IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

Briar is in maintenance mode

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

Theme 1 – Unreliable background operation & notification delays

"I use twitch almost every day, its notifications are usually off by 10‑15 minutes..." – nubinetwork
"It seems to me this only happens if you don't use the app much." – dist‑epoch

Theme 2 – Platform restrictions (iOS/Android) blocking true P2P messaging

"Briar is designed to work over 1) tor, 2) ad‑hoc wifi, 3) bluetooth. None of those are going to be conducive to sending push notifications through Apple's servers." – joecot
"You're still dependent on Apple continuing to allow such a use." – _heimdall

Theme 3 – Project sustainability & doubts about its future

"Last year, we decided that we wouldn’t realistically be able to solve these issues and so we reluctantly decided to shut down the project." – timcobb
"$200 mean very different things to different people." – fg137

🚀 Project Ideas

MeshMessage: Battery‑Optimized P2P Messaging Platform

Summary

  • A lightweight, decentralized messenger that automatically switches between Bluetooth, local Wi‑Fi, and cellular to keep messages flowing while minimizing battery drain.
  • Solves the background‑notification delay and battery‑optimization pain points highlighted by Briar users.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Android power users and privacy‑focused communities who need reliable offline messaging
Core Feature Adaptive connection manager that toggles between radios and uses FOREGROUND_SERVICE with Doze‑friendly scheduling
Tech Stack Kotlin + Android Jetpack, libp2p‑lite for P2P, Realm for local storage, Ktor for networking
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: subscription $2/mo for premium relay nodes

Notes

  • Users complained about "unreliable background operation on Android" and want battery‑friendly P2P (quote from nubinetwork).
  • Could attract discussion by offering a concrete alternative to Briar's manual whitelist hack.

CourierRelay: Trust‑Based Offline Message Forwarding Service

Summary

  • Enables 1:1 encrypted messages to be relayed through designated trusted contacts, providing a practical workaround for offline delivery.
  • Addresses the “opportunistically hand the encrypted message to Bob” idea suggested in the discussion.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Privacy‑conscious users who exchange sensitive messages and need guaranteed delivery when contacts are offline
Core Feature Contact‑approved relay list with end‑to‑end encryption and integrity verification
Tech Stack React Native front‑end, Rust backend using Noise protocol, SQLite for relay queue
Difficulty High
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Directly references the P.S. feature request from stackskipton and the need for “approved couriers” mentioned by unethical_ban.
  • Sparks conversation about secure routing without central servers.

LocalNet Messenger SDK: Easy Integration of P2P Chat into Existing Apps

Summary

  • A reusable SDK that lets developers add P2P chat capabilities to any Android app with minimal code, handling discovery, encryption, and battery‑friendly networking.
  • Provides the infrastructure missing for projects like Briar to scale without rewriting from scratch.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience App developers building privacy‑first features who want to avoid low‑level radio code
Core Feature Plug‑and‑play library abstracting Bluetooth, Wi‑Fi, and Tor transports with automatic fallback
Tech Stack Java/Kotlin library, OpenSSL for crypto, libwspx for mesh networking, Gradle plugin
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: one‑time license $49 per app

Notes

  • Responds to the frustration expressed by timcobb about “big investment of human time” and the desire for a solution to platform limitations.
  • Generates discussion about open‑source reuse and the feasibility of building on top of existing mesh protocols.

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