Version: 2.8

Settings

The Settings tab lets you configure the app and your connected Meshtastic radio.

App Settings

General app preferences including map style, notification behavior, and theme. These affect only the app — not the radio.

Notifications

Which alerts the app raises is set per type in the iOS Settings app, under Settings → Meshtastic, in the Notifications section. Open Settings in App Settings takes you straight there. Every toggle is on by default.

Setting	Description
Channel Messages	Alerts for incoming channel messages. Direct messages always notify unless the sender is muted, and a message that @mentions you notifies even with this off.
New Waypoints	Alerts when a node shares a new waypoint.
New Nodes	Alerts when a node the app has not seen before joins the mesh.
Low Battery	Alerts when the connected device's battery gets low.

Turning a toggle off suppresses only the alert — messages, reactions, waypoints, and nodes are still received and still appear in the app. Muting a channel or a sender in the app silences that conversation regardless of these settings.

Data Management

Erase All App Data — clears the local database, translation cache, and all stored settings, then immediately reloads the bundled device hardware catalog. Use this as a last resort.
NodeDB Reset — resets the node database on your connected radio. When prompted, you can choose to Preserve Favorites so your starred nodes are retained after the reset.
Reset App Settings — restores default app preferences without affecting your node database.

Radio Configuration

Radio configuration requires a connected node. Select your node from the Configure section if you have multiple nodes.

Node selection

The Configure picker lists live nodes from the current node database, with favorites first. If the node database is reset or the selected node disappears, Settings clears that selection instead of opening configuration for a stale node. Reconnect to a radio or choose a currently listed node to continue configuring it.

LoRa

LoRa settings control how your radio communicates on the mesh:

Setting	Description
Region	Your geographical region. Must be set correctly — using the wrong region is illegal and prevents communication with local nodes. The standard regions are always available; the amateur (ham) 2m / 70cm / 1.25m bands and the EU 866 / narrow bands require firmware 2.8.0 or later and only appear when your connected radio supports them.
Modem Preset	Speed/range trade-off. Most users should use Long Fast or Long Slow. On firmware 2.8+, the preset list is filtered to those that are legal for the selected region (see below).
Bandwidth	Available under Advanced when Use Preset is off. The protobuf default value of 0 is shown as its effective firmware value: 250 kHz in sub-GHz regions and 812.5 kHz in the 2.4 GHz region. Choices are filtered for the selected region and connected radio. If a stored nonzero bandwidth is unsupported, the app shows a warning and prevents saving until you select a supported value.
Hop Limit	The number of times a message is repeated by other nodes. Higher values increase range but also mesh traffic.
Frequency Slot	Fine-tune the exact frequency within your region.
Frequency Override	Use a specific frequency in MHz instead of the calculated slot. The LoRa and Licensed Operator settings show the stored frequency without rounding it.

On firmware 2.8.0 or later, the radio tells the app which modem presets are legal in each region. When you pick a region, the Presets list narrows to the compatible set, and if your current preset isn't allowed there the app switches you to that region's default. Setting the region to US on a newly flashed node moves the stock Long Fast preset to Long Turbo — Long Fast's bandwidth is not US-compliant — while a deliberately chosen preset that is legal in the US is kept. Amateur (ham) bands such as the Tiny and Narrow presets are marked licensed — the app shows a warning, and you should enable Licensed Operator (and set your call sign) in User config before transmitting. On older firmware the full preset list is shown unchanged.

Channels

Manage up to 8 channels (0–7). Channel 0 is the primary broadcast channel. Additional channels create isolated messaging groups with their own encryption keys.

When sharing channels, the share screen shows a QR code and link, and — on iPhones with NFC hardware (iOS 18 or later) — a Write to NFC Tag button. Hold a writable NFC tag near the top of your iPhone to save the channel link to it, replacing any content the tag already held; tapping that tag on another phone opens the same add-or-replace channels flow the QR code does.

