Getting Started

Welcome to the Meshtastic Apple app — your iOS, iPadOS, and macOS companion for off-grid mesh radio communication.

What You Need

Step 1: Power On Your Radio

Turn on your Meshtastic radio. Most devices show a splash screen and begin broadcasting on the mesh immediately.

Step 2: Open the App and Connect

  1. Open the Meshtastic app.
  2. Tap Connect (the antenna icon in the tab bar).
  3. Your radio should appear in the nearby devices list within a few seconds.
  4. Tap the device name to connect.

The connection indicator turns green when the radio is paired and communicating.

Tip: If your device does not appear, make sure Bluetooth is enabled in iOS Settings and that the radio is within range (roughly 10 meters for initial pairing).

First-Launch Setup

The first time you open the app, a short guided setup walks you through the permissions Meshtastic uses, in order. Each screen explains what the permission is for, and you can change any of these later in iOS Settings. Granting a permission or tapping Continue advances to the next step.

1. Bluetooth — required to discover and connect to your radio.

Bluetooth permission screen

2. Local Network — lets the app find radios connected over WiFi or Ethernet.

Local Network permission screen

3. Notifications — toggle which alerts you want before granting permission: incoming messages, new nodes, low battery, and critical alerts that bypass silent mode and Do Not Disturb.

Notifications permission screen

4. Location — optional; lets your phone supply position to the mesh and keep the map updated in the background. This step is skipped if you have already granted location access.

Location permission screen

5. Siri & Shortcuts — optional; enables voice commands and CarPlay messaging.

Siri and Shortcuts permission screen

Step 3: Set Your Name and Short ID

  1. Go to Settings → User.
  2. Enter a Long Name (your display name, up to 39 characters).
  3. Enter a Short Name (up to 4 characters or an emoji — shown in the node circle).
  4. Tap Save.

Your name broadcasts to nearby nodes automatically.

Step 4: Explore the Mesh

Once connected, the app shows nearby nodes in the Nodes tab. Tap any node to see details like signal strength, last heard time, and position.

Send your first message by tapping the Messages tab and selecting the primary channel.

Tip — Quick navigation Tap the currently active tab icon to jump back to the top-level view from anywhere in that tab.

Step 5: Check Your Settings

Visit Settings → LoRa to verify your region code matches your location. Using the wrong region is illegal and will prevent communication with other nodes in your area.

Next Steps