A shelter of knowledge in your pocket.
Bothy keeps practical knowledge on your phone: first aid, Wikipedia, how-to and repair guides, books and maps. It works with no signal, no internet and no account, and one phone can share it with everyone around it.
Why "Bothy"?
A bothy is a simple shelter in the hills of Scotland, Wales and northern England. It is never locked, always free, and there for anyone who needs it.
This app is the same idea for knowledge. When the power is out, the mobile network is down, you are somewhere remote, or a storm has cut everything off, what you need to know should still be in your pocket. Bothy will always be free, with no ads, no accounts and no tracking.
What's inside
Everything is optional. Pick what fits your phone, from a few megabytes to a few gigabytes, and search all of it by keyword or by meaning.
First aid
Step-by-step cards for CPR, choking, bleeding, burns, stroke, poisoning, allergic reactions and more. Built into the app, so they work even with nothing downloaded.
Wikipedia essentials
The articles that matter when things go wrong: medicine, water, food, farming, energy, tools, hazards and the science behind them, with images.
How-to guides
wikiHow's practical guides for first aid, food, repair, outdoors and home, plus survival and emergency manuals (US Army, FEMA, WHO-ICRC, UK Be Ready).
Repair guides
iFixit's step-by-step guides, with photos, for phones, cars, appliances, tools and more.
Practical Q&A
Answered questions from Stack Exchange on outdoors, DIY, cooking, gardening, car repair, bicycles, ham radio, pets, parenting and more.
Appropriate technology
Appropedia's projects for water, energy, shelter, food and building with simple tools and local materials.
Books
Classic and public-domain books from Project Gutenberg, with a reader that remembers your place. Bring your own EPUBs too.
Offline maps
Streets, paths and places with search, all on the phone. No signal needed.
Ask a question
A small AI that runs on the device and answers from the library's own articles, with the sources shown so you can check.
Notes
Phone numbers, checklists and anything you need to remember, kept on the phone and searchable.
Games
Chess, draughts, solitaire, sudoku, word and party games and more, for the long evenings.
One phone can shelter everyone
During a power cut, one phone on a power bank can share its whole library with the people around it. They don't need the app, or even an Android phone: any phone with a camera and a browser works, iPhones included.
- Start sharing. Bothy creates a Wi-Fi network, or shares on the one you're on, and shows two QR codes.
- People scan the codes. The first joins the Wi-Fi; the second opens Bothy in their browser.
- Everyone can search, read, and use the maps and games, and talk to each other in a local chat with photos, voice messages and places. It all runs on the sharing phone, with no internet anywhere.
Run a hub
A hub is a small computer, such as a Raspberry Pi, an old laptop or a mini PC, that serves Bothy over Wi-Fi to everyone nearby. It suits a village hall, a school, a shelter, a boat or a cabin, and it can hold the whole collection, including all the books.
In any browser
People connect to the hub's Wi-Fi and use the library, books, maps, games, first aid and chat in their browser, with no app needed.
Fills phones
Phones with the app can download collections, maps and books from the hub, then carry them away.
Small and frugal
One program and a folder of packs. It runs from a power bank or a small solar panel.
Hub downloads and a setup guide are coming soon.
Get Bothy
Bothy is in testing. It will be on Google Play first, with a direct Android download here for phones without Google Play. On an iPhone, use Bothy from a hub or a sharing phone in your browser.
Questions
Does it really work with no internet?
Yes. Once you've downloaded what you want, everything (search, articles, maps, books, notes, games and the optional AI) runs on the phone. Downloading needs a Wi-Fi connection, to the internet or to a hub.
Is it really free?
Yes, and it will stay free: no ads, no subscriptions, no in-app purchases and no accounts. Some of the content's licences don't allow commercial use, and that suits us fine.
What does it know about me?
Nothing. Bothy has no accounts, no analytics and no tracking. Your notes and downloads stay on your phone. See the privacy policy.
Is the first aid advice reliable?
The cards follow published guidance from the Resuscitation Council UK, the European Resuscitation Council, the NHS, the British Red Cross and St John Ambulance, written plainly. They don't replace training or a doctor. They haven't yet been reviewed by a medical professional; a review is planned before release. If you can, always call the emergency number first: 112 works from most mobile phones (999 in the UK, 911 in North America, 000 in Australia).
How much space does it need?
As much or as little as you choose. The first aid cards and notes are built in. The largest collections are a few gigabytes with all their images, and most have a smaller text-only option.
Which languages?
English. You can add your own books in any language.
Where the knowledge comes from
Bothy stands on the work of thousands of volunteers. Every article shows its source, its licence and a link to the original.
| Source | Licence |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| wikiHow | CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 |
| iFixit | CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 |
| Stack Exchange (authors named on every question) | CC BY-SA 2.5 / 3.0 / 4.0 |
| Appropedia | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Project Gutenberg | Public domain in the United States; check your country's rules |
| OpenStreetMap map data | © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0 |
| US Army and FEMA guides | US government works, public domain |
| UK Be Ready | Open Government Licence v3.0 |
| WHO-ICRC Basic Emergency Care | CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO |
Bothy's own code is open source under the GNU AGPL-3.0.
Bothy reads offline copies made by the Kiwix and openZIM projects. It isn't affiliated with or endorsed by any of these sources.