In testing · Private beta

Off-Grid Net

Talk, find your people and stay together when there's no cell signal and no internet. No account. No ads.

Join the private betaiPhone · iPad · MacHow it works Feature tour

Off-Grid Net is not a safety or emergency service. Don't rely on it to locate or protect anyone. In an emergency, call your local emergency number directly.

How it travels

Phone to phone, first. Everything else is extra.

Off-Grid Net always starts with the devices around you: Wi-Fi phone to phone when it can, Bluetooth when it can't. If there's a farther path, it uses that too, but only the ones you allow.

Wi-Fi, phone to phone

Nearby iPhones, iPads and Macs talk straight to each other over Wi-Fi, with no router or internet. It's the fast lane, so photos, video and voice move quickest here.

Automatic

Bluetooth, when Wi-Fi can't

When phone-to-phone Wi-Fi isn't available, devices link over Bluetooth: about 30 to 100 feet, and can go farther when someone is farther along the path. It also runs underneath to find people nearby, and HELP goes out on every link at once.

Backup

Internet relays

Off until you choose. Turn it on and, when you have a connection, messages also go through public internet relays run by others. Everyone reaches people within a few miles of you and stays public. Private groups and 1:1 reach your people anywhere, and stay end-to-end encrypted.

Your choice

LoRa radio in testing

Pair a Meshtastic radio and Off-Grid Net can send Public messages and Public HELP, with your location, through it. Anyone with a compatible radio may receive them. Private chats never go to the radio. Radio is not an emergency service. You're responsible for using your radio legally where you are.

Your choice

Phone satellite data in testing

In testing. On a phone satellite connection (if your carrier and plan support it, and you've turned on Internet), only small messages, like text, HELP and your location, are sent. Voice, photos, video and files go only to people nearby, phone to phone. Your carrier handles the satellite link. Off-Grid Net isn't a satellite emergency service.

If supported

Meshtastic is a trademark of its owner, and Off-Grid Net isn't affiliated with or endorsed by it.

Feature tour

Everything it does, in plain words.

All of this is built and being tested now. Things can change, and some may not make the first release.

Find your people

Who's near, how far, which way.

Radar: You're the blue dot in the middle, and the rings show distance.
Warmer / colder: No location shared? A bar based on Bluetooth signal tells you if you're getting closer.
A spot without GPS: No GPS fix? It estimates your spot from three nearby devices that have one.
Precise finding: On iPhones that support Ultra Wideband, measure the distance to someone right next to you.
Find, with a big arrow: Tap someone, tap Find, and follow the arrow.
North-up or heading-up: Pick how the radar turns.

Talk

Voice, text and more, phone to phone.

Hold to talk: Push-to-talk voice clips, up to 30 seconds. Others hear it right away.
Hardware push to talk: iPhone: the Action Button, or Control Center and the Lock Screen on iOS 18 or later. Mac and iPad with a keyboard: hold Control-Shift-T.
Messages and voice notes: Text, dictation, and voice notes of any length.
Files of any type, any size: Photos, video and files of any type. The app sets no size limit. Big files take longer, especially over Bluetooth, and transfers pick up where they left off. The other phone needs room for the file plus 200 MB to spare. Photos are shrunk and stripped of location and camera details before they're sent. On iPhone, iPad and Mac, videos from the camera or library are made smaller to move faster, with location removed. Anything sent as a file goes as it is, so a photo sent as a file keeps its details.
Your own quick buttons: Add up to 12 of your own buttons next to HELP and FOUND.
Delivery receipts: "Delivered 3 of 4" shows how many people got it.
It finds a way: Can't reach someone? Other phones carry the message, and the app tells you which way to walk to pass it on.
Polls, @mentions, notes: Quick polls, @mentions that cut through a muted chat, and a note to self that never leaves your phone.
Translation on your phone: Off by default. Translation runs only on your device. Translations can be wrong, so check the original for anything critical.

HELP and FOUND

For when something's wrong.

HELP: Tap HELP and choose who gets it: Everyone, Only these people, or Everyone except. Nothing is sent until you tap a choice.
Emergency call: On phones, the HELP screen also has a separate call button. When your phone reports the local emergency number, the button shows a phone icon and that number (for example, 911 in the US). Otherwise it shows EMERGENCY. Check the number, then place the call yourself. It needs your phone's own service.
FOUND: Drops your exact spot so your people can come to you.
Roll call: Ask a group "Are you OK?" and see the answers add up: I'm OK, Need help, or no answer.
HELP shortcuts: Widgets, Control Center and Siri on iPhone open the HELP chooser. They never send by themselves.
Ring their phone: Off by default. Turn it on and your contacts and private-group members can make your phone ring for 30 seconds to help find it. On iPhone it rings loudly only while Off-Grid Net is open; otherwise it follows your silent setting.
Weather alert relay: U.S., off by default. With internet, your phone checks National Weather Service alerts for your area and shares severe ones with your groups. Alerts can be late or missed. Not an official warning system, and not affiliated with the National Weather Service.
Alert log: A record of alerts on this device, kept even if you delete the message. It stays on your device unless you export it as a report. HELP alerts are kept for up to 1 year and can't be erased sooner. You can erase the rest in the Alerts section. The log holds up to 5,000 entries; the oldest drop off.

Stay together

Keep your people close.

