A-Comm What's new · running 1.51.0

1.51.0 nothing joins for you, Sign out, which box am I on, better lock-screen card

in progress (STAGING ONLY)

For crew

• The app no longer puts you on a channel by itself. On the iPhone app and in Simple Mode you now land on the channel buttons with nothing selected and pick the one you want. In Simple Mode the pill reads PICK A CHANNEL until you do.
• iPhone app: Settings → Session now has Sign out next to Leave. Leave disconnects but remembers you; Sign out also forgets the join pass and account on that box, so the next launch asks again (use it to get off staging cleanly).
• A small badge next to the green light says STAGING, DEMO or SANDBOX when you are on one of those boxes. Real event boxes show nothing.
• iPhone app: the lock-screen card and Dynamic Island now disappear when you force-close the app, grey out within about 20 seconds (was a minute and a half) if the app is killed any other way, and say DISCONNECTED · reconnecting when the app is open but has lost the box.

For admins

• Console header shows the same STAGING / DEMO badge.
• Where it is: staging only, feature by feature as the 1.51 cut lands. Tony's and Martin's boxes stay on 1.46.2 until the full gate (smoke, test suite, code review, soak) passes.

1.50.5 Messages opens straight into chat

Oct 19, 2026 · STAGING ONLY

For crew

• iPhone app: tapping Messages now opens your conversations directly. It no longer shows the sign-in screen for a moment or asks for the microphone again; the app already has both.
• iPhone app: opening Messages used to knock the phone off its channels for a few seconds (the chat view was quietly joining the channels a second time under your name). Fixed on the box side, so it helps even before you update the app.
• iPhone app builds 8 and 9 (TestFlight): talking is faster to key up, the app stays connected while the phone is locked or you are in another app, and the lock-screen buttons work after you come back. You will notice the orange microphone dot stays on while you are in comms; your mic is muted until you press talk, exactly like the web app on a phone.

For admins

• iPhone app: Settings → Session → Admin console opens the console inside the app; it remembers your admin sign-in between opens.
• Where it is: staging only. Tony's and Martin's boxes are unchanged.

1.50.4 Roles table: channels in a wide grid

Oct 18, 2026 · STAGING ONLY

For admins

• Settings → USER ROLES: the channel boxes now sit side by side in a wide block that grows with the number of channels, so a 25-channel licence no longer makes each role a tall column.
• Where it is: staging only.

1.50.3 Closed phones leave the list faster; the lock-screen card says when the app is gone

Oct 18, 2026 · STAGING ONLY

For crew

• iPhone app: if you force-close the app, the lock-screen card cannot remove itself (an iOS rule), but within about a minute and a half it greys out and says APP CLOSED OR OFFLINE. Tap it to reopen; opening the app clears it.

For admins

• A phone that stops answering (app closed, out of coverage) drops out of Connected Users after about 30 seconds instead of 50. It still shows amber at 20 seconds first.
• Where it is: staging only. Tony's and Martin's boxes are unchanged.

1.50.2 Channel names stand alone; your brand on the lock screen

Oct 18, 2026 · STAGING ONLY

For crew

• When the operator has named a channel, you now see just the name (CAMS), not the letter and the name. Channels without a name keep their letter or number.
• iPhone app: the lock-screen card carries the show's brand mark on the LATCH button and in the header when a branded look is on.

For admins

• The console still shows letter and name together, so you can tell crew "channel B" when you need to.
• Where it is: staging only. Tony's and Martin's boxes are unchanged.

1.50.1 Export the crew list, paste-ready welcome messages

Oct 18, 2026 · STAGING ONLY

For admins

• Crew Accounts → EXPORT CREW LIST downloads every account as a spreadsheet (username, callsign, role, channels, enabled, Simple Mode lock, whether they still have to set a password, last sign-in). Passwords are never in it; the box does not keep them.
• The import results CSV now has a welcome_message column: one sentence per new person with the box address, how to sign in, their username and temporary password. Copy the cell into an email or text. Replace [access code] with your code if your box asks for one.
• Where it is: staging only. Tony's and Martin's boxes are unchanged.

1.50.0 Crew list from a spreadsheet, What's new in the app, a notice line for the crew, chat in the iPhone app

Oct 18, 2026 · STAGING ONLY

For crew

• Settings → What's new shows these notes right in the app, newest first. A small dot on the gear means a version you have not looked at yet is running.
• A line from the operator can now sit at the top of your screen ("Lunch moved to 1 PM"). Tap ✕ to dismiss it on your phone; a new notice shows again.
• iPhone app: the chat bubble is back in the footer with an unread count. It opens the same messages as the web app, for the same you.

