wtf is meshtastic-adv?

Meshtastic ADV is a firmware project that gives the M5Stack Cardputer ADV, a small pocket device with a real keyboard and a color screen, a proper keyboard-first interface for Meshtastic. Meshtastic itself is an open system that lets small radio devices talk to each other over long range without cellular service or the internet, forming a mesh network. The stock on-device screen for Meshtastic barely uses the Cardputer's keyboard, and typing a message on it is awkward, so this project keeps the underlying Meshtastic radio and networking code completely untouched and replaces only the screen and input experience with a proper chat app you can type on. Once installed, the device boots straight into a list of recent conversations, both direct messages and channels, each showing a preview of the last message and whether it is unread. Opening a chat lets you type and send a message, and every sent message shows its delivery status, whether it is still sending, was delivered, or failed. It supports full Unicode text, including Cyrillic typed on a Latin keyboard through a built in transliteration mode, plus emoji, Chinese, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic scripts. You can browse every node on the mesh network with a signal strength meter, search for a specific contact, and mark favorites for priority alerts with sound and a colored light. Message history is saved to the device's flash storage so it survives a reboot, and older messages move into an archive you can scroll back into. The device can also connect over WiFi and bridge messages to the internet through MQTT, and everything, including radio settings like frequency and region, can be configured directly on the device without needing a phone. If you do not own the Cardputer's own radio module, a companion mode lets it act as a keyboard and screen for a separate Meshtastic radio device you already have, connecting to it over Bluetooth. Installation is done through a one click browser installer, no separate toolchain required.