The 1.39.0 release of the MeshCore Companion App focuses on making repeater management more flexible and remote-friendly, while also laying groundwork for an upcoming packet format change. Here's what's new.
Remote Management for Repeater Regions
Regions control which channels a repeater forwards traffic on. You can now create and edit repeater regions directly through the app's remote management interface — no physical access to the node required. The select region menu can also discover regions advertised by nearby repeaters automatically, making initial setup faster. If the region info banner on the channel messages screen is in your way, you can now dismiss it manually.Change Repeater Identity Remotely
Two more fields are now accessible via remote management: the repeater's identity keys and its prefix — the short identifier it broadcasts on the mesh. This is particularly useful when repurposing or reassigning a node without being on-site.
Received Packet Errors in Repeater Status
The repeater status screen gains a new Received Packet Errors counter. This field shows how many malformed or unreadable packets the repeater has logged, giving you a quick diagnostic indicator for RF link quality or hardware issues.
Timestamp and Logging Improvements
RxLog (receive log) timestamps now include seconds, making it easier to correlate events precisely. There's also a new experimental option to use the companion app's own clock for packet timestamps instead of relying on firmware time — handy if your node's clock isn't synchronized.Preparing for v2 Packet Format
Starting with this release, the app will only process v1 packets. This is an intentional step toward supporting the upcoming v2 packet format in a future firmware release. If you're running older firmware that emits non-v1 packets, keep this in mind when upgrading the app.
Smaller Tweaks Worth Noting
The hashtag symbol is no longer required when typing region scopes — the app handles that automatically. TX power is now read as a signed integer, which prepares the app for negative power values (i.e., reduced output) that new firmware will support. Finally, the coverage tool now displays a clear notice when no elevation data is available for a selected map point, rather than silently failing.