For admins

• Crew Accounts → IMPORT FROM CSV: download the template, fill one row per person (username, callsign, role, channels, optional password, Simple Mode lock), choose the file. You get a preview with a verdict per row first; nothing is created until you press IMPORT. Afterwards download the results CSV: it has each person's temporary password, shown once, to hand out.
• OPERATOR NOTICE card (above the comms panel): type a line, pick INFO or ATTENTION, POST. It appears on every crew screen, full and Simple Mode, until you CLEAR it.
• WHAT'S NEW card in the console shows the crew notes plus the admin lines, and links to a shareable page at /release-notes on your box.
• Where it is: staging only. Tony's and Martin's boxes are unchanged.

1.49.2 Satisfy look, v2

Oct 18, 2026 · STAGING ONLY

For admins

• APPEARANCE → Satisfy is now the approved v2: dark and light greys instead of black, Volt yellow when you are live and on selected channels, blue when someone talks to you, Satis wordmark and SF mark on the talk button. Staging only; nothing changes on Tony's or Martin's boxes.

1.49.0 Kicked means kicked, audio comes back after a phone call, pick your channel in Simple Mode

Oct 18, 2026 · STAGING ONLY

For crew

• If a phone call, Siri or an alarm takes over your phone's audio, A-Comm now recovers on its own when you come back: you hear the channel again and your talk button works, no refresh needed.
• Simple Mode: if you are allowed on more than one channel, the channel line at the top is now a dropdown with the channel names. Pick one and you are on it. People with a single channel see no dropdown; nothing changes for them.

For admins

• Security fix: when you KICK someone, their access-code pass is cancelled too. Before, a kicked phone could rejoin without typing the code; now it is asked again. Same for DENY in the waiting room.
• Where it is: staging only. Tony's and Martin's boxes are unchanged.

1.48.0 Learn your PTT button, Talk alert, button tester

Oct 17, 2026 · STAGING ONLY

Built for crews using Bluetooth push-to-talk buttons and shoulder mics like walkie-talkies.

For crew

• Settings → PTT button → LEARN: press the button on your Bluetooth PTT accessory or game controller once and the app remembers it. Hold it to talk, quick-tap to latch, same as the on-screen button. A headset's play/pause button works too, as tap-to-latch. FORGET removes it. Your keyboard key (Space by default) keeps working as before.
• Settings → Sounds → Talk alert (off unless you turn it on): a short chirp the moment someone keys a channel you listen to, so you can stop and listen before the first word, like a radio. Options: a different tone per channel, a roger beep when they finish, a click in your own ear when you key, and its own volume with a TEST button. It never plays for your own talking.
• Not every Bluetooth PTT button can talk to a web browser on iPhone. Open /ptt-test.html on the box (for example staging.acomm.avitsi.com/ptt-test.html), press your button, and the page shows what arrived. If nothing does, that button needs the native app, which is in build.

For admins

• The console has the same LEARN and Talk alert under Settings (PTT BUTTON and SOUNDS). A per-role default for crew is planned.
• Where it is: staging only. Tony's and Martin's boxes are unchanged.

1.47.0 Branded themes are part of the licence

Oct 15, 2026 · STAGING ONLY

For crew

• Nothing changes on your screen. If your event's licence stops including a branded look, your screen switches back to the standard A-Comm look by itself, and you stay connected.

For admins

• Branded looks like RaceOn now come with the licence. The APPEARANCE card only shows the looks your licence includes. The original A-Comm look is always there, and RESET TO ORIGINAL always works.
• Settings → LICENSE says which themes your licence includes. If Avitsi has just added a theme, press CHECK IN NOW to get it straight away.
• If a theme is taken off the licence while it is in use, every screen goes back to the original look and the audit log records it.

1.46.2 A way out of Simple Mode, tidier volume list, console on phones

Oct 15, 2026 · on staging, Tony's and Martin's boxes

For crew

• Simple Mode now has a gear in the top corner. Tap it for settings; no more hunting for the hidden press-and-hold.
• If you turned Simple Mode on yourself, a FULL VIEW button sits next to the gear and takes you straight back to the normal app.
• If the operator locked you to Simple Mode, you get the gear only: it opens your audio devices and volume, and there is no way out (that is the point of the lock).
• Crew can now turn Simple Mode on for themselves (Settings → View). Everyone still starts in the normal view.
• Settings → Volume: channel levels are on top; the list of people is folded away under "12 people" until you tap it, with a search box when there are more than 8.

For admins

• New default: the Crew role may switch to Simple Mode (Client still may not). Boxes that already saved their roles get this once; if you switch it off again, it stays off.
• The console works properly on a phone: the top bar is two steady rows, the gear is easy to hit, the page no longer slides sideways, and nothing jumps around while it loads. The RaceOn look is there from the first moment.
• Settings → VOLUME in the console has the same folded people list.
• Staging is cleaned of hundreds of leftover test users, and the tests now tidy up after themselves.