Text Chat

Text Chat lets you exchange messages with another Nettica user on the same network. The chat session uses WebRTC signaling to establish a direct peer connection. Once connected, messages travel over the encrypted WireGuard channel between devices.

Open Text Chat by tapping the chat bubble icon that appears next to a peer in the expanded VPN list on the main screen. The icon is only visible when the VPN is active and the peer is available.

Connection Status Banner

A colored banner runs across the top of the chat screen showing the current connection state:

• Green — "Connected to [name]" — the peer-to-peer channel is established and messages flow directly between devices in real time.
• Orange — "Connecting to [name]..." — the app is setting up the signaling channel. Messages sent now are delivered via push notification instead of direct peer connection. A green notification icon indicates successful push notification delivery.

Sending Messages

Type your message in the input field at the bottom of the screen and tap the Send button (green arrow icon) to send it.

Your messages appear on the right side of the screen (in blue); the peer's messages appear on the left. Each message shows a timestamp formatted in your device's preferred 12-hour or 24-hour style.

Emoji-only messages are displayed extra large for emphasis.

Push Notification Fallback

If the peer is not currently connected to the chat channel (for example, they have the app in the background or their screen is off), the app automatically delivers your message as a push notification to their device. A small icon appears next to the message to indicate how it was delivered:

• Bell icon (green) — message was sent successfully via push notification.
• Error icon (red) — the push notification failed to deliver. The peer may have notifications disabled or may be offline.

After sending a push-notification message, the app also retries the direct peer connection in the background. If the peer opens the app, the channel upgrades to a live connection automatically.

Avatar Pictures

Each message displays the sender's avatar — a circular profile picture if they are logged in to their Nettica app. If a user has uploaded a profile picture in the Accounts screen, that image is shown. Otherwise the Nettica logo is used as a placeholder.

Message History

Up to 100 messages are held in memory during an active chat session. The chat history is not persisted to disk — closing the screen or ending the chat clears the message list. There is no stored chat log to review after the session ends.

Ending the Chat

Tap the End call button (red phone icon) in the input bar to hang up and close the text chat. If a voice or video call is also active at the same time, tapping End closes only the text chat overlay without ending the voice call — you can return to the call by tapping "return to call" button in the bottom right corner of the main screen.

Pressing the text chat screen's back button has the same behavior: if a voice call is running alongside text chat, it closes text chat but keeps the call alive. If text chat is the only active session, pressing back hangs up and returns to the main screen.