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Settings Reference

Complete reference for every setting in MeshMapper. The Settings tab is a list of folders, and each folder opens its own page. The headings below follow the app: one section per folder, then the groups you see inside it.

Warning

Some settings are locked while auto-ping is running. An amber "Some settings locked during auto-ping" banner appears at the top of Settings and on the folder pages that have locked settings. Stop auto-ping to change them.

General

Appearance, sounds, background location

Appearance

Theme

  • Toggle between Dark mode (default) and Light mode
  • Dark mode recommended for wardriving at night to reduce glare

Units

  • Metric (km, m, default) or Imperial (mi, ft)
  • Affects distance displays throughout the app, such as zone and ping distances

Sounds

Sound Notifications

  • Plays sounds on ping events. Sounds follow your phone's media volume.
  • Disabled by default
  • When enabled, three individual sounds can be toggled:
    • Ping Sent (on by default): Sound when a TX ping or discovery is sent
    • Response Received (on by default): Sound when a repeater echo or RX is received
    • Disconnect Alert (off by default): Triple beep when an automatic mode stops unexpectedly, such as when your radio disconnects
  • Coexists with other audio (transient focus with ducking on Android, ambient on iOS)
  • Useful when wardriving with phone mounted out of view

Location

Background Location

  • Prompts for "Always" location permission for continuous GPS tracking when the app is backgrounded
  • Android: Background operation uses a foreground service. Enabling this grants "Always" location permission for improved GPS consistency.
  • iOS: Required for reliable background wardriving. Without it, iOS may throttle or stop GPS updates when the app is not in the foreground.
  • The app cannot take a permission away again, so switching this off opens the system settings for you to change it there

Live Activity (iOS only)

Repeater Names on Live Activity

  • Chooses how the Top Heard list is drawn on the Live Activity (Lock Screen and Dynamic Island), CarPlay and Apple Watch
  • On (default): named rows, one repeater per line
  • Off: a compact grid that fits more repeaters

Exit (Android only)

Close App After Disconnect

  • App automatically exits after disconnecting from your radio
  • Disabled by default

Close App

  • Immediately exits the app
  • Confirmation dialog. Warns if connected.

Map

Map tiles, coverage overlay, markers

Map Tiles

Offline Maps

Download map areas to your device for wardriving without a data connection. Opens the Offline Maps screen:

  • Download Area: Pick a map style (Liberty, Dark, or Light; Satellite is not downloadable), a zoom range, and an area on the map. An estimated tile count is shown before downloading.
  • Storage: Shows downloaded areas and the ambient cache (tiles auto-cached while panning), with a configurable storage limit and options to clear or delete.

Use Downloaded Tiles Only

  • When enabled, the map uses only your downloaded areas, with no network tile requests at all
  • Useful for guaranteed offline operation or saving mobile data
  • While it is on, Coverage Overlay Opacity and Grid Mode are hidden

Coverage Overlay

Coverage Overlay Opacity

  • Slider (30% to 100%, default 70%) controlling how strongly the community coverage overlay is drawn over the base map

Grid Mode

  • Simplified (default): 300m coverage cells, merged cells, grouped repeaters. Loads faster.
  • Detailed: 100m coverage cells with finer detail and non-grouped repeaters.
  • Matches the Grid Mode option on the meshmapper.net map
  • Also sets the square size Smart Pinging uses, so what is deferred matches what is painted

Color Vision

  • Choose a colour palette optimised for your vision type: Default, Protanopia (red-blind), Deuteranopia (green-blind), Tritanopia (blue-blind), or Achromatopsia (monochrome)
  • Applies to the coverage overlay and map colours, matching the meshmapper.net map's accessibility palettes

Markers

Map Marker Style

  • Choose the visual style used for ping markers on the map: Dot (default), Outlined Dot, Pin, or Diamond

GPS Marker

  • Choose the marker that represents your position: Arrow (default), Car, Bike, Boat, Walk, Dog, or Chomper (which faces your direction of travel)

Top Repeaters on Map

  • Shows the Top Heard overlay on the map with the best 3 repeaters by SNR from your most recent ping
  • Disabled by default

Larger Top 3 Overlay

  • Makes the Top Heard overlay bigger for easier reading
  • Shown only while Top Repeaters on Map is on. Disabled by default.

