Overview — Connect Research

Technology Research

A social application where human connection comes first. People can only add others to their network after physically meeting them. Discovery happens exclusively at close physical range. The system must be designed so that no single entity — not an operator, not a server, not a government — can observe the full social graph or read messages.

Start Here

Vision & Design Principles — Core requirements, structural privacy, anonymity layers, never-online as a feature
Prototype User Stories — Six plain-language stories showing each prototype through the eyes of real people, without technical jargon

Research

Existing Protocols — Deep analysis of Briar, SSB, SimpleX, Session, Matrix, Nostr, and other systems
Reference Implementations — How Briar, SSB, and SimpleX each contribute one subsystem to Connect, and what gaps forced fresh design
Market Research — Existing apps, failed experiments, market data, competitive landscape
Proximity Networking — BLE, NFC, WiFi Direct, platform frameworks, transport stack
Location APIs & Security — BLE, NFC, UWB, Wi-Fi Aware APIs, security threats, privacy-preserving protocols, regulatory landscape
Encryption & Privacy — Signal Protocol, MLS, metadata protection, post-quantum readiness, storage encryption
Anonymity Lifecycle — How the four anonymity layers (identity, network, social, temporal) hold or degrade across the full contact lifecycle

Design

Architecture — Proposed design, user journey, data model, comparison matrix, open questions
Implementation Options — In-depth analysis of Briar, Berty, p2panda, Veilid, and other build paths with recommendation
Threat Model — Adversary profiles, attack surface by layer, STRIDE analysis, security properties, audit readiness
Threat Composition — Cross-layer attack analysis: impersonation, social-graph extraction, and content interception traced end-to-end
Key Revocation & Recovery — Lost device handling, Shamir's Secret Sharing, social recovery, revocation propagation in offline networks
iOS BLE Deep Dive — Per-version behavior, background modes, iBeacon workaround, state restoration, Berty reference patterns, prototype strategy
Feed Format Spec — Message envelope, content types, encryption model, wire format for BLE sync, storage schema
Anonymity Coverage Across Prototypes — Coverage matrix mapping each of the seven prototypes against the four anonymity layers, with gap analysis and open questions

Building It

Research Prototypes — Small focused experiments: Tor chat, BLE messenger, key exchange, encrypted feeds, WiFi relay server, BLE relay device, LoRa radio mesh
Spec: Tor-Only Encrypted Chat — Full technical spec for Prototype 1: interfaces, dependencies, platform constraints, build plan, success criteria
Spec: P2P Bluetooth Messenger — Full technical spec for Prototype 2: BLE advertiser/scanner, GATT server/client, crypto layer, message queue, 2-week build plan
Spec: Encrypted Append-Only Feed — Full technical spec for Prototype 4: feed API, encryption layer, sync, SQLite schema, 14-day build plan
Spec: Proximity Discovery & Key Exchange — Full technical spec for Prototype 3: NFC/QR exchange, BLE beacon rotation, X3DH, mutual auth, 14-day build plan
Spec: Local WiFi Relay Server — Full technical spec for Prototype 5: REST/WebSocket API, Pi hotspot setup, E2E relay, phone NetworkRequest, 14-day build plan
Spec: BLE Dead Drop — Full technical spec for Prototype 6: GATT dead-drop, ESP32 firmware, wire protocol, TTL expiry, 14-day build plan
Spec: LoRa Radio Mesh — Full technical spec for Prototype 7: LoRa envelope budget, Meshtastic BLE API, regional duty cycles, range/energy trade-offs, 14-day build plan
AI & Local LLMs — Running local inference on community relay servers: translation, speech-to-text, semantic search, privacy implications
Cold Start & UX — Network cold start, onboarding without accounts, async delivery UX, growth patterns, backup/recovery flows

Reference