Sharing Innovation: Bardo's DarkDrop is Now Open Source!

Published: January 11, 2026

In line with our commitment to the developer community and open-source principles, we are thrilled to announce that DarkDrop, the core technology behind Bardo's fast QR code note sharing, is now publicly available!

First introduced in Bardo on October 31, 2025, DarkDrop is a lightweight Android utility designed to transfer text payloads efficiently via QR codes, perfect for offline scenarios. The technology intelligently packages a JSON payload into a deep link, using GZIP compression and URL-safe Base64 encoding to maximize data density. The final QR code bitmap is generated using the powerful and widely-used ZXing (Zebra Crossing) library.

A key feature of DarkDrop is its use of a unique application signature within the payload. This simple but effective mechanism prevents data from being accidentally imported into an unintended application, ensuring a smoother and more reliable user experience.

For full transparency, it is important to note that DarkDrop does not handle encryption. It is designed for speed and convenience in transferring public or non-sensitive data. Developers who require confidentiality should encrypt their text payload before passing it to DarkDrop.

The full source code for DarkDrop is now available on GitHub under the permissive Apache 2.0 license. We invite developers to explore the repository, integrate the technology into their own projects, and contribute to its future.