Wardriving

Auto-ping, privacy, CARpeater filter, modes, radio

Privacy

Anonymous Mode

  • Renames your companion device to "Anonymous" on the mesh (requires a clean disconnect to reset your node name)
  • Changing while connected triggers a brief reconnection
  • A confirmation dialog appears every time you enable it. Disabling asks for confirmation only while connected.
  • Your public key is still sent to authenticate your session, so Anonymous Mode hides your name, not your device. You also do not appear on the public leaderboard.
  • Cannot change while auto-ping is running

Broadcast My Coordinates

  • Disabled by default. By default, your TX pings do not contain your GPS position on the air. They carry a short anonymous token instead, and your coordinates travel only to the MeshMapper server over the internet. Anyone listening on the wardriving channel sees the token, not your location.
  • Enabling this appends your real GPS coordinates to the on-air ping message, visible to anyone with the community channel key.
  • Leave this off unless you specifically want your live position visible on the mesh (e.g., so local mesh users can follow your drive in real time).

Auto-Ping

Auto-Ping Interval

How frequently pings are sent in Active, Hybrid, and Trace modes:

  • 15 seconds: Fast (more coverage, causes more mesh load)
  • 30 seconds: Normal (balanced coverage and mesh load, default)
  • 60 seconds: Slow (less coverage, little mesh load)
  • Cannot be changed during auto-ping
  • Regional admin may enforce a minimum interval. Faster choices are greyed out and marked "Set by Regional Admin — slower intervals reduce congestion in your region". If your interval is faster than the region allows, it is raised when you connect.

Note

Does not affect Passive Mode (fixed 30-second discovery interval). In Hybrid Mode, the effective interval between channel messages is doubled since discovery requests alternate with TX.

Min Ping Distance

Minimum distance you must move before the next auto-ping. Prevents spamming from a stationary position.

  • Enter any value in meters (free-text input)
  • Default: 25m
  • Minimum: 25m (enforced by the app)

Note

Applies to every auto mode (Active, Hybrid, Passive and Trace). Does not apply to manual pings. Cannot be changed during auto-ping.

Smart Pinging

Defers auto pings in squares that already have recent coverage, so your airtime goes where it adds something new. See Smart Pinging for how it behaves on the road.

  • Enabled by default
  • Tap the (i) beside the switch for a short explanation inside the app
  • Defer pings in squares covered within: the window, in days, that makes a square count as covered. Enter any whole number from 1 to 365. Default 14 days. Shown only while the switch is on.
  • Show only recent coverage (off by default): hides older coverage squares on the map so only coverage inside your window shows, which makes gaps easier to see. Shown only while the switch is on.
  • Show Deferred Markers (on by default): shows hollow circles on the map where pings were deferred. Shown only while the switch is on.
  • Applies to Hybrid, Passive and Active modes. Never affects manual pings, Trace Mode or passive RX listening.
  • Deferred squares still earn leaderboard points (1.5 each) once MeshMapper verifies them
  • May be enforced by regional admin (shown in amber). When enforced, the switch is locked on and the window is the region's (1, 3, 7, 14 or 30 days).
  • Cannot be changed during auto-ping

Scope Discovery

After each discovery, asks the repeaters it found which scopes they carry (the named regions that decide which flood traffic a repeater forwards), so the map can show which repeater carries which scope. Up to 3 of the strongest repeaters are asked, one at a time, and each request is a short direct message to a repeater in range. Pings keep their normal schedule. Every request shows in the log tab under SCP.

