MQBone help

What you need

A device. An iPhone or iPad with iOS or iPadOS 26 or later, or a Mac with macOS 26 or later. CarPlay works from an iPhone. Buy once and it's yours on every device signed in to the same Apple Account.
MQBadapter, our Bluetooth OBD-II adapter. It plugs into the car's OBD port and is bought separately. Other adapters aren't supported.
A supported car. The engine and gearbox controllers the app programs are listed in compatibility on the home page.

What's free and what needs an activation

Live gauges, Home widgets, fault codes and adaptations, ECU Controls, CarPlay, Siri, and importing, viewing and sharing logs are all free. Advanced Diagnostics is a yearly subscription.

A VIN activation is a one-time purchase for one car. Buy it on our website through Stripe (US$30), or in the app through the App Store (US$40). Both give the same activation. You need it to record new logs, to flash, to unlock or recover a controller, and to use a Tuner PIN on that car.

Connecting the adapter

MQBone talks to your car through MQBadapter, on iPhone, iPad or Mac.

The app asks for Bluetooth permission the first time. If you decline it, the app can't find the adapter. You can change that in Settings for MQBone, or on a Mac in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Bluetooth.
Plug the adapter into the car's OBD port and switch the ignition on before you connect, so the controllers are awake.
Connect to the adapter in the app, then add your vehicle. The Adapter widget on MQBone's Home tab shows the current connection state.

If it won't connect

Work through these in order. Most failed connections are one of the first three.

Bluetooth is on, and MQBone is allowed to use it. Check Bluetooth in Control Centre or Settings, then Settings → MQBone → Bluetooth. On a Mac, check System Settings → Privacy & Security → Bluetooth. If you declined the permission the first time, the app will find nothing at all.
Nothing else is holding the adapter. The adapter accepts one connection at a time. If MQBone is open on another of your devices nearby, disconnect it there first.
The adapter has power and the car is awake. The adapter is powered by the OBD port, so it needs to be fully seated, and the ignition should be on so the controllers answer.
Check the adapter firmware version. The app shows it once it has connected. Have it to hand when you contact us.
Restart the pieces. Unplug the adapter for a few seconds, then reopen the app.

Still nothing? Email support@mqb.au with the adapter firmware version, the vehicle, and your device and its iOS, iPadOS or macOS version.

If the app offers an adapter firmware update

Follow the app's own prompt. It knows which firmware it's offering. The one rule: only do it while nothing critical is running. If a recording, a flash, an unlock or a recovery is in progress, let it finish first and update afterwards. Never interrupt a programming operation to update the adapter.

Your first recording

A recording writes a datalog as a CSV file on your device. Recording new logs needs that vehicle's VIN activation. Viewing logs you already have does not.

Starting by hand or on a trigger

You can start and stop a recording yourself, or set a trigger so the app starts recording when a condition is met. Two settings shape what a triggered recording contains:

Lead-in: Keeps a short period of data from just before the trigger fired, so the start of a pull isn't cut off.
End delay: Keeps recording for a set time after the trigger condition stops being true, instead of ending the moment it clears.

What needs an internet connection

Starting a new recording needs a connection, because the app checks your account and that vehicle's activation first. Once a recording has started it keeps going if the connection drops, as long as the adapter stays connected. Live gauges and opening saved logs don't need that check.

Sample rate and logging mode

MQBone doesn't promise a rate in hertz. What you get depends on the vehicle, the controller and how many PIDs you have selected. Where a controller supports it, the app uses High Speed Logging (HSL). If HSL isn't available it falls back to Mode 22 for that controller, and the mode label shows HSL or M22. In Mode 22 a few units change (fuel pressure reads in bar, for example) and some warning limits are stricter.

You choose metric or imperial units in the logger setup. Metric is the default.

Importing, viewing and sharing logs

Logs are ordinary CSV files, so they work with the tools you already use.

