Text

A free-text card you push strings to from your sketch. Use it for status messages, last-seen timestamps, formatted readouts.

[image] Text widget on canvas, Body variant, no container, message « Connected to esp32-fan »

What it does

Text displays whatever string your sketch sends. The widget supports rich typography (variant, size, weight, decoration), four container styles (None / Filled / Outlined / Gradient), and an optional Highlighted color set you can switch to for emphasis.

When to use it

• Live status — Push a heartbeat message every second.
• Last sensor reading — Format the latest value as a string and push it (when a chart is overkill).

Properties

The Inspector opens as a bottom sheet with a Widget ID field at the top, then these sections in order.

Widget ID

1. Essential

2. Header

3. Text style

4. Container

5. Effects

6. Highlight

7. Colors · Normal

8. Colors · Highlighted

Only when Highlight is enabled.

States and behavior

[image] Four container styles side by side — None, Filled, Outlined, Gradient

[image] Same text in Normal vs Highlighted color sets

Two states: Normal and Highlighted. The state is set in the Inspector — your sketch only pushes the text, not the state.

In code

The widget mirrors what your sketch sends. To update its text:

instant.text("status_msg").setText("Connected to esp32-fan");

That single line is what shows up on the dashboard. Don’t put it directly in loop() — Arduino’s loop() runs thousands of times per second, which would flood the link. Use a timer to push at a sensible rate (200–1000 ms is plenty).

One method: .setText(const char* text) — max ~127 characters. See InstantIoT Library / Send Data to App.

Working Arduino code example

A complete sketch you can flash. The Widget ID status_msg matches the one you set on your Text widget in the app.

[gif] Text widget on the dashboard showing a live heartbeat updated every second by the ESP32

Direct Mode

Your phone connects directly to the ESP32’s SoftAP — no router, no server. Best for prototyping and standalone setups.

#include <InstantIoTWiFiAP.hpp>
#include <utils/InstantIoTTimer.hpp>

const char* AP_SSID = "InstantIoT-Greenhouse";
const char* AP_PASS = "12345678";

InstantIoTWiFiAP instant(AP_SSID, AP_PASS);
InstantTimer timers;

unsigned long eventCount = 0;

void pushStatus() {
  if (!instant.connected()) return;
  char buf[64];
  snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf),
           "Up %lus, %lu events",
           millis() / 1000, eventCount);
  instant.text("status_msg").setText(buf);
  eventCount++;
}

void setup() {
  instant.begin();
  timers.every(1000, pushStatus);
}

void loop() {
  instant.loop();
  timers.run();
}

Server Mode

The ESP32 connects to your self-hosted InstantIoT Server over WiFi. Multiple devices, persistent state, history.

#include <InstantIoTWiFiServer.hpp>
#include <utils/InstantIoTTimer.hpp>

const char*    WIFI_SSID     = "YOUR_WIFI_SSID";
const char*    WIFI_PASS     = "YOUR_WIFI_PASSWORD";
const char*    SERVER_IP     = "192.168.1.42";
const uint16_t SERVER_PORT   = 9001;
const char*    DEVICE_TOKEN  = "YOUR_DEVICE_TOKEN";

InstantIoTWiFiServer instant(SERVER_IP, SERVER_PORT, DEVICE_TOKEN);
InstantTimer timers;

unsigned long eventCount = 0;

void pushStatus() {
  if (!instant.connected()) return;
  char buf[64];
  snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf),
           "Up %lus, %lu events",
           millis() / 1000, eventCount);
  instant.text("status_msg").setText(buf);
  eventCount++;
}

void setup() {
  instant.begin(WIFI_SSID, WIFI_PASS);
  timers.every(1000, pushStatus);
}

void loop() {
  instant.loop();
  timers.run();
}

The widget code is identical — only the include and constructor change.

Notes

• This is a Display — no Target Devices dropdown.
• The 127-char cap is a hard limit driven by the on-wire frame size. Truncate or split your string if you need more.

Next

→ Metric — When the value is a number with a label and a unit.

→ LED — When the status is just on/off.

→ Advanced Chart — When you want history, not just the latest value.