  • Disabled by default
  • Tap the (i) beside the switch for details inside the app
  • Ask repeaters again after: the window, in days, that makes a scope answer from a repeater count as fresh. Enter any whole number from 7 to 365. Default 14 days. Shown only while the switch is on.
  • May be enforced by regional admin (shown in amber). When enforced, the switch is locked on and the window is the region's.
  • Requires companion firmware 1.16.0 or newer. 1.17.0 or newer is recommended, see below. On older firmware the app shows "Your radio needs firmware v1.16.0 or newer for this."
  • A small Scopes badge shows on the running mode button while the app is asking
  • Only runs after an auto discovery in Passive or Hybrid mode. When Smart Pinging defers a discovery, no scopes are asked either, so in squares with recent coverage nothing is sent until Smart Pinging lets a discovery through
  • Cannot be changed during auto-ping

Companion firmware 1.16 and a full contact list. To ask a repeater that is not saved as a contact on your radio, the radio needs a free slot in its contact list. Companion firmware 1.16 cannot make that room when the list is full, so it refuses the request and nothing is sent. The log shows Radio contact list full, and from then on, for the rest of that connection, the app only asks repeaters that are saved as contacts. The Errors tab in the log also gets one entry explaining it. Companion firmware 1.17.0 or newer fixes it by keeping room for these requests. Removing some contacts from your radio also works.

Why a repeater may not answer. "No response from repeater" in the log is normal and does not mean the repeater is broken or out of date:

  • Repeaters only answer a few anonymous requests in a short time. That limit is built into the repeater firmware and is shared by everyone asking it anything anonymously, from any app. Once it is used up, the repeater stays silent for a few minutes. Busy repeaters on high sites, heard by many radios, reach this limit most often.
  • The answer can be lost on the way back. An answer is longer than a discovery reply, so a repeater at the edge of range, or on a busy channel, can answer discovery and still miss this one.
  • Older repeater firmware ignores the request.

A repeater that does not answer is not marked as checked, but your phone leaves it alone for a while before asking again: 15 minutes after the first miss, doubling after each further miss, up to 2 hours. An answer clears that wait. This keeps one phone from using up a busy repeater's limit. Nothing is uploaded for a request that goes unanswered.

While scope discovery is on, the app also refreshes its repeater list when Passive or Hybrid starts (if the list is more than 5 minutes old) and every 15 minutes while it runs, so a repeater another driver has just checked is skipped sooner.

Auto-Stop After Idle

  • Automatically stops auto-ping after 30 minutes without GPS movement
  • Prevents unnecessary transmissions and saves battery
  • Enabled by default
  • Cannot be changed during auto-ping

CARpeater

A "CARpeater" is a repeater mounted in your vehicle or carried with you. Without filtering, every ping would show it as "heard" with an extremely strong signal and the coverage map would fill with false data. Three layers deal with this: your own CARpeater's key, the region's shared list, and the RSSI failsafe.

CARpeater Filter

Strips your own CARpeater from results. Switching it on for the first time opens the My CARpeater dialog, and a My CARpeater row stays under the switch while it is on.

  • Enter the full public key of your CARpeater (64 hex characters), or tap Choose from repeater list to pick it from the repeaters the app already knows. The key is checked before it can be saved.
  • Pass-through: an echo or RX packet that came through your CARpeater is stripped of that hop and the repeater behind it is credited instead. A packet that only reached your CARpeater is dropped, and so is a discovery response from it.
  • Your key is shared with MeshMapper so that every wardriver in the region filters your CARpeater too (see Regional CARpeaters below)
  • Cannot be changed during auto-ping

Upgrading from an older version

Earlier versions accepted a short hex ID prefix. That prefix is no longer used. If you had one set, the app asks for the full key after your next connect, with a button to this page. "Not now" asks again after the next connect; "I don't use a CARpeater" stops asking.

Regional CARpeaters

  • Shows how many CARpeaters have been shared for your region ("Filtering N regional CARpeaters"). Tap it for the list: each entry shows the repeater's name and the first 16 characters of its key. Your own is marked "Mine".
  • These are always filtered and cannot be turned off: someone else's CARpeater is in someone else's car, so neither it nor the repeater behind it may be credited
  • The list is refreshed from MeshMapper on every connect. Offline Mode keeps the last copy.

Disable RSSI Filter

By default, the app drops any packet with RSSI of -30 dBm or stronger (closer to 0), because a signal that strong almost certainly came from a co-located repeater and is not meaningful coverage data. Only disable this if you are certain no co-located repeater is within range. If disabled while a CARpeater is present, your device will report false coverage data to the MeshMapper community map, degrading accuracy for everyone.