Import. Use Import in the app's Log Viewer. That opens the file picker, so you can pick a CSV from the device, iCloud Drive or another storage provider you have set up in Files. Start from inside MQBone rather than from the share sheet in another app.
Share. Use the app's Share action on a log to send it out through the share sheet: to your tuner, to a computer, or into any app that accepts a file.
Size limit. The in-app log viewer opens files up to 50 MiB. Larger files can still be shared. To read one in the app, split a copy into smaller files. Keep the original, and give each piece the same header row as the first line, or the columns won't be read.
Graphs. Choose which PIDs are drawn, and move a cursor along the graph to read every plotted value at one point in the log.
On a Mac. Open logs in MQBone for Mac, or in any spreadsheet app.

Location is optional. The app only records position if you allow location access when you record. You don't need location access to view a log.

Saved vehicle setups

Each vehicle is saved against its VIN, and its setup belongs to that vehicle: the gauges and PIDs you chose, the units you prefer and its CarPlay gauges. Switch cars and the right setup comes back.

Custom PIDs. You can import your own PID definitions from a CSV file of up to 1 MiB. Connect to the car first so the app has its VIN: the file is saved for that car. Importing a file with the same name again replaces that car's copy.

Your saved vehicles and their setups sync through iCloud to your other devices. Imported PID files, logs and scan history stay on the device they were made on. See iCloud sync.

iCloud sync and moving to a new device

If you're signed in to iCloud, MQBone keeps your vehicles and settings in step across your iPhone, iPad and Mac on the same Apple Account. There's nothing to set up. The data goes through your own iCloud account, and MQBau can't see it.

What syncs

Your saved vehicles, by VIN, with their name, model, gearbox and part numbers
Each car's logger, gauge and CarPlay setup
Your Home layout and Motion widget setting
Theme and accent colour, and the tab bar's second page
The last adapter you used and its Auto-Connect setting

What stays on each device

Datalogs (CSV files)
Fault-code scan history
Imported PID files
Diagnostic traces, flash counters and recent files
Keep Screen Awake, onboarding and which vehicle is selected

A car's logger setup that uses a PID file imported on another device isn't applied where that file is missing. Import the file on this device too.

When two devices disagree

The first time a device syncs, or when you change Apple Account, saved vehicles are merged by VIN so none is lost. After that the latest change wins, and each car syncs on its own. Removing a vehicle, resetting its logger and Reset MQBone apply on every device on the account. Nothing from iCloud interrupts a connection, a recording or a flash.

To stop syncing, turn off iCloud for MQBone in your device's iCloud settings.

A new device, or a reinstall

Activations follow your MQBone account: Sign in with the same Apple Account and use Restore Purchases in the app.
Vehicles and setups follow your iCloud account: They come back when the new device is signed in to the same iCloud account.
Logs, scan history and imported PID files don't come back: They live only on the device they were made on.

So before you move devices, wipe one or delete the app, share or copy out the logs you want to keep, and keep a copy of any PID files you imported.

Fault codes and adaptations

The app's own diagnostics are free on every supported car.

Fault codes. Read and clear codes on every controller that supports it. Results are saved to a scan history on the device.
Controller information. The identity each controller reports, such as its part number and software version.
Adaptations. DSG Adaptation for gearbox controllers, including basic learn, and Wastegate Adaptation for engine controllers.

For the rest of the car, use Advanced Diagnostics.

Advanced Diagnostics

Advanced Diagnostics scans the whole car, not just the engine and gearbox. It needs an Advanced Diagnostics subscription: US$50 a year on our website, or US$60 a year in the app. One subscription covers every car on your MQBone account. Open it from + → Diagnostics → Advanced Diagnostics.

A full scan of the car's modules, using the gateway's installation list where it can
Identification, fault codes with descriptions, and OBD readiness
Live data, with charts and CSV export
Coding and long coding, adaptations, basic settings and output tests
Login codes, for modules that ask for one
Module backups and restore, saved scan reports and history
Gateway firewall status, read only

Before you start

It needs an internet connection and your MQBone account. Descriptions and coding data come from our online catalog. Changes are offered only where the catalog has data for that module's exact software. Otherwise the module is read only.
It can't run while the logger is live or getting ready, because it needs the adapter to itself. Stop the logger first.
A full scan can take several minutes. A module that doesn't answer isn't proof that it isn't fitted.
Nothing is written to a module automatically. Each change is reviewed and confirmed on its own, and the app checks the module again before it writes. Back up a module before you change its coding.
Older modules that use K-line or TP2.0 aren't reached.

