Ukrainians prepping for internet loss by getting apps for offline, private, mesh communications

I have multiple friends, colleagues, and contacts in Ukraine, so it’s been a tough past week or so as I’ve seen their lives massively disrupted and endangered.

One of the consequences: what apps they’re downloading and installing. I saw some data from Apptopia and wrote about it in my column on Forbes.

From my post:

The top apps being downloaded in Ukraine right now are Signal, the private messaging app, Bridgefy, which enables communications without the internet via mesh networking, Maps.me, an offline mapping app, and several “walkie-talkie” apps that enable free communication without sign-ups or personal information.

In other words, Ukrainians are preparing for either the loss of the internet in their country, or the closure of the free internet behind a new digital iron curtain.

Get the full story in my post at Forbes …