </span></p>
<p class="p1">The strikes against Gaddafi ultimately led to his overthrow and subsequent execution at the hand's of the Libyan rebels. Since then, Libya has faced a rocky course as two rival governments, and various Islamist militias, have battled for power in the country. </p>
<p class="p1">Concerned by the chaos and the flow of fighters and weapons from Libya into other parts of Africa, France <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/france-strike-terrorists-leaving-southern-libya-104619668.html">has said</a> that it is ready to strike militants crossing over the Libyan border. </p>
<h3 class="p1">Djibouti</h3>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Until France's rebalancing of forces across Africa following its intervention in Mali, Djibouti was the sight of the </span><a href="http://www.cfr.org/france/french-military-africa/p12578%20">largest concentration</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> of French forces in Africa. From 1999 to 2001, Djibouti </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djiboutian_Civil_War">fought</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> an insurgency that was eventually put down with French assistance.</span></p>
<p>Following the war, Djibouti became increasingly stable. France gave operations of Camp Lemonnier, a former Foreign Legion post, over to the government of Djibouti, which then <a href="http://www.hoa.africom.mil/">leased</a> it to the US in 2001. </p>
<p>France <a href="http://www.defense.gouv.fr/ema/forces-prepositionnees/djibouti/dossier/les-forces-francaises-stationnees-a-djibouti">maintains</a> over 1,500 troops in Djibouti as part of a security force. The French forces in Djibouti have taken part in operations in Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Ivory Coast. </p>

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Here are a list of apps that lets you stay connected even offline - for the next time your favourite messaging app has an outage

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