Video Call

The Video Call screen handles real-time audio and video calls between devices on your Nettica network. Calls are peer-to-peer over your encrypted WireGuard tunnel. If using a relay or tunnel, the media may pass through your exclusive Nettica service container.

Connections utilizing a relay or tunnel are end-to-end encrypted and much more reliable than raw peer-to-peer connections, which may have trouble traversing NATs and firewalls.

Starting a Call

Enable and expand a VPN on the main screen by toggling it on and expanding the row. Each peer device in that VPN is listed below. When a peer has video calling enabled and the VPN is active, a video-camera icon appears on the right side of that peer's row. Tap the icon to start a call to that peer.

You can also start a call from the Text Chat screen by tapping the video icon in that screen's toolbar.

Outgoing Call — Connecting Screen

After tapping the camera icon, the Video Call screen opens immediately and shows a connecting overlay: the peer's avatar (or their initial letter if no avatar is set) with their name below it, and an animated "Calling…" indicator. The app sends a push notification to wake the peer's device and then retries the connection automatically until the peer answers or the timeout is reached (around 90 seconds).

If the peer does not answer within the retry window, the call times out, the screen returns to the previous screen, and an error reason is shown.

If the peer is already in another call, you will hear a busy signal for a few seconds before the call ends automatically.

Incoming Call

When someone calls you, the app presents an incoming call notification. Notifications depend on the platform, whether the Nettica app is in the foreground or background, and whether or not the screen is locked. Tap Accept and Decline.

On mobile devices the call arrives as a system-level VoIP notification (using CallKit on iOS), so it can wake the device even when the app is backgrounded.

If you have Auto-accept turned on in the More options menu, incoming calls are answered automatically without showing the incoming call screen. Auto-accept is not available on all platforms.

During the Call

Once the call connects, the remote participant's video fills the screen. The system status bar and navigation bar are hidden so the video has the full display — tap the screen to temporarily bring them back. The device's screen stays on for the entire duration of the call; the app holds a wake lock so the display does not dim or go to sleep.

The peer's name is shown above the hang up button throughout the call.

Showing and Hiding Controls

Tap anywhere on the screen to show or hide the controls. When visible, the controls hide automatically after a few seconds. Tapping again brings them back.

The red hang-up button can be set to fade with the other controls or remain always visible — see the Fade hang-up option in the More options menu.

Call Controls

• Mute / Unmute — toggle your microphone on or off.
• Video off / on — disable or re-enable your camera without ending the call.
• Share Screen — broadcast your screen instead of your camera. Tap again to stop sharing and return to the camera.
• Hang up (red button) — end the call and return to the previous screen.
• More options (⋮) — open audio, video, and call behavior settings.
• Help (?) — open this help page. Rendering pauses while help is open and resumes when you close it.

Picture-in-Picture (PiP)

During a call your local camera feed appears as a small rounded overlay in the top-right corner of the screen. You can drag it freely anywhere on the screen. When you release it, the PiP snaps with a short animation to whichever corner it is closest to. You can rotate from portrait to landscape and the call will automatically adjust to the new orientation, keeping the PiP in the top-right corner.

Tap the × button on the PiP to hide it. The PiP reappears in the nearest corner the next time controls are shown.

When device orientation changes, the PiP resets to the top-right corner so it stays within the new screen bounds.

Pinch to Zoom

Pinch to zoom in on the remote video and drag to pan around the zoomed view. You can zoom up to 5x. Double-tap or pinch back out to reset the view to full screen. On a trackpad, use a pinch gesture to scale.

Screen Sharing

Tap Share Screen to send your screen to the remote participant instead of your camera. On iOS, screen sharing uses ReplayKit and requires your confirmation. On Android and macOS, the system prompts for screen-capture permission. On Windows and Linux, the first available display is shared.

While screen sharing, the PiP shows your screen content rather than your camera. Tap Stop Sharing to return to the camera. You can exit the Nettica app and show the home screen while sharing.

Settings (More options menu)

• Speaker — route audio to speakerphone instead of the earpiece (mobile only).
• Start muted — join future calls with your microphone already muted.
• Start camera off — join future calls with the camera disabled.
• Rear camera — use the rear-facing camera instead of the front camera.
• Mirror mode — horizontally flip your local camera preview in the PiP.
• Low bandwidth — cap the outgoing video stream at 128 kbps and reduce resolution to 640×480 at 15 fps. Useful on slow or metered connections.
• Auto-accept — automatically answer incoming calls without showing the incoming call screen. Not available on all platforms.
• Fade hang-up — hide the red hang-up button along with the other controls when they auto-hide.
• Flip camera — switch between front and rear cameras mid-call. Not available while screen sharing.