LOAM turns a phone, a laptop or a Raspberry Pi into a private messaging network for everyone nearby. People scan a code and they're in: no app to install, no account, no cloud.
64-bit Android 7 or newer, a Mac, Windows or Linux computer, or any computer with Node.js 22.14+. Getting started takes about a minute.
How it works
One device hosts. Everyone else just needs a phone with a camera and a browser.
Open LOAM on an Android phone, tablet or laptop, or on a Mac, Windows or Linux computer, or run
npx loamnet on a laptop or Raspberry Pi.
Pick a language, the kind of network you want and a name. That's the setup.
The host shows a code. Anyone nearby scans it with their phone's camera and LOAM opens in their browser. The phone's own hotspot works where there's no Wi-Fi at all.
Channels, threads, direct messages, pictures and reactions, all on the local network. Nothing goes to the internet, even if there is some, unless the host turns on an online assistant, which the admin page warns about.
Get started
They all run the same network. Choose whatever you have with you.
Runs the network, starts a hotspot (or uses the Wi-Fi it is on) and shows the codes.
64-bit Android 7 or newer. Hosting a hotspot needs Android 8 or newer. Why not iPhone?
One command on macOS, Linux or Windows. Prefer a regular app? LOAM for your computer is a download for all three.
$ npx loamnet
LOAM Corner café · 3 devices · encrypted
1 Join 2 Activity 3 People 4 Settings 5 Debug
Join from a phone or laptop on this network
http://192.168.4.20:3000
h hide QR · o open as admin · k kiosk mode · ? help
o to open LOAM in your browser as the network's admin.--encrypt to encrypt the database. Pictures and files are stored beside it, unencrypted.npm install -g loamnet, then run loam.A regular app for people who would rather not open a terminal. It runs the same network and keeps the code on screen.
The Mac app is signed and notarized by Apple. The Windows installer isn't signed yet, so Windows asks you to confirm it once. Windows and Linux builds are for 64-bit Intel or AMD computers.
Features
Familiar to anyone who has used a messaging app, without the parts that need the internet.
Public channels for everyone, private ones by invitation, threaded replies that keep side conversations tidy, and one-to-one messages. Share pictures, react, search everything, and write in any language, left to right or right to left.
When you start a network, LOAM asks one plain question. Private and short-lived gives everyone a random name, deletes messages after an hour, lets you approve each person who joins, and throws away the key to its messages when LOAM stops (pictures and files are deleted the next time it starts). Community lets people pick names and photos and keeps the conversation going for days.
Or choose every setting yourself: joining rules, message lifetime, roles and more.
Display mode fills the screen with the join codes, big enough to scan from across a room, and keeps LOAM in front. Put a spare phone on a noticeboard or a reception desk and anyone walking past can join. On a private network the code includes a fresh invite that lets people straight in, and it changes every 10 minutes.
On a laptop or Raspberry Pi, npx loamnet keeps the join code on screen and puts the
rest a key away: who is connected, who has joined, the network's settings, and what went wrong
if something did. Press o and LOAM opens in your browser with you as the network's
admin. Messages and moderation stay in the app.
Kiosk mode locks the terminal to the join code until you enter a password, so a laptop on a front desk can welcome people without anyone changing the network from it.
LOAM Corner café · 3 devices · encrypted
1 Join 2 Activity 3 People 4 Settings 5 Debug
4 people · 3 online · 1 waiting for approval
Approvals, bans and channels are in the web app.
› ● amber.oak.heron …3f9a21 admin
● quiet.iron.fox …b70c44
● still.cedar.wren …0e5d18
○ bright.moss.otter …9a61f2 waiting
↑↓ choose · m make admin · ? help
One phone's hotspot reaches a field or a hall. For more, link another LOAM phone to the network: the host shows a single-use link code, the new phone scans it, and their public channels join up. Direct messages and private channels stay where they are.
Name the network, set who can join and how long messages last, give people moderator or greeter roles, and handle reports. Everything is in plain settings, on the host.
English, Español, Français, العربية, فارسی, Português, Українська, Русский, Türkçe, မြန်မာ, اردو, دری, پښتو, Kiswahili and বাংলা. The host picks one for the whole network. The 14 besides English are machine translations still waiting for a native speaker's review.
Approve newcomers, appoint moderators and greeters, handle reports, and let anyone block someone they'd rather not hear from.
Phones keep what they've already seen and reconnect on their own when the Wi-Fi drops out.
Run a small AI model on the host phone, use Ollama or another model server on a computer nearby, or connect an online service such as OpenRouter or OpenAI. An online service gets the messages people write to the assistant, and both the admin page and the assistant's chat say so. Off unless you turn it on.
What about iPhone?
Anyone with an iPhone can join a LOAM network: scan the code and it opens in Safari, with nothing to install. Hosting one is different, because iOS doesn't let an app do two things a host needs.
A LOAM phone makes its own Wi-Fi, so people can join anywhere, with no router. On an iPhone, only you can turn on Personal Hotspot, in Settings, and it needs a mobile plan that allows it.
iOS pauses an app soon after you switch away from it or lock the screen, and an app can't keep a server running. A network hosted on an iPhone would stop the moment its screen went dark.
There is a LOAM app for Mac, and npx loamnet runs on macOS too, as
well as Linux and Windows. Either way your Mac is the host, with iPhones and everything else
joining from the browser.
Privacy and safety
LOAM has no accounts, no cloud and no company in the middle. What people post stays on the device that runs the network, and on their own phones, unless the host links another network or turns on an online assistant.
Read the privacy policyOpen source
LOAM is open source under the AGPL. Read every line, run your own network, and help build what comes next.
Get in touch
The LOAM app has no analytics or crash reporting, so we only hear about problems you tell us about. To report one, or to ask for a feature, open an issue on GitHub or email us at opensource@magiczebra.co.uk. For anything about child safety, see our child safety standards.
LOAM is free, with no ads and no in-app purchases. If it helped you, you can buy us a coffee on Ko-fi, tell people about it, star it on GitHub, or help build it.