Managing your subscription

Bought in the app: manage or cancel it in your Apple Account's subscription settings, at least 24 hours before it renews.
Bought on our website: manage or cancel it at portal.mqbone.app/manage, signed in with the same Apple Account, or email support@mqb.au.
After you cancel, Advanced Diagnostics keeps working until the end of the year you've paid for. See the terms.

ECU Controls (MQBpatch)

If your tune includes MQBpatch, the MQBau ECU patch, the app can change some of its settings. These controls are free and need no activation.

Map. Switch to the next or previous map.
Pops. Turn them on or off, or leave them on Auto.
Launch control. Choose Auto (follow the map), Off, Fuel cut or 2-step, and set the launch rpm.

Add them to Home from Add Widget → MQBpatch. Every value shown is what the ECU reads back, not what the app last sent.

It needs a tune with MQBpatch. Without it the app says "This tune doesn't have MQBpatch." Ask your tuner whether your tune includes it.
2-step is for track use only. The app asks you to confirm it every time, and it can only be turned on in the app, not by Siri or from CarPlay.
On some cars the app shows a gearbox warning or greys out a control that the tune doesn't support. Read the warning before you go on.
The controls are paused while the logger or another operation is using the car.

CarPlay

MQBone runs on your car's screen from an iPhone. You need an iPhone with MQBone and a car with CarPlay. It isn't available from an iPad or a Mac.

Live: Up to eight gauges at a time, a Record button, and a banner when a reading passes its warning limit. Opening Live starts the logger and leaving it stops it, so the phone can stay locked.
Faults: The fault-code count, the time of the last read (tap it to read again), Clear, and the codes listed by controller.
Tune: Map, Pops, Launch and launch rpm. It appears only when the ECU has MQBpatch. 2-step stays on the iPhone.
Settings: Pick the gauges and pages Live shows, and see the adapter and car status, with Reconnect if the link drops.

Only one tab talks to the car at a time. Recording from CarPlay still needs that car's VIN activation. Keep your eyes on the road, and change settings only when it's safe to.

Siri

You can ask Siri to:

switch the map ("Switch MQBone to map 2")
turn pops on or off ("Turn pops off in MQBone")
set launch control ("Set MQBone launch control to fuel cut")
read fault codes
clear fault codes (Siri asks you to confirm first)
start or stop a recording

Map, pops and launch need a tune with MQBpatch. Siri re-reads the ECU first and answers from what the ECU reports back. It won't change anything while the logger or another operation is using the car, and it can't turn on 2-step. Starting a recording still needs that car's VIN activation.

MQBone on a Mac

The Mac app is the same app as on iPad, for macOS 26 or later. Buy once and your activations work there too, with the same Apple Account.

It connects to the adapter over Bluetooth, records, reads codes and can flash, like the iPad app. Allow Bluetooth in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Bluetooth.
There's no Motion widget, because a Mac has no motion sensor, and no CarPlay.
During a flash, unlock, adaptation or other critical operation the app stops the Mac going to sleep on its own. Closing the lid or choosing Sleep still sleeps it, so keep the lid open and the charger connected until it finishes.

Purchases that don't finish straight away

Two different things can leave an activation looking incomplete, and they need different actions. The activation sheet in the app tells you which one you're in.

1. Apple hasn't finished the payment yet

An in-app purchase can be left waiting, for example when Ask to Buy needs a family organiser's approval, or your bank asks for extra verification. That isn't a failure, and it isn't something you can push through from the app.

The outcome is Apple's: a pending purchase may be approved, or it may be declined or expire. We can't promise that one always completes.
If Apple does approve it, Apple tells the app and the app finishes the activation then. You don't need to buy a second time while it's waiting.
If it's an Ask to Buy request, the family organiser has to approve it on their own device.

