<p>FireChat has been on a rollercoaster ride since developer Open Garden released it for iOS last month, peaking at well over 100,000 iTunes downloads a day last Tuesday. Open Garden is now hoping for a repeat performance, this time on Android.</p><p>On Thursday, Open Garden released FireChat on Google Play. FireChat has set itself apart from other messaging apps in several ways. Not only is it anonymous and ephemeral conversation streams disappear as soon as the app is closed it's designed to create proximity-based hyperlocal networks. It uses Wi-Fi and Bluetooth links to connect to nearby devices without using the internet as an intermediary.</p><p>The result has been a messaging service that can be used completely "off grid". Open Garden can't even track local messaging traffic on FireChat since none of that traffic actually traverses its servers.</p><p>Since it launched on iOS, FireChat has seen a lot of uptake overseas, rising into the top 10 in iTunes' social networking category in 80 countries. That led to a lot of demand for Android version. Today's launch is meant to get FireChat capabilities immediately into the hands of millions of Android smartphone and tablet users. But there are still some pieces missing, the biggest piece being interoperability between Android and iOS devices.</p><p><a href="http://gigaom.com/2014/04/03/firechats-anonymous-off-grid-messaging-app-arrives-on-android/">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/3/5578288/firechat-for-android-lets-users-text-nearby-friends-without-service-wifi-bluetooth">FireChat launches on Android, letting users text nearby friends even without ...</a> (The Verge)</p><p><a href="https://www.yahoo.com/tech/firechat-network-free-chat-could-be-big-and-now-its-81597433839.html">FireChat on Android.</a> (Yahoo News)</p><p><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/03/firechat-brings-its-offline-chat-network-to-android/">FireChat Brings Its Anonymous Offline Chat Network To Android</a> (TechCrunch)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dakQDUGYPgo2NFMowm2J7P7hfwjqM&authuser=0&ned=us">110 additional articles.</a></p>