Serval Mesh/BatPhone 0.08 Release

A release of the 0.08 version of Serval Mesh is going up on the Android Market as we speak (if you still see 0.07 on the market, please be patient -- it can take a few hours for Google to update the available version).

Selected features and bug fixes include:

• Rhizome store and forward transport.
• Share files, share videos, and send text messages to people who aren’t directly reachable at the moment. This should be considered an early preview, there’s plenty of work still to go. (text messaging currently requires WebSMS / SMSDroid to use as the front end).

• Improved peer list
• Now with name resolution from your Android contacts, real-time display of network reach-ability information, and quick link to open WebSMS (if installed) for text message entry.

• Smaller APK file size
• APK file now 4.8MB, down from 5.8MB for 0.07.

• Improved Handset Support
• Added Galaxy Tab.

• Bug Fixes
• Reduced prompting for root access, better detection of failures.
• Keep a foreground service running to prevent our process being accidentally killed.
• Fixed control of hotspot/access-point mode on Android 4.0+ (ICS).

More information is available at the Bug Tracker and GitHub.

Version 0.08 is very likely to be the last release before we switch to the overlay mesh code, which brings in very strong security, will have a totally revamped user interface, will not require any external applications for sending and receiving mesh SMS messages, and will mean that we will not longer need root access on a phone for it to join a mesh.  

More on that when the next version is ready for release.