Documentation
Covers OpLine 1.3. Requires iOS 17 or later.
How to use the parts of OpLine that live outside the app: widgets, Siri, the Action Button, and the Lock Screen. For connecting to a node in the first place, see Get on the Air.
1. Widgets
OpLine ships four widgets for the Home Screen and Lock Screen. To add one, touch and hold an empty area of the Home Screen (or tap Customize on the Lock Screen), tap the + button, and search for OpLine.
Some widgets are configurable. After adding one, touch and hold it and choose Edit Widget.
Quick Connect Nodes
One-tap connect to a node. In Edit Widget, pick up to three nodes by searching the full AllStar directory by call sign, node number, or location. Each node becomes a button. Tapping it opens OpLine and connects. Sizes: small, medium.
Upcoming Nets
The next AllStar nets and when each one starts, with the live net flagged. Computed on your device from OpLine's net directory, so it needs no setup and works offline. Tapping it opens the Nets tab. Sizes: medium, large, and a Lock Screen size that shows the single next net.
Favorite Nets
The same upcoming-times view, limited to the nets you choose in Edit Widget. Sizes: medium, large.
Quick Connect
A single one-tap connect to your active node. Sizes: small, and a Lock Screen size.
2. Siri
No setup required. Say:
- "Siri, connect to OpLine" connects to your active node.
Also recognized: "Connect on OpLine", "Connect OpLine", and "Go on the air with OpLine". The shortcut appears in the Shortcuts app, where you can rename it or build it into your own automations.
To disconnect hands-free, use the Disconnect control on the Lock Screen Live Activity.
3. Action Button iPhone 15 Pro and later
Assign push-to-talk to the Action Button:
- Open Settings → Action Button and swipe to Shortcut.
- Choose a shortcut and pick PTT under OpLine.
- While connected, press the Action Button to key. Press again to unkey.
It is a single press, so it toggles transmit rather than holding. The transmit timeout still protects you if you forget to unkey. It works while OpLine is connected in the background, and does nothing when you are not connected.
4. Lock Screen Live Activity
While connected, OpLine shows a Live Activity on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island. You can control the connection without unlocking:
- Talk. Tap to key, tap again to unkey.
- Lock. Latch hands-free push-to-talk. The Talk button turns amber while locked, as a reminder that you are still transmitting.
- Disconnect. Two taps. The first arms it (it turns red and shows "End?"). A second tap within a few seconds disconnects. It cancels itself if you don't confirm, so a stray tap never drops your call.
Turn the Live Activity on or off under Settings → Participation → Lock Screen Live Activity.
If you force-quit OpLine while connected, the Lock Screen tile clears the next time you open the app, and its buttons never act on a dead connection.
5. Node search and recents
Built-in node directory
OpLine ships with a current snapshot of the AllStar node list, about 12,500 nodes, so search works instantly and offline on first launch. The list refreshes in the background to stay current.
Recently connected
Nodes you connect to are remembered for quick re-dial:
- Favorites → Nodes shows a Recently Connected section at the top. One tap reconnects. Tap the header to collapse or expand it.
- Node search opens with your recent nodes when the search box is empty, so you don't have to retype a number.
6. Push to talk
- Hold keys while your finger is down. Tap toggles transmit on and off. Switch between them with the selector under the PTT button.
- Lock latches transmit for hands-free operation.
- A transmit timeout unkeys automatically if you leave the mic open.
- Received audio is muted while you transmit, so you never hear yourself come back through a repeater.
On nodes running a phone-control dialplan, OpLine sends the radio key signal directly, so the transmitter keys as expected.
7. Listen-only mode
Not licensed yet? Turn on Settings → Participation → Listen only. Push-to-talk is hidden and transmit is disabled at the source. You can still browse nodes, follow nets, and listen. When you get your call sign, flip it off. Here's how to get licensed.
8. Settings reference
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Participation → Listen only | Disables transmit for unlicensed listening. |
| Participation → Lock Screen Live Activity | Shows or hides the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island controls while connected. |
| Participation → Action Button PTT | Enables or disables the PTT shortcut without touching the Action Button binding. |
| Asterisk Manager (AMI) | Per-node credentials for live link status. See Enable AMI. |
| Community | Link to the OpLine Discord. |
9. Release notes
1.3
- Four widgets for the Home and Lock Screen: Quick Connect Nodes, Upcoming Nets, Favorite Nets, and Quick Connect.
- Siri: "Siri, connect to OpLine."
- Push-to-talk on the Action Button, with an in-app switch to disable it.
- Lock Screen Live Activity with Talk, Lock, and a two-tap Disconnect.
- Built-in AllStar node directory, so search is instant and works offline.
- Recently connected nodes in Favorites and in node search.
- Push-to-talk now keys nodes configured for phone-control mode in their dialplan.
- More reliable connections and cleaner audio at the start of each transmission.
- Linked EchoLink and other non-IAX2 nodes now appear in the linked-nodes list with an unlink control.
- Clearer VoiceOver labels across the Live Activity, widgets, and recents.
10. Getting help
- Discord. Fastest place for questions and feedback: join the OpLine Discord.
- Email. support@opline.app. Include your node type (Web Transceiver, IAXRpt, or your own node) and what you saw.
- Node problems that aren't OpLine-specific belong on the AllStarLink forums.