India’s block on Bitchat has moved from the app’s source code to the app itself. Jack Dorsey’s Bluetooth mesh messenger is no longer listed on Apple’s App Store in India. Apple’s notice to the developers, which Dorsey shared on X, cites Section 69A of India’s IT Act. That is an order aimed at a distribution platform, not at a code host.
From GitHub Repos to the Bitchat India App Store Listing
This is not the first time Indian authorities have gone after the app. In July, the target was GitHub, and the legal basis was different. That order cited Section 79(3)(b) and Rule 3(1)(d). We covered that round when India ordered GitHub to take down the Android app’s code.
Section 69A is a different provision. Using it against a storefront listing takes the app off the shelf for every user in the country at once. Apple also cut off TestFlight access in India, so the beta route is closed as well. According to TechCrunch, Apple’s notice indicated the app stays available on the App Store outside India.
Google Play’s Status Is Less Clear
Bitchat was also missing from Google Play in India when TechCrunch checked on Saturday, October 3. No removal date has been attached to that. TechCrunch says it is not clear whether Google or Indian internet providers received their own order. So the confirmed order here is the one Apple acted on. Apple, Google and India’s IT ministry did not respond to TechCrunch’s requests for comment.
Why an Offline App Became a Target
Bitchat launched in July 2025 and works without internet, cellular data or servers. Phones relay messages to each other over a Bluetooth mesh. That design makes it usable during a network shutdown, which is exactly when ordinary messaging apps stop working.
The timing sits against a wave of youth-led protests in India over electoral-roll changes. Police detained protesters in New Delhi on Saturday. Internet service around Jantar Mantar was suspended for 12 hours the previous Friday. The app’s appeal in that environment is not hypothetical. Sensor Tower data cited by TechCrunch put India at roughly 85 percent of Bitchat’s global downloads between July 17 and 23. That was during the earlier GitHub episode.
The Part That Should Worry Any App User
The Internet Freedom Foundation has called the latest order unconstitutional. Its argument is narrow and worth understanding. Section 69A lets the government block unlawful information, the group says. Blocking a messaging app because it keeps working through an internet shutdown is a different thing entirely. IFF also notes that neither the blocking order nor any allegedly illegal content was made public.
That last point is the practical one for readers. By IFF’s account, neither the order nor the reasoning behind it is public. As of October 4, the IT ministry has not publicly explained its decision. So an app can leave both major storefronts in your country on the strength of a document nobody outside the process gets to read.
Source: TechCrunch
