APRS Connect Lands on iPhone — And Brings APRS OTA Along With It

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If you've been eyeing up APRS Connect since its Android debut back in August, the wait's over: it's now live on the App Store for iPhone.

APRS Connect, the messaging-first APRS client that launched on Android in August, is now available for iOS 16.4 and later. It's free to install and use over APRS-IS. Connecting a physical radio, along with a handful of advanced features, sits behind APRS Connect Pro, a subscription that comes with a 7-day free trial.

Built-In Support for APRS OTA

APRS OTA, the on-the-air activity that runs entirely over APRS, now has its own dedicated screens in the app — so you're tapping buttons rather than memorising bot commands.

Hosts can go on the air in a single tap, and each chaser's call arrives alongside their message, location, and a Confirm button. A status bar across the top tracks QSOs, points, and time remaining, with options to extend your session or message every chaser at once. A live map shows your position and your chasers' positions, and tallies up how far your contacts have reached. On the chasing side, you get a list of active hosts, tap one to call, and can follow each step through to the host's QSL. Every operating session is saved with its map and scores, and can be shared as an image.

Chasing works over free APRS-IS. Hosting still requires a radio, in line with APRS OTA's rules.

Everything Else on APRS Gets the Same Treatment

The app applies the same guided-screen approach across the rest of APRS's services, replacing commands to memorise with simple UI: weather, the repeater finder, WHO-IS, and the SMS, email, and Winlink gateways, along with APRSpot and APRS2SOTA self-spotting. #APRSThursday and other ANSRVR groups now open as a single net room.

Hardware Support on iPhone

On iPhone, the app connects to KISS TNCs over Bluetooth LE or TCP. It can also work through a radio's speaker and mic using a built-in AFSK 1200 audio modem with VOX keying. Radios with a Bluetooth LE KISS TNC already built in — the BTECH UV-Pro, for example — connect directly.

What's New Since Launch

A number of features have been added since APRS Connect was first covered:

  • IGate functionality — the phone can pass what your radio hears straight to APRS-IS, and optionally relay messages from the internet back out over the air to nearby stations.

  • Digipeater mode that stays quiet when another digipeater has already repeated a packet.

  • A coverage map showing where your beacons have been picked up by a digipeater.

  • Pinned stations, a grid square screen, and the ISS shown live on the map.

  • A routing setting for outgoing messages — radio first, APRS-IS first, one link only, or every channel at once.

  • An optional account that keeps messages, pinned stations, and settings consistent across devices. When two devices share a callsign and SSID, only one beacons, acks, and digipeats at a time.

  • A "Rest of the world" map layer, showing stations heard anywhere on APRS-IS, not just by your own device.

  • Improved accessibility for VoiceOver and TalkBack users — every button has a spoken name, and open conversations read new messages aloud.

The newest of these features are live on iPhone now, and will reach Android with its next Play Store release.

More information is available at aprsconnect.com, with APRS OTA details at aprsconnect.com/ota. Download the app at aprsconnect.com/get/89x5bv.