Indra: Meshtastic for Ubuntu Touch
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For the past few weeks, I have been working on a Meshtastic app for Ubuntu Touch. I've shared a few screenshots here and there in the UBPorts Matrix rooms. But now the app is finally ready enough to be made public for alpha testing.
It is not ready for the OpenStore yet. The point of this pre-release is to find bugs in the currently implemented features, and (hopefully) figure out a way to deal with Bluetooth instability issues.
The source code is here: https://git.agnos.is/projectmoon/indra
The app is licensed under the AGPLv3 due to using portions of the Whisperfish codebase.
Release (.click packages): https://git.agnos.is/projectmoon/indra/releases
What is Meshtastic?
Meshtastic is an off-grid communication solution that uses low powered radios (LoRa) to send messages over approved frequencies (868 MHz in Europe, ~915 MHz in North America). This can be used for text messaging, location tracking, telemetry reporting, and more.The app must be prevented from suspending using the UT Tweak Tool to work properly.
Implemented Features
- Sending and receiving messages to channels.
- Sending and receiving messages directly to/from nodes.
- List of nodes with node information and hops away.
- Connect to nodes via Bluetooth.
- Connect to nodes via serial USB.
- Support multiple nodes.
- Push notifications for messages received in channels and direct messages.
Notable Missing Features
- Node map
- Node information
- Channel information
- Setting up and configuring radios (use another device for this for now)
- Connecting to radios over WiFi
- Remote administration
- Favorite nodes
- Sorting node list
- Searching messages and nodes
- Proper list of previously connected nodes
- Device telemetry.
The Alpha Testing Phase
New releases will be uploaded when they are ready. There will be no database migration during the alpha testing phase, as the data model is not yet stable. So releases may require a complete wipe of the on-device database. After moving to beta/production releases, the database will be treated as something that should not be erased.The goal of this test is to make sure of the following:
- There are no strange problems with sending and receiving messages.
- Make sure that mulitple radios are properly supported: there should be no cross-over of messages and such.
- Try and stabilize the Bluetooth connection without power cycling the Bluetooth adapter. This might be device-specific. On the Volla Quintus, the BLE connection drops quite often, and it seems that it can only reconnect to the radio by powering the BT adapter and back on. This works, but it also disconnects other BT devices.
Known Issues
Aside from the giant list of missing features above, there are a handful of known problems:- Messages not immediately marked as read if in the channel where message was received.
- Bluetooth connection instability (see above).
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I am very interested in this project but I'm an end user not a dev. Any chance of getting some guidance on installing the alpha version you've provided for testing?
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@majorquibble You can download the proper click package from the link in the post. If you have a more modern phone, it's probably arm64. Then you just open it with the OpenStore and install manually.
One very important bug I am trying to squash is being unable to direct message some nodes while being able to message other nodes. Need info on the patterns behind it.
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@projectmoon cool thanks! I'm on a Pixel 3a running the latest version of UT. I tried opening all three click packages in the OpenStore and got a "installation failed could not install package make sure it's a valid click package" error for each one. I'd be happy to test out that bug once I get the app running!