Security

Configure PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) encryption for direct messages. Requires firmware 2.5+.

Packet Authenticity

Firmware that reports XEdDSA support can authenticate the sender of a mesh packet. Protection Level controls what the radio does with traffic it cannot authenticate:

Level	Behavior
Compatible — Accept unsigned	Authenticates packets when possible, but accepts unsigned traffic for maximum compatibility. This is the default.
Balanced — Prefer authenticated	Recommended. Rejects unsigned broadcasts from nodes already known to sign, while still accepting traffic from nodes that never sign.
Strict — Require authentication	Accepts a remote packet only when it carries a verified XEdDSA signature or was successfully authenticated through PKI decryption.

Strict applies to every remote mesh packet, including positions, messages, telemetry, node info, and routing traffic. Traffic from older firmware, from licensed (ham) nodes without PKI keys, and packets too large to carry a signature will disappear. PKI-authenticated direct messages remain available. The app asks you to confirm before enabling Strict.

The selector is disabled when the connected radio does not report XEdDSA support, or has not reported its capability yet — update that radio's firmware to configure the policy. Note that a verified signature proves which key sent a packet; it does not prove that a reported position or sensor reading is true or current.

This setting matches the Meshtastic app for Android, and the policy is enforced by the radio rather than the app.

On hardened lockdown-firmware radios, this page also shows a Lockdown section with the session status, a Lock Now button, and a Forget Stored Passphrase button. See Lockdown Mode.

User

Set your Long Name (display name) and Short Name (4-character/emoji identifier shown in the node circle).

Bluetooth

BLE radio settings including PIN mode and power saving. Changes apply on next radio restart.

Device

Device role, serial output, debug log streaming, and node info broadcast interval.

The Repeater role is deprecated and can no longer be selected for new configurations. If a node is still set to Repeater it is shown as "Repeater (Deprecated)" with a reminder to switch it to a Router-based role (Router or Router Late).

Display

Screen timeout, auto-carousel of screens, flip screen for alternate mounting orientations, and OLED contrast.

Compass Orientation

Controls which direction the on-device compass points when the screen is at rest. Use this when your radio is mounted at an angle or upside-down.

Option	Description
0°	Default orientation — north at the top.
90°	Rotated 90° clockwise.
180°	Rotated 180° (upside-down).
270°	Rotated 270° clockwise (90° counter-clockwise).
0° Inverted	Default orientation with the display flipped (mirrored).
90° Inverted	90° clockwise with the display flipped.
180° Inverted	180° with the display flipped.
270° Inverted	270° clockwise with the display flipped.

Network

Wi-Fi SSID/password for TCP connection, NTP server, and Ethernet (supported hardware only).

Position

GPS update interval, position precision, and smart position broadcasting. Enable Broadcast Position to share your location with the mesh.

The GPS Mode selector (Enabled / Disabled / Not Present) is the single source of truth for the GPS state that the app writes to the radio. The older on/off gpsEnabled field it replaced is deprecated: the app no longer writes it, but still reads it from older firmware so existing devices keep working. No action is needed when upgrading — your GPS setting is preserved.

Power

Battery saving profiles, sleep modes, and minimum wake time. Critical for solar-powered router nodes.

Module Configuration

Optional feature modules. Only available when your connected node supports the module.

