In Direct Mode, your phone communicates with your device (ESP32, ESP8266, Arduino UNO R4 WiFi, and more) directly over Wi-Fi. Your board broadcasts its own network, your phone joins it, and they communicate point to point on that local network.
Direct Mode lives in the Maker tab — labeled Maker (Direct Mode) in the bottom nav.
[image] Maker tab populated, project card « Greenhouse » visible
What Maker contains
The Maker tab is a list of every Direct Mode project you’ve created. Each project stands on its own — its dashboard, its widgets, its target board.
When the list is empty, the tab shows a Direct mode hero card describing the model — « Your device (ESP32, Arduino…) broadcasts its own Wi-Fi. Your phone joins it. No router, no server. Just connect and control. » — and a Create New Project button.
[image] Maker tab empty state with « Direct mode » hero and CTA
When you have projects, they appear under a My Projects section, each as a card. Tap a card to open the project’s Dashboard. Tap the More options menu (the three dots) to access Open, Edit, Duplicate, Export, and Delete.
[image] Maker tab populated with project card menu open
Create a project
From the Maker tab, tap the + button. The Create Project dialog opens.
[image] Create Project dialog with empty fields
You fill in:
- Project Name — required, between 2 and 64 characters.
- Description — optional, free-form.
- Device — the board you’re targeting (defaults to ESP32).
- Connection — read-only, locked to WiFi SoftAP / Direct mode in this tab.
Tap Create. The project lands on top of your My Projects list, ready to open.
Edit, duplicate, export
The More options menu on each project card gives you the rest:
- Edit opens the same dialog as Create, pre-filled. Useful to rename or change the description.
- Duplicate creates a copy with the same widgets and settings. The copy gets a new name (typically « Greenhouse copy ») — a fast way to template a setup.
- Export offers two paths: Save to device (downloads an
.instantiotfile to your phone), or Share (opens the system share sheet — email, AirDrop, cloud).
The exported file contains everything: dashboard, widgets, project metadata. You can re-import it on another phone, or send it to someone for them to open.
Import a project
From the Maker tab, locate the import entry point and pick an .instantiot file. The app shows a confirmation dialog with the project’s name and the number of widgets it contains. Tap Import to bring it into your list.
A loading dialog appears while the project is configured. When it closes, the project is in your My Projects section.
[image] Import loading dialog
Delete a project
The Delete action sits in the More options menu. The confirmation dialog spells out the consequences clearly — « This action cannot be undone. All widgets and settings will be permanently removed. » — and asks you to confirm with the red Delete button.
[image] Delete confirmation dialog with project name and red CTA
There’s no undo. Export the project first if you might want it back.
Open a project
Tap any project card. The app navigates to the Dashboard, carrying the project’s identity.
If your phone has saved a connection to the matching board, the app attempts to reconnect automatically. Otherwise, you’ll connect manually from the Dashboard’s top bar — see Connection below.
Connection — the Wi-Fi sheet
Once your project is open in the Dashboard, you’ll need to connect your phone to your board’s Wi-Fi. The connection icon at the top right of the Dashboard opens the Connection sheet. The same sheet is reachable from the Maker tab too — connecting from Maker pre-arms the project so it’s already linked when you open it.
[image] Connection sheet with Available Devices section showing one device
The sheet has three sections:
- Connected Device — appears when a connection is active. Shows the device, its transport (P2P, WIFI, TCP), and a red Disconnect button.
- Paired Devices — boards you’ve successfully connected to before. Tap to reconnect on any card to re-establish the link in one tap. The trash icon forgets a paired device.
- Available Devices — boards currently broadcasting and visible to your phone.
Scan and connect (Android)
When you open the sheet on Android, the app starts scanning automatically. The button label flips to Stop Scan while it runs; you can also tap Scan WiFi Devices to start a new scan whenever.
Tap a device to connect. The Connect to WiFi modal opens, showing the network’s name, its security status (Secured badge), and signal strength.
[image] Connect to WiFi modal with password field
Enter the Wi-Fi password — typically 12345678 for the default SoftAP your sketch broadcasts — and the port (defaults to 8080). Tap Connect.
A status dialog reports progress: Connecting to Greenhouse… → Successfully connected to Greenhouse!. The dialog dismisses itself; the device moves into the Connected Device slot at the top of the sheet.
[image] Connected Device card with green checkmark
If the connection fails — wrong password, board off, network out of range — the dialog shows the error and you can retry without retyping anything.
Scan on iOS
iOS doesn’t allow third-party apps to scan Wi-Fi networks. On iOS, the Connection sheet shows a manual entry form instead of a scan list — SSID, Password, Port, and Gateway IP. Fill them in and tap Connect to SoftAP.
A separate button, TCP Direct Connection, opens the Direct IP modal (see below).
[image] iOS Connection sheet with manual form
Direct IP — connect over your home Wi-Fi
If your board is configured to join your home Wi-Fi (instead of broadcasting its own), use Direct IP Connection.
[image] Direct IP Connection modal
The modal asks for:
- IP Address — your board’s address on your home network.
- Port — defaults to
8080.
Direct IP keeps your phone’s internet connection alive. SoftAP captures the phone’s Wi-Fi entirely; Direct IP shares it with your home network. Useful when your board lives permanently on your home Wi-Fi and you want both the dashboard and your phone’s normal connectivity at the same time.
Disconnect, reconnect, forget
The Connected Device card has a red X to disconnect. After disconnect, the device drops back into Paired Devices.
In Paired Devices, tap the card or the connect arrow to reconnect (the password is reused if the SSID is the same). Tap the trash icon to forget the device — it’s removed from your list and will only reappear if it shows up in a future scan.
Switching between projects
Each Direct Mode project remembers its own connection. To work on a different project, tap back from the Dashboard, pick another project from the Maker list, and open it. The app reuses the saved connection if the board is the same; otherwise, you’ll connect fresh through the Connection sheet.
Next
→ Dashboard — Build the canvas, configure widgets, generate code.
→ Server Mode — Run a system of devices.