FAQ

Short answers to the questions we hear most, each linking to the full guide. If yours is not here, ask on the support page.

What does APRS Connect cost?

The app is free to install and use over APRS-IS: messaging, the map, stations, the packet log, nets and every service screen. APRS Connect Pro is $3.99/month or $29.99/year, billed through Google Play or the App Store, starting with a 7-day free trial, and it switches on the Pro features: connecting a radio, offline map downloads, the weather radar layer, track export, extra beacon profiles, capture replay and retrying a failed message when its station is next heard. See Free and Pro for the full list. If you let the trial or subscription end, nothing is deleted and nothing goes off the air. The Pro features switch off and everything else keeps working.

Do I need a licence to use APRS Connect?

Only to transmit. Everything that goes on the air, whether a message, a beacon or a service command, is signed with your callsign, and transmitting without an amateur radio licence is illegal in essentially every country. Listening is different: you can run the app receive-only over APRS-IS with no licence at all, which also lets you watch how APRS works before you are licensed. See Getting started.

Do I need a radio?

No. APRS runs over RF and over the internet backbone (APRS-IS), and the app speaks both. You can start internet-only over your phone's own connection and add a radio later, or run any combination of connections at once. A radio does need something between it and the phone: a KISS TNC, or the app's built-in AFSK audio modem over an audio cable. Start at Connect to APRS-IS or Connect a radio.

Which radios and TNCs work with it?

Any KISS TNC, over four kinds of link: Bluetooth Classic (a paired TNC such as a Mobilinkd, or a TH-D75's built-in TNC), Bluetooth LE (a Mobilinkd TNC4 in LE mode, or a B.B. Link), USB serial with an OTG cable, and KISS over TCP for Direwolf or any network TNC. LoRa APRS works too: a tracker running CA2RXU's firmware connects over Bluetooth LE, and a LoRa iGate's text feed over the network. No TNC at all? The AFSK audio modem turns the phone itself into one, over an audio cable to any radio. Connect a radio helps you pick.

Why does the app never ask for my APRS-IS passcode?

Because the passcode is derived from your callsign. The app computes it, so you never type one. With transmit off, the app does something stricter: it logs in read-only and refuses to send, rather than letting the server silently discard your traffic. Details in Connect to APRS-IS.

Why am I not hearing anything?

Start at the Radio screen on the tab bar: it distinguishes intent from reality, so a switched-on connection that is not actually working says so, in words, with the reason. Next suspects: your APRS-IS filter may be too narrow, the shared view filter's age window may be hiding what you have heard, and Android's battery optimisation can stop background reception. The app reads that state from the system and shows it honestly, with a shortcut to fix it. See Connect to APRS-IS and Background & battery.

Why did my message say "Digipeated" but not "Delivered"?

They are different proofs. Digipeated means the app heard its own packet come back through a repeater. That proves your message was radiated, not that anyone received it. Delivered means the recipient's station acknowledged it. A message can be repeated perfectly and still never reach a station that is off the air; the app retries on its own, and all six delivery states are explained in Messaging.

Can a failed message try again when the station comes back?

Yes, with APRS Connect Pro. A message usually fails because the other station is off the air, and pressing Retry an hour later is a guess about when they are back. A message that has run out of retries can wait for its station instead: the app watches for that exact callsign and SSID, and the next time it is heard over the radio or APRS-IS, the message goes out again with the same wire ID, so a late acknowledgement still matches. There are three tries in all, spaced by an hour and then eight hours, and the watch lapses two weeks after it was set. Every waiting message is listed on the Waiting to be heard screen, and Stop waiting ends a watch at any point. The Retry button is free and always available; Pro adds the watch. See Messaging.

Does it work offline?

Yes, the app is local-first. Everything lives in a database on the phone, so your messages, packet history, and station list are fully usable with no connection. The map caches every tile you view and redraws them with no connection. You choose how large that cache may grow, up to 10 GB. For a whole area ahead of a trip, download an offline region, which needs APRS Connect Pro. See Map.

Can I turn off the vibration?

Yes. Settings → Display → Haptics turns it off. With it on, the phone gives a light tap when you send a message or a beacon, when a message you sent is delivered or not delivered, when you flip a switch or a choice, and when a long press opens a menu. Nothing else buzzes.

The switch works on its own: turning off the phone's touch vibration does not turn off the app's. The web and Windows apps do not have it.

Can the app turn sideways?