Module	Description
Ambient Lighting	Control NeoPixel/LED lighting on supported hardware.
Audio	Codec2 voice communication settings. Only available when LoRa region is set to LORA_24 (2.4 GHz). Configure Codec2 encoding, bitrate, PTT pin, and I2S GPIO pins.
Canned Messages	Pre-programmed message shortcuts accessible from the device buttons.
Detection Sensor	Configure PIR motion or contact sensors.
External Notification	Buzzer or LED alerts for incoming messages.
Mesh Beacon	Advertise this node's mesh so other users' discovery scans can find and join it, and listen for beacons from nearby meshes. Requires firmware 2.8.0+.
MQTT	Uplink/downlink messages to an MQTT broker for internet bridging.
Neighbor Info	Periodically broadcasts information about directly-heard neighbors to help visualise mesh topology. Update interval ranges from 4 hours (default) to 72 hours. Enable Transmit over LoRa to share neighbour data over the radio in addition to MQTT and PhoneAPI.
Range Test	Automated range testing with position logging.
Pax Counter	Anonymised foot-traffic counting via Bluetooth/Wi-Fi probe detection. Configure WiFi Threshold (dBm) and BLE Threshold (dBm) to control the RSSI sensitivity for device counting — default is −80 dBm for both.
Ringtone	Custom RTTTL melodies for notification tones.
Store & Forward	Store packets for nodes that are temporarily offline.
Serial	UART serial output for integration with other hardware.
Telemetry	Device, environment, and air-quality sensor reporting.
Traffic Management	Mesh traffic optimization — position deduplication, rate limiting, and unknown-packet filtering. Requires firmware 2.8.0+.

Traffic Management

The Traffic Management module helps reduce unnecessary mesh traffic and improve network efficiency. It is available on nodes running firmware 2.8.0 or later. Each feature is enabled implicitly by a non-zero value — turning a section's toggle off (or the master Enabled switch) clears its values and disables that feature on the radio.

Setting	Description
Enabled	Master enable for the traffic management module.
Position Deduplication
Position Dedup	Drop redundant position broadcasts from the same node.
Min Interval (s)	Minimum seconds between position updates from the same node.
NodeInfo Direct Response
Direct Response	Respond to NodeInfo requests directly from local cache instead of flooding the mesh.
Max Hops	Maximum hop distance from the requestor at which direct NodeInfo responses are served from the local cache.
Rate Limiting
Rate Limiting	Enable per-node rate limiting to throttle chatty nodes.
Window (s)	Time window in seconds for rate limiting calculations.
Max Packets	Maximum packets allowed per node within the rate limit window.
Unknown Packet Handling
Drop Unknown	Enable dropping of unknown/undecryptable packets.
Threshold	Maximum unknown/undecryptable packets per rate window before the source is dropped.

Tools

The Tools entry appears only on iPhones with NFC hardware running iOS 18 or later; it is hidden on iPads, Mac Catalyst, and any device without an NFC radio.

It contains an NFC Tags section:

Action	What it does
Write Contact to NFC Tag	Saves your connected node's contact link to a writable NFC tag, replacing any content it already held. Hold the tag near the top of your iPhone.
Scan NFC Tag	Reads a Meshtastic tag and imports what it holds — a contact opens the add-contact confirmation sheet, a channel link opens the add-or-replace channels flow, exactly as scanning the equivalent QR code would.

If a scanned tag holds something other than a Meshtastic contact or channel link, or its channel settings can't be read, the scan reports the problem rather than appearing to succeed.

Tags written by the Meshtastic app for Android are interchangeable with these — both platforms write the same contact and channel links.

Firmware Updates

Check for and apply OTA firmware updates to your connected radio directly from the app. See Firmware Updates for full details.

Tools

The Tools screen (Settings → Tools) provides utilities for backing up, restoring, and sharing your connected radio's configuration.

Create Node Contact NFC Tag

Write your node's contact card to an NFC tag so others can add you by tapping it. Requires a connected node and NFC-capable hardware.

Export Device Configuration

Save the connected node's full configuration — radio, module, and channel settings — to a .cfg file you can back up or import onto another device. The format matches the Android app and the meshtastic CLI.

Warning — Backups contain secrets The exported file includes your node's private key, admin keys, channel keys (PSKs), and Wi-Fi/MQTT passwords. Anyone with the file can join and administer your mesh, so store and share it only with people you trust.

