## Offband Meshcore 1.2.0

Our biggest release yet. A ground-up interface redesign, a real database under the
hood, GIFs that work across every MeshCore client, and hands-on control of your
radio's RF front end. This is also the first Offband release built, signed, and
shipped to every platform automatically.

<!-- SCREENSHOT: hero shot of the redesigned app (pinned left rail + a channel open) -->

### One app, every platform

From this release on, every Offband build ships everywhere at once, signed with
the same key so updates just work:

- **Android**: install from Google Play or sideload the signed APK
- **Windows**: desktop build
- **Linux**: desktop build
- **Web**: run it right in your browser, no install, at offband.app

Pick your platform below.

### A brand-new interface

The headline feature. Offband has been rebuilt around a modern navigation shell
that finally gets out of your way.

- A **left rail** you open from the hamburger button, and can **pin open** so it
  lives right alongside your conversation instead of covering it.
- Your **channels live in the rail** and switch **in place**, so jumping between
  channels never loses your spot or your scroll position.
- Map layer toggles, Disconnect, and Settings all found sensible new homes in the
  panel, and the back button finally behaves the way it should: it backgrounds
  the app instead of killing it, and never knocks you off a connected radio.

<!-- SCREENSHOT: left rail pinned open, showing the channel list -->

### Your data, on solid ground

Under the surface, Offband now keeps your messages, contacts, and channels in a
real SQLite database instead of a pile of loose preference files.

- Your **existing data migrates automatically** the first time you open this
  version. Nothing is thrown away, and your **full message history is preserved**.
- Storage problems that used to fail silently now surface, so nothing goes wrong
  in the dark.
- On desktop, your data no longer gets swept into OneDrive/Documents sync.

### GIFs everyone can see

GIFs are no longer an Offband-only party trick.

- Send a GIF and it goes out as a **plain Giphy link**, so people on **stock
  MeshCore and other clients can tap it and watch it** too, not just Offband
  users.
- Paste a **Giphy or Tenor** link and it renders inline, behind a trusted-host
  safety allowlist.

### Take command of your radio's front end

Power users, this one's for you. On supported hardware, Offband now gives you
direct control of your radio's **FEM / LNA** (the front-end module and low-noise
amplifier that shape receive sensitivity and transmit path).

- Toggle **FEM LNA** right from Radio Settings.
- Device Info now reads out your radio's Offband capabilities, so you can see at a
  glance what your hardware supports.

Both are gated on firmware capability, so they appear only where the radio
actually supports them.

<!-- SCREENSHOT: Radio Settings showing the FEM LNA toggle -->

### Deeper diagnostics

More signal, less guesswork when you need to see what your mesh is doing.

- Message **arrival time is now logged and persisted** separately from the claimed
  send time, so you can tell when a message really reached you versus when the
  sender says it left (#285).
- Path diagnostics report **honest, width-aware units** instead of mislabeled hop
  counts, and path lengths decode exactly per the firmware contract.

### Faster across the board

The new storage engine and a round of under-the-hood work add up to a noticeably
snappier app.

- Connecting no longer rewrites your entire preferences file for every channel, so
  connect time is quicker and lighter on storage.
- Bulk reads and writes go through the database now, which scales far better as
  your message and contact history grows.

### And a few more

- Desktop remembers your window size and position between launches.
- Reach a contact's settings straight from its long-press menu.
- You can no longer accidentally block your own node.

---

See the full, itemized changelog in the repository.