Tether: Pick a distance. If someone drifts too far, or their signal is lost for 30 seconds, you get an alert and an arrow points the way back. Stay near, Tether, or Tether both.
Consent first: Tether needs consent. The other person has to agree on their own phone, sees that they're sharing, and can stop with one tap.
Tether areas: Get an alert when someone leaves an area you draw, and when they come back.
Crash and fall alerts: Optional, for people who agree to be tethered. If it senses a hard fall or crash and you don't tap I'm OK within 30 seconds, your Tether contact gets an alert with your location. It isn't a medical device or an emergency service and won't place an emergency call. It can miss real falls and crashes, and can go off when nothing happened.
On the Lock Screen: On iPhone, a running Tether shows on the Lock Screen with who and how far.
Cards that tell you more: Battery, when you last heard from someone, a 24-hour status like "At camp, site 12", and an alert when they come back in range.

Item mode

Item mode shares the location of a device you own with you, peer to peer, for things no person carries. The device always shows it's sharing, and anyone holding it can stop.

Maps and trails

Know the ground, even offline.

Four map styles: Black, Street, Satellite and Topo (U.S.) under the radar.
Offline maps: Download an area while you have signal, and it shows with none. Offline satellite is U.S. only.
Smart map cache: Maps you use a lot stay handy. Old ones clear out, and you can wipe the cache in Settings.
Shared pins: Drop a named pin your group sees on the radar. Set it to expire.
Trail and routes: Keep a breadcrumb trail with distance and climb, and send it as a route. Climb data stays on your phone.
Export and coordinates: Export your trail as GPX or PDF. Show coordinates as decimal, DMS, UTM or MGRS.

Search and rescue

For organized searches. It doesn't replace emergency services or professional rescue.

Search line: Spread a group out at even spacing to search a field. Each person's arrow keeps them the right distance from the people beside them.
Grid squares: Mark the squares you've searched on the map, in the size you pick.
Check-in timer: Get a reminder 10 minutes before a check-in is due. Miss it and your people get your last location; still missed, HELP goes to them. It doesn't place an emergency call.
No-movement alert: If you don't move for the time you set, it asks "You OK?" No answer in 60 seconds sends HELP to the people you picked. It can miss trouble and go off by mistake, so pause it when resting.
Battery saver: Turns on at the battery level you pick. Location updates slow down; HELP, FOUND, check-ins and no-movement alerts aren't slowed by it.

Privacy and control

Your stuff stays yours.

No account, no ads, no analytics: No sign-up. No analytics in the app. Big Easy runs no server your messages go through.
Public is public: Everyone is the public room. Treat it like talking out loud in a crowd.
Private is locked: Private groups and one-on-one chats are end-to-end encrypted. Phones that pass them along can't read them.
Check who joins: Invite by QR code or invite code, check the 4-digit number matches, then let them in.
Block and report: Block anyone. Report opens an email you send yourself.
App lock: Lock the app with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode, and hide it in the app switcher.
Move phones, link devices: Move your identity to a new phone, and link an iPad or Mac.
Backup and restore: Save your messages and photos to one file, and bring them back later. Keep the file safe: anyone who has it can read it.
Invite links and NFC tags: Share a group invite link, or put it on an NFC tag. Nobody gets in until someone in the group lets them in.

Platforms

On iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch.

iPhone, iPad and Mac talk to each other, so your crew can mix those devices.

iPhoneThe full app.

iPadRadar, chat and lists side by side.

MacMost of the same tools, plus keyboard push to talk.

Apple WatchRadar, talk, HELP, FOUND, Find and Tether alerts. Works through your iPhone.

WindowsIn development.

AndroidIn development.

In nine languages

EnglishEspañolFrançaisDeutschPortuguês (Brasil)简体中文日本語हिन्दीالعربية

Some safety and legal notices stay in English for now.

Privacy, in plain words

Don't post it in Everyone if you wouldn't say it out loud.

No account, no ads, no analytics in the app. Big Easy runs no server your messages go through.
Your name is seen by people nearby, including strangers.
Your location is shown to people nearby while location sharing is on. It can be exact. You can turn it off any time.
The public room is public. Anyone who has the app, or knows how it works, can read it.
Private groups and 1:1 messages are end-to-end encrypted. Only the people in them can read them.
Other people's phones may hold your messages for a while as they pass them along.
With Internet on, public relays run by others can see your internet address and rough area, and may keep things longer.
People who receive your messages, photos or location can keep or screenshot them.
With Weather alert relay on, your rough location goes to the National Weather Service to look up alerts.

Questions

Fair questions.

When can I get it?

There's a private beta for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Join the private beta

Does it reach phones that don't have the app?

No. It only works when other people with Off-Grid Net are close enough, or reachable over the internet if you've turned that on.

How far does it reach?

Phone to phone, Bluetooth reaches about 30 to 100 feet. Walls and bodies cut that down. Other phones with the app pass messages along, so with people in between it can reach much farther.

Do I need an account?

No account and no sign-up. You pick a name, and a photo if you want.

Can it replace emergency services?

No. Off-Grid Net is not an emergency service and isn't monitored. HELP only reaches the people you choose, and only if their phones can be reached. An emergency call needs your phone's own service; the app can't place it for you. In an emergency, always call your local emergency number directly.

Emergency numbers

Emergency numbers differ by country. These are common numbers checked against official sources. The list is not complete and can go out of date. Confirm the number for where you are.

United States and Canada: 911
European Union: 112
United Kingdom: 999 or 112
Australia: 000 (112 also works from most mobiles)
New Zealand: 111
Mexico: 911
Brazil: 190 (police), 192 (ambulance), 193 (fire)
India: 112
Mainland China: 110 (police), 119 (fire), 120 (ambulance)
Japan: 110 (police), 119 (fire and ambulance)

Modules

Coming soon.

Tell me when Off-Grid Net is out