Functions
In order: from a click to a wipe
Each entry is one thing the cube does. The search box above filters this list.
The button — five gestures
- Click — next screen page (WAVES → NETWORK → HELP → INFO and around).
- Double click — ninja mode: the screen and LED go dark, the sound goes quiet. The radio keeps transmitting and receiving — ninja is discretion, not radio silence. Double click again to leave.
- Triple click — the SIEC/SAM switch (described below).
- Hold 3 seconds — hotspot: the cube sets up its own Wi-Fi and shows the name and password on the screen. Another hold closes the window early.
- Hold 10 seconds — wipe. From the fourth second the screen counts down and says RELEASE TO CANCEL; letting go during the countdown aborts without a trace.
The screen — four pages
- WAVES. The resting page: BIPER drifts across, and the wave tempo rises with the number of neighbours heard. Send states show here too: NADAJE (went on the air), CZEKAM (no confirmation yet), DOSZŁO (radio confirmed), POMOC (alarm — the whole screen inverts) and CISZA (no link).
- NETWORK. The hotspot hint (“3s = on”) and the radio mode: SIEC or SAM. While the hotspot window is open this page shows the network name, the password in large type and the window’s time bar.
- HELP. The rescue rings — the same animation later carries the wipe.
- INFO. SŁYSZĘ (how many neighbours in the last 15 minutes) and the system version — with several cubes you see at once which runs what. Since release 0.9.0 there is no Bluetooth code here, because the system has no Bluetooth: the panel over Wi-Fi is the whole interface.
SIEC and SAM — whether you relay other people’s messages
SIEC (default): the cube relays other people’s packets and extends everyone’s range — that is how the network grows. SAM: it transmits only yours. Switch with a triple click; the choice shows on the NETWORK page and survives restarts. A cube in SIEC mode also announces itself on the air about a minute after power-on — two fresh cubes see each other without a phone. In SAM mode the cube stays silent until you announce it yourself.
The hotspot and the password
The cube’s network starts by itself at power-on; later you open it by holding the button for 3 seconds. The network name is “Biper-” plus a short word (e.g. “Biper-SOWA”) — drawn from an identifier burned into the chip by default; set your own word (2–4 letters) in the panel: SETTINGS → CUBE’S WI-FI, applied from the next window. The password is drawn once and remembered by the cube: the phone remembers it after the first join. The window closes after ten minutes with the panel closed — while you keep the panel open, the network stays up. After a wipe or a fresh install the password is new under the same name — make the phone forget the network and join again.
The panel on the phone — 192.168.4.1
After joining the cube’s Wi-Fi the panel opens by itself; if not, type 192.168.4.1 into the browser. Tabs: POMOC (the rescue signal), KANAŁ (the neighbourhood’s shared conversation), KONTAKTY (neighbours and private messages with delivery confirmation), ETER (a view of radio traffic), PORADNIK (the guide built into the cube — works without the internet) and USTAW (the cube’s name, your own Wi-Fi word, distance-contact codes, ANNOUNCE TO NEIGHBOURS, theme, a contact backup in the phone). The panel takes one phone at a time; up to four devices can join the cube’s Wi-Fi. Android: if the panel did not open by itself, pull down the “Sign in to network” notification, stay on the network despite “no internet”, turn mobile data off for a moment and type the address by hand.
SOS — the rescue signal
In the panel, the SOS tab (a shortcut also sits in the header of every screen): a tap starts a 3-2-1 countdown; a tap during the countdown cancels. After the countdown the cube transmits the rescue signal and the screen runs its fastest rescue rings with the word POMOC — the one state whose motion reads from across a room. With no link to the cube the panel says outright that the signal did not go out.
Announcing yourself to neighbours
Neighbours see you only after an announcement — a short “I am here” on the air. A cube in SIEC mode does it by itself: a minute after power-on, in reply to a newly heard neighbour, and as an hourly reminder. Manually: panel → USTAW → ANNOUNCE TO NEIGHBOURS (in the MeshCore app: Advert). The SŁYSZĘ counter on the INFO page counts neighbours heard in the last quarter-hour.
Contact at a distance — codes
People in radio range add themselves. Someone farther away — family in another city — you add by code: panel → USTAW → SHOW MY CODE, send it any way you like (SMS, e-mail, a messenger), and paste theirs into ADD CONTACT FROM CODE. Exchange both ways. The code is the cube’s signed card — forged or damaged codes are refused. A message will arrive whenever a chain of network nodes exists between you — check the route on the community map.
The wipe — the cube comes back like new
Hold the button for 10 seconds; from the fourth second the screen counts down, letting go aborts. A wipe clears contacts, the radio identity, the Wi-Fi password and the SIEC/SAM choice (the default SIEC returns). The network name returns to the drawn one (a custom word from SETTINGS is cleared too). After a wipe the phone has to forget the old network, because the password will be new.
Power
USB-C, 5 V — a computer, a charger or a power bank. The cube has no battery: unplugging turns it off, plugging back in starts it fresh (contacts and settings stay). We have not measured the power draw yet — once we do, the number will stand here.
