Aloha ,

I’m happy to announce that Radio Messenger is now available on the App Store.

It’s built for iPhone and iPad. The iPad app also runs on Macs with Apple silicon.

Radio Messenger came from a simple idea: messaging over amateur radio works, but it has never felt like modern messaging. Most software treats chat as secondary to maps and tracking. In Radio Messenger, conversations come first.

Deceptively simple. Powerful inside.

A full-featured messaging app with radio support built in, an integrated modem for audio adapters, and conversations that sync across your devices. No jargon. No complicated setup. Just radio messaging that works.

What you can do

APRS Messaging — Send a message to any callsign with delivery tracking, acknowledgements, and automatic retries when conditions are poor. You get the reach of the existing APRS network, in a conversation-first interface.

Enhanced Messaging — On non-APRS frequencies, chat with another Radio Messenger operator using a new, experimental, radio-only mode: longer messages, reactions, read receipts, file and photo sharing, and verified sender identity.

Room chat — Open shared-frequency group conversations (UNPROTO-style). No acknowledgements, no retries, just a lightweight channel anyone nearby can join.

Presence & On Air — Announce that you’re available, and see stations that look ready to message, not a noisy list of infrastructure and trackers.

Location, when you mean it — Share where you are, or drop a pin, inside a conversation. Offline Maps keep those places readable when you’re off-grid.

Alerts that find you — Get notified when something arrives, even if the phone is locked or you’re in another app.

Multi-device sync — Conversations stay in sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Take your phone off-grid and run radio-only; when you reconnect, everything catches up. Your conversations stay complete on every device, which is critical if you operate in the field and still want the full context when you’re back at home.

The app works best with Bluetooth handhelds that have a built-in modem, for example the BTECH UV-PRO, or a Kenwood TH-D75 with a B.B. Link adapter. Classic radios work too via an audio adapter like Digirig Lite and the built-in modem. Full compatibility list.

Message Continuity

Messaging over radio has real constraints. You’re not always in range. Radios get turned off. Phones get put away. APRS doesn’t hold the messages you miss.

Radio Messenger’s approach is pragmatic. Radio is always tried first. When that path isn’t available, Message Continuity can carry APRS messages over the internet as a fallback, hold what you miss, and alert you with a push notification so conversations stay complete and catch up when you’re back.

The goal isn’t to replace radio with the internet. It’s to make the experience less brittle.

Free to use over radio. Plus is optional.

Radio Messenger is free to download and core radio messaging remains free.

Radio Messenger Plus adds features that rely on internet services:

• Message Continuity
• Callsign name lookup
• Offline Maps

Every new user gets a 10-day free trial of Plus, enough time to use it with your own gear and decide if it’s valuable to you.

After the trial, a subscription is required to keep those Plus features. Everything else continues to work over radio.

The intent is simple: keep experimentation accessible while reserving subscriptions for features that have ongoing infrastructure and maintenance costs.

I’ll be the first to admit that subscriptions aren’t anyone’s favorite. I don’t like them either.

However, offering internet services has real operating costs. I’ve been aiming for a price that feels fair, covers that infrastructure, and supports continued development.

As a thank you to everyone who has supported Radio Messenger from the beginning, the first year of Radio Messenger Plus is available at a discounted introductory price of $9.99 until August 31.

Hope you’ll enjoy it.

G.