APRS Connect

macOS 14 or later recommended · Apple silicon and Intel

APRS Connect for Mac

The same app as on Android and iPhone, in a window of its own. It connects to APRS-IS over the internet, with messaging and the map.

Download for Mac How to install it

Version 1.14.0, 20.0 MB. One download for Apple silicon and Intel Macs. macOS 14 or later is recommended. It may work on older Macs as well.

Also on Android and iPhone, and on Windows and Linux.

APRS Connect on a Mac: the list of conversations, one conversation open with each message marked Delivered, and the page of the station it is with, including its track on a map
Messages on a wide window: your conversations, the one you opened, and the station it is with. Select a picture to see it larger.

What the Mac app does

Messaging and the map over APRS-IS

The app connects to the APRS-IS servers over the internet. Messaging and the map work as they do on a phone.

One download for Apple silicon and Intel

The same file runs on both kinds of Mac. macOS 14 or later is recommended. It may work on older Macs as well.

It keeps running in the menu bar

Closing the window does not stop the app. It keeps running in the menu bar.

Signed and checked by Apple

The app is signed and notarised, which means Apple has checked it for malicious software. macOS says so the first time you open it.

The guide covers each part of the app.

The map

The map in the Mac app: stations between Boulder and Denver with their callsigns, and the tracks of the ones that are moving
The map, with the track of each station that is moving.

The stations and callsigns in these pictures are made up.

Installing it

  1. Download the app. The file is named APRS Connect_1.14.0_universal.zip.
  2. Open the downloaded zip.
  3. Drag APRS Connect to your Applications folder.
  4. Open APRS Connect. The first time, macOS asks you to confirm, because the app was downloaded from the internet. Choose Open.

For a new version, download it from this page again.

Permissions macOS asks for

macOS asks for your permission the first time the app uses Bluetooth, this Mac's location or the microphone. The microphone is for the audio modem.

Get it

Download for Mac

Version 1.14.0, 20.0 MB. For Apple silicon and Intel Macs. macOS 14 or later is recommended.

On Android and iPhone

APRS Connect is on Google Play for Android and on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, and there are apps for Windows and Linux. It also runs in a web browser, with nothing to install.

Get it on Google Play Download on the App Store APRS Connect for Windows APRS Connect for Linux Open in your browser