Import Device Configuration

Apply a saved .cfg configuration file to the connected node. After you pick a file, a review sheet shows what it contains, grouped into sections you can turn on or off before applying:

Section	What it restores
Owner Name	Long and short name
Radio & Device	Device, display, position, power, and Bluetooth settings
Network	Wi-Fi / Ethernet settings
Modules	All module settings (MQTT, Telemetry, Canned Messages, and so on)
Ringtone & Canned Messages	Notification melody and canned-message text
Fixed Position	A saved fixed GPS position
Security & Identity	Private key, admin keys, and admin access
Channels & LoRa	Channels and LoRa/region settings

All present sections are selected by default except Security & Identity, which is off by default: importing it replaces this node's cryptographic identity (its private/public key) and admin keys, which can break existing direct messages and lock you out of local administration. Leave it off when cloning a configuration onto a second radio that should keep its own identity.

Warning — Import replaces settings Importing writes the selected settings — including any secrets in the file — onto the connected node. Only import files from a source you trust.

Every non-empty import commits the selected settings and reboots the radio, so it briefly disconnects; the app reports this so you can reconnect. Settings are applied in order and the import stops at the first failure, telling you exactly what was and wasn't sent. Settings unsupported by the connected radio appear under Not Supported by This Radio instead of being sent.

MQTT and Serial settings are applied after the main transaction because either can drop the Bluetooth link before the transaction is committed. If that disconnect interrupts them, the result shows Needs a Second Pass so you can reconnect and apply those sections separately. If the radio disconnects before acknowledging the commit, the result warns that saving was not confirmed.

You can cancel while a setting is being sent over Bluetooth or TCP; cancellation typically completes quickly. The app stops sending additional sections, then commits the sections already applied so the radio does not remain in an unfinished edit transaction. If the transport callback does not settle, the sheet allows dismissal after 15 seconds. A write already handed to the operating system may still reach the radio, so review the result before retrying.

Because the radio can silently discard settings it accepts, the result screen also offers Verify Against the Radio: once the radio reconnects and sends its configuration back, it compares each imported section against what the radio actually holds. Re-running an import is safe.

Automatic Documentation Translation

On devices running iOS 26 or later, the in-app documentation is automatically translated to your device language when it differs from English.

How It Works

Language detection: The app reads your device's primary language setting each time you open a documentation page.
On-device translation: Pages are translated using Apple's on-device Translation framework (iOS 26+). If a language is not supported by the Translation framework, the app falls back to the on-device Foundation model (iOS 26+ only).
No network required: After initial translation, all content is available offline.
Caching: Translated pages are stored locally so they load instantly on subsequent visits.
Background prefetch: After the current page is translated, remaining pages are translated in the background at low priority.

Fallback to English

If translation is unavailable (older than iOS 26, unsupported language, or language pack not downloaded), the original English documentation is displayed. The app never shows blank or broken pages.

Cache Management

Translated files are stored in Application Support and persist across app launches.
A 50 MB per-language limit is enforced using least-recently-used eviction.
When the English source documentation is updated (new app version), stale translations are automatically regenerated.

Tip — Language change If you change your device language while the app is open, documentation pages automatically reload in the new language.

App Settings​

Notifications​

Data Management​

Radio Configuration​

Node selection​

LoRa​

Channels​

Security​

Packet Authenticity​

User​

Bluetooth​

Device​

Display​

Compass Orientation​

Network​

Position​

Power​

Module Configuration​

Traffic Management​

Tools​

Firmware Updates​

Tools​

Create Node Contact NFC Tag​

Export Device Configuration​

Import Device Configuration​

Automatic Documentation Translation​

How It Works​

Fallback to English​

Cache Management​

App Settings

Notifications

Data Management

Radio Configuration

Node selection

LoRa

Channels

Security

Packet Authenticity

User

Bluetooth

Device

Display

Compass Orientation

Network

Position

Power

Module Configuration

Traffic Management

Tools

Firmware Updates

Tools

Create Node Contact NFC Tag

Export Device Configuration

Import Device Configuration

Automatic Documentation Translation

How It Works

Fallback to English

Cache Management