Yes. Settings → Display → Screen rotation has three buttons, each a picture of a phone:

• Turning rotates the app with the device, when the device's own auto-rotate is on. This is the default.
• Upright keeps the app in portrait however the device is held.
• On its side keeps the app in landscape even with auto-rotate off, which suits a phone in a vehicle mount. The app is the right way up whichever side the camera is on.

The line under the setting says which one is chosen.

The setting belongs to each device, so a phone in the car and a tablet at home can differ. The web and Windows apps do not have it; they fill the window they are in.

Can I turn off the animations?

Yes. Settings → Display → Animations turns them off. Buttons no longer shrink under your finger, screens and sheets appear without sliding, and messages and conversations change in place. It can help on a slower device.

If the device itself is set to reduce motion, the app follows that, and the line under the setting says so. The setting belongs to each device.

Is there an iPhone version?

Yes, APRS Connect is on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, as well as on Google Play for Android. The iPhone app connects to BLE KISS TNCs, KISS over TCP, APRS-IS and the audio modem, which keys the radio by VOX; Bluetooth Classic and USB serial TNCs are Android-only. See Connect a radio.

Is there a version for a computer?

Yes, in a web browser: open app.aprsconnect.com on Windows, macOS, Linux or a Chromebook, with nothing to install. Everything that runs over APRS-IS works in any current browser, and Chrome or Edge on a computer also connect to a USB serial TNC or a Bluetooth LE TNC. It runs only while its tab is open, and Pro there belongs to your account rather than to a store. See In a browser.

There is also an app to install on Windows 10 and Windows 11. It connects to USB, Bluetooth and network TNCs as well, and keeps running in the tray when its window is closed. See On Windows.

Which languages does the app come in?

English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Turkish and Malay. The app follows the phone's language setting, and falls back to English for any other language. To pin one regardless of the phone, pick it under Settings → Language. Apart from "callsign", protocol words stay in English in every language, so a term you quote to another operator reads the same on their screen. The translations have not yet been checked by native speakers; if one reads wrong, tell us on the support page.

How does the app update itself?

Fixes and small changes arrive over the internet between store releases. The app looks for one each time it starts, and again when you come back to it (at most once an hour), and downloads it in the background. It then restarts onto the new version by itself at a quiet moment: just as you open the app, or after three minutes on screen with nobody touching it. A short "Updating…" notice shows first. It never does this while the app is in the background, while a message or beacon is going out or a message is still waiting for its acknowledgement, or during first-time setup. To apply a downloaded update straight away, use More → About.

The web app checks the site for a newer version within a couple of minutes of one being published while it is open, and also a few minutes after it opens and every six hours after that. If its tab is in the background, with no radio connected and nothing being sent, it reloads itself onto the new version. Otherwise About shows A newer version is ready with a RELOAD button, and reloading loses nothing.

How do I see what changed in an update?

The first time you open the app after an update, a sheet lists what is new. The same list stays under More → About → What's new.

How do I stop transmitting my exact position?

Turn on position ambiguity. It is set per beacon, with five levels from exact down to a roughly 70-mile cell. The digits are genuinely removed before the packet is built, and reduced precision is flagged in the beacon summary so it cannot stay on by accident. Answering ?APRSP position queries is separate, opt-in, and off by default. See Beaconing.

How do I get my data out?

Three ways. A JSON backup exports your settings, conversations (with delivery and read state), and blocked list. See Backup & restore. The packet log exports exactly what is on screen, filters applied, or the entire log as a capture file, one packet per line with timestamps. See Packet log. And any station's track can be exported as GPX or KML from its page. See Stations.

Can I use a radio and APRS-IS at the same time?

Yes. You can run any combination of connections at once, and RF and internet show as two separate status indicators. Every station carries a provenance badge saying whether it was heard over RF, via the internet, or both, and you choose for each beacon whether it goes everywhere or only to the channels you name. See Connect a radio and Beaconing.

How do I ask a question or report a bug?

Tap Feedback in the app. It opens a conversation with the developer that rides the app's own internet connection, not the radio. Write what happened, and the answer arrives back in the same thread, with a notification. Your app version and device details ride along with what you send, which the thread says on the way in. What you send is text only: if a screenshot would explain it faster, email it to support@axelstack.com instead, or use the support page.

If something went wrong and you are not sure why, tap Send support file in that thread. It attaches the app's log and every channel's record, which are kept on the phone even after the app restarts. See Diagnostics for what is in them.

Support can answer with a picture, such as a screenshot of where a setting is. Tap it to open it full screen, then pinch or double-tap to zoom in. It is kept on the phone, so it still opens with no connection.

Last updated 8 October 2026