  • Default: off. The subtitle reads "Drops signals stronger than -30 dBm".
  • Enabling allows all signal strengths through
  • A Disable RSSI Filter? dialog warns about community map impact before enabling
  • Cannot be changed during auto-ping

Modes

Flood Traffic

  • Shows or hides the Active Mode, Hybrid Mode, and manual Send Ping controls (everything that sends flood channel messages)
  • Off on a fresh install, so only Passive and Trace modes appear on the Map tab until you connect. Each time you connect in a region that allows flood traffic, the app turns it on.
  • Locked off if your regional admin has disabled flood traffic for your region (shown with a blue "Set by Regional Admin" note)
  • Cannot be changed during auto-ping

Hybrid Mode

  • Subtitle: "Combines Active and Passive modes". Alternates between TX channel messages and discovery requests each interval.
  • Produces richer data with 50% fewer channel messages (less mesh flooding)
  • Enabled by default. Tap the (i) beside the switch for how the interval timing works.
  • A regional admin can enforce it (shown in amber). When enforced, the switch is locked on.
  • Cannot be changed during auto-ping

Discovery Drop

  • Counts discovery requests with no response as "failed pings" reported to the API
  • Helps identify dead zones for network planning
  • Requires repeater firmware 1.10+ to respond to discovery requests
  • Disabled by default
  • May be enforced by regional admin (shown in amber). When enforced, the switch is locked on.
  • Confirmation dialog before enabling
  • Cannot be changed during auto-ping

Radio

TX Bytes

Repeater ID size in TX/RX path hops:

  • 1 byte: 256 unique IDs, standard for most networks
  • 2 bytes: about 65K unique IDs, reduces collisions
  • 3 bytes: about 16M unique IDs, maximum resolution

Warning

Requires both your companion device and repeaters to be on firmware 1.14+. Only change this if you understand what you're doing, or if your regional admin has enforced a value. RX always auto-detects the sender's byte size regardless of your TX setting.

States:

  • "Set by Regional Admin" (amber) when region enforces a value
  • "Firmware 1.14+ required" (amber) if firmware is too old
  • "Connect to radio to configure" (amber) when disconnected
  • Cannot be changed during auto-ping

Note

Applied to your radio during connection, restored on clean disconnect.

Trace Bytes

Repeater ID size for trace path requests:

  • 1 byte, 2 bytes, or 4 bytes

This is separate from TX Bytes because traces use a different encoding in the MeshCore protocol (bitshift encoding vs simple counter). The size options don't match 1:1:

TX/RX (simple counter) Trace (bitshift encoding)
Mode 0: 1 byte Mode 0: 1 byte
Mode 1: 2 bytes Mode 1: 2 bytes
Mode 2: 3 bytes Mode 2: 4 bytes

Warning

3-byte traces are not supported by the MeshCore protocol. When your region uses 3-byte TX paths, set Trace Bytes to 4.

Warning

Requires companion firmware 1.14+. Only change this if you understand what you're doing.

States:

  • "Firmware 1.14+ required" (amber) if firmware is too old
  • "Connect to radio to configure" (amber) when disconnected
  • Cannot be changed during auto-ping

Delete Channel on Disconnect

  • Enabled (default): Removes the #wardriving channel from your radio on disconnect. Keeps the radio clean.
  • Disabled: The channel stays on your radio after you disconnect.

Data

Queued pings, map markers, offline sessions

Current Session

Queued Pings

Shows how many items are waiting to be uploaded, with two actions beside the count:

  • Force upload: Immediately upload all queued items
  • Clear queue: Permanently delete all queued pings. Confirmation dialog included.

Clear Map Markers

  • Removes all TX, RX, discovery, and trace markers from the map display
  • Confirmation dialog included
  • Does not affect uploaded data or the upload queue

Offline Sessions

Sessions recorded in Offline Mode. Each session shows:

  • Filename (date-based)
  • Ping count and date
  • Device name

Actions per session:

  • Download: Save the raw JSON to your device (via the system share sheet). Always available.
  • Upload: Send to MeshMapper servers. Shown until the session has been uploaded.
  • Delete: Remove from local storage (asks for confirmation)

Uploading needs a GPS fix, because the server checks your current location. Without one you see "GPS required - enable location services to upload". The radio usually does not need to be connected.

