Hello,
Yes, development is ongoing, although we are always looking for more folks to assist with development.
0.93 already does not need root. In fact, the next version will likely have the ad-hoc wi-fi option removed, because it keeps misleading people to thinking that they need root and ad-hoc wi-fi support on the phone. You can already use bluetooth (with a few speed bumps), or better, you combine phones with Serval Mesh Extenders to allow longer-range communications among and between clusters of phones.
Paul.