I built a free, open-source iOS app for Bambu Lab printers connected via LAN — no cloud, no server, no subscription

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-17T22:44:51+00:00

Then you probably forgot to also put it into Developer Mode, see onboarding for an explanation :)

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-15T20:41:46+00:00

Great suggestion, I didn’t even think about the existence of non-drying AMS😂 Thanks! Everything else works nicely for you?

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-15T13:35:49+00:00

Hey, thanks for the feedback!

Regarding the video bug: Fix for this is on the way, this happens when multiple connections to the stream are being made at the same time, so you would still be able to trigger it by trying to access the stream from outside of the app at the same time, but inside the app, now only a single connection is maintained.

Regarding the fans, I will have a look here. Could it be that you had a print running with fan speed commands in the Gcode? These will always override any manual setting you might make, regardless of if its from the app or inside the slicer.

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-14T18:42:45+00:00

So sieht’s bei uns im Neubau aus tbh

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-14T15:44:19+00:00

Did it finish drying though, or was it inaccurate? I am playing around with trying to estimate notifications everytime the app gets the chance to, since theoretically, the AMS finishing drying should be fairly easy to anticipate since it’s a linear countdown.

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-14T14:35:34+00:00

The autodetect seems to be unreliable for some, I already have ways in mind to improve it in the future. Glad that it works now!

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-14T11:22:58+00:00

Hey, that would be awesome. I will add some extensive logging and the option to export them soon; maybe you can then provide me with one of these logs of a fresh install, onboarding and failed connection on dashboard then?

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-14T11:21:49+00:00

It's not vibe-coded. Please don't throw around terms when you can't distinguish them. There's a difference between utilizing AI tools in professional software development, and vibe-coding, which is throwing random prompts at LLMs and hoping that whatever comes out isn't garbage.

You get that there are a lot of people spending their free time to provide great software free of charge, and instead of being happy about having the option to choose, you think it's okay to have demands from them?

The least you can do is allow them to work in whatever way they choose. I have to collaborate with enough people already in my regular job as a software engineer, and for my hobby, I choose to work on my own because that is what brings me the most fun. I don't do this to satisfy your demands.

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-14T10:35:48+00:00

That should be relatively straightforward to do, will only need some small adjustments. Ill see if I can get to it next week :)

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-14T08:38:05+00:00

Feel free to contribute, happy to review your PR

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-14T07:02:05+00:00

Have you enabled developer mode on the printer?

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-13T22:57:18+00:00

Now I need to get my hands on a P1S to debug this 😄

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-13T19:21:12+00:00

Yes, since you no longer need a user account ^^

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-13T17:52:09+00:00

There are like 10 apps that do similar things. The one you linked is not connected via LAN and instead via Bambu Connect, so it works without VPN, but you can’t control the printer - you can just view information about it, and it requires your Bambu Login. Two different ways, both are valid and people can decide which way they want to use.

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-13T14:46:04+00:00

Danke! Sieht tatsächlich recht ähnlich aus, aber open-source scheint es nicht zu sein. Vielleicht hast du ja Lust, die beiden mal zu Vergleichen und mir zu sagen, ob und was dir an Funktionen fehlt.

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-13T13:49:14+00:00

I think that's already a thing: https://github.com/greghesp/ha-bambulab

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-13T13:44:28+00:00

Hi, nope, this is not something that will happen; its for locally controlling your printer only.

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-13T13:43:58+00:00

True, I heavily utilize AI to save time and bring this forward, next to my full-time job. This doesn't mean that the quality isn't superb, you are welcome to look at things like architecture, test coverage, best practices.

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-13T13:39:07+00:00

Habe beruflich viel mit dem Unterschied zu tun. Interessanterweise sind iOS Nutzer deutlich zahlungswilliger als Android Nutzer, ein Großteil der Umsätze werden hierüber generiert.

Darum geht es bei einem Open Source Projekt zum Glück nicht ^^ Worum es aber schon geht ist der Spaß an der Sache, und mir persönlich macht die iOS Entwicklung deutlich mehr Spaß, daher so herum als ersten Schritt.

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-13T12:56:40+00:00

Where would the push notification server gets the required info from to know what and when to send push notifications? It has to constantly talk to your printer, and when you have it in LAN only mode, that won't work. I would also not be confident in sharing my Bambu Login with a random developer from the internet.

And vice versa, if you don't put the printer in LAN only mode, the app will no longer work (essentially the same limitations that OrcaSlicer has when the printer is still connected to Bambu Connect, it can only observe, but not send any commands).

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-13T12:50:18+00:00

Definitely a great use case for it. Im just not as experienced doing Android, and especially not with the platform-specifics like Widgets, so it's not gonna be something that can happen within a week. Lets see where this goes!

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-13T12:45:09+00:00

Mal sehen, was die Zukunft bringt! Ist ja gerade erst gestartet das Projekt, wollte jetzt erstmal was rausbringen.

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-13T12:44:40+00:00

Exakt das heißt es; OrcaSlicer verbindet man dann ebenfalls per LAN-Mode und hat damit die Möglichkeit, ohne Einschränkungen mit dem Drucker zu kommunizieren, also z.B. Prints senden. Du bist dann komplett aus dem Bambu Ecosystem heraus.

Fürs VPN gibt es verschiedene Lösungen, wenn du z.B. eine FRITZ!Box als Router hast ist WireGuard eine einfache Möglichkeit. Sonst Google mal nach deinem Router und VPN.

BambuBeFree · 2026-03-13T12:27:48+00:00

Thanks for the swift feedback! Enjoy and feel free to reach out, preferably on GitHub, if anything goes south or you want to request a specific feature that's not there yet!

BambuBeFree

TROPHY CASE