After an upload the session shows an "Uploaded" line with where its pings were placed. Tap it for the Upload Summary: the number of pings credited to each region, and any that were dropped for being more than 50 km outside every region.

MeshMapper Account

Sign in to link your radios

Signs you in to your My MeshMapper account and links your radios to it, so their wardriving counts toward your account. Linking is best-effort and never affects a connection.

Account

  • Sign in to MyMeshMapper: Opens the portal sign-in page in your system browser. Finish signing in there and return to the app; the app never sees your password.
  • Once signed in, the row shows your display name and username
  • Sign Out: Signs the app out. Your linked devices stay on the server.
  • The refresh button in the top bar re-reads your account. It is rate limited, and the app says how long to wait if you refresh too often.

Overview

Shown once you are signed in, when the server provides it: your Points, Grid squares and number of Companions, plus your award badges (tap one for its description). The totals are the same ones the portal's Overview tab shows, summed across all your linked radios.

Devices

  • This Device: The connected radio. Link now has the radio sign a one-time challenge to prove it is yours; Unlink removes it. Needs a connected radio and is locked during auto-ping.
  • Below it, every companion linked to your account, with its name, key and points
  • Re-enable Link Prompts: Appears after you have declined a link prompt, or a radio was recorded as unable to sign. Clears those records so the app asks again.

Note

After you connect a radio that is not yet linked, the app offers to link it. It asks at most once per radio per app session, and never while auto-ping is running.

My Repeaters

  • Lists the repeaters you have logged in to as an admin. Each row shows the repeater's name and key prefix, plus its region when known.
  • Tap a row to open that repeater's manage sheet
  • With none yet, it says "No repeaters claimed yet". To add one, pick a repeater on the map and tap Manage to log in with its admin password.

API Endpoints

MeshMapper and custom endpoints

MeshMapper

MeshMapper API

  • Always active. This is where your wardriving data goes.

Custom Endpoint

Custom API Endpoint

Forward your wardrive data to a third-party HTTPS endpoint in addition to MeshMapper:

  • A Third-Party Data Sharing notice must be accepted the first time it is enabled
  • Endpoint URL and API Key fields (HTTPS is required; the key is sent as an X-API-Key header)
  • Include Contact Key: Optionally share your device's public key prefix with the endpoint (on by default, can be disabled)
  • Import from Clipboard: Paste a meshmapper://custom-api?... configuration link from an endpoint operator to auto-fill both fields
  • Best-effort and fire-and-forget. A broken custom endpoint never affects your MeshMapper uploads.
  • Everything MeshMapper receives is forwarded, including Smart Pinging deferrals

See the Third Party API guide for the full payload contract (aimed at endpoint developers).

Apple Watch (iOS only)

Inspect pairing and delivery state

This folder appears once an Apple Watch has been paired with your phone, and stays after an unpair, because that is when it is most useful. It opens the Watch Connectivity page for diagnosing a watch app that is not updating:

  • Sync gate: whether the phone is currently allowed to send to the watch, and why not
  • Last successful send, Last availability change and Last send outcome
  • Refresh re-reads the state

About & Support

Version, feedback, debug logs

About

  • MeshMapper: App name and tagline
  • Version: Tap to copy the version to the clipboard.
  • GitHub: View issues and source code
  • Discord: Join the community chat
  • Community: Built with contributions from the Greater Ottawa Mesh Radio Enthusiasts community
  • Buy us a coffee: Support MeshMapper development (not shown on iOS)

Support

Quick Guide

  • Opens the in-app guide to connections, modes, mapping, and data

Submit Feedback

  • Opens the bug report dialog to report bugs or request features
  • Can attach debug log files (select which files to include)

Debug Logs

  • Writes detailed debug logs to files on your device
  • Enabled by default. If you switch it off, the app remembers that.
  • Orange "LOGGING" badge when active
  • Timestamped entries. The app keeps the newest 10 files and deletes older ones.
  • Files larger than 4.5 MB are uploaded in parts

When logs exist:

  • Log file list: Date, size, active status
  • View: In-app log viewer
  • Share: System share sheet
  • Upload: Send to the MeshMapper team for analysis
  • Delete All: Remove all stored log files