2. Apple took the payment but we haven't recorded it yet

Apple can complete a purchase while the app still has to hand it to MQBau so the VIN activation is granted. If that hand-off doesn't get through (patchy signal, the device going to sleep mid-step, our service being briefly unreachable), the activation sheet shows Retry Confirmation.

Be signed in with the same Apple Account you bought with. A different account has a different set of activations.
Keep a working internet connection, then tap Retry Confirmation. It sends the same purchase again. It doesn't charge you again.
If the retry isn't offered, or has stopped being offered, use Restore Purchases in the app instead. That re-checks what Apple holds for your Apple Account.
If neither works, email us before paying a second time: support@mqb.au, with the email address you purchased with and the vehicle. Buying again may just leave you with two charges to sort out.

Please don't send card numbers or other payment details. We don't need them and can't use them.

This website

mqbone.app has no sign-in and no restore. Activations and subscriptions bought on the website are paid through Stripe at portal.mqbone.app, where you sign in with Apple. They appear in the app when you're signed in with the same Apple Account. In the MQBone TestFlight beta, they appear once you've linked the beta app to that Apple Account: the first time you tap Buy or Manage there, you're asked to link it. MQBadapter is paid through Stripe too. In-app purchases, Restore Purchases and Retry Confirmation are all in the app. If a website purchase doesn't show up, email support@mqb.au with your Stripe receipt.

Preparing to flash safely

Flashing rewrites software inside a controller. If it is interrupted the vehicle can be left undriveable until the controller is recovered, which may mean a tow and a workshop. Plan for the car being off the road for a while, and don't start an operation you'd have no way back from. Check recovery first.

Power. The vehicle needs a stable, properly regulated supply for the whole operation. Follow the guidance for your vehicle on what to use. Not every battery charger is suitable for programming, and some maintenance chargers are explicitly not. If you're unsure what your car needs, ask before you start.
Ignition. Switch the ignition on with the engine off, unless the app tells you otherwise, and leave it alone until the operation finishes.
Stay connected. Keep the iPhone, iPad or Mac next to the adapter and keep MQBone open in front until it finishes. Don't let the device sleep or run out of battery, and don't start a call that interrupts it. On a Mac, keep the lid open and the charger connected.
Files. Choose a file on the device, or enter a Tuner PIN from your tuner. You arrange tuning services separately. Use a file made for that exact controller, and keep your original.
Internet. Preparing a flash, an unlock or a recovery needs a connection so the app can check your account and the VIN's activation.
Don't update mid-operation. If the app offers an adapter firmware update while a recording, flash, unlock or recovery is running, finish that first.

Unlock (Simos 18.1 and 18.10)

Some Simos 18.1 and 18.10 engine controllers are protected and need an unlock before you can flash them. The unlock writes stock software with a patch. The app offers it only on controller hardware it supports, and it needs the VIN's activation. Engine off, ignition on, adapter in range, and keep the app open until it finishes. It doesn't apply to any DSG.

Have a way back

Before you begin, check compatibility for your controller family and know what you'd do if the operation fails. Note that DQ381 G1 is calibration only: full flash and recovery aren't offered for it, so a failed operation on that gearbox controller can't be recovered by the app.

The app runs its own compatibility checks and unlock steps before an operation and will refuse combinations it doesn't support. Those checks aren't a substitute for confirming your setup with us first.

If something goes wrong

Each flash, unlock, recovery and adapter firmware update saves a diagnostic trace on the device. Flash file contents, security seeds and keys are never written to it. The app keeps the last ten, under Settings › Data › Diagnostic Traces. The app also sends us a copy so we can find and fix problems. If a flash or unlock fails, Share Diagnostics lets you send the trace with a message to support.

Tuner PINs

Your tuner can send you a tune without sending you the file. They upload it for your car's VIN and give you a 6-digit Tuner PIN.

Connect to the car the tune is for.
Start a flash, and on the File step choose Tuner PIN.
Enter the PIN. The app shows the tune's name, the tuner and how many attempts are left.
Go through the usual safety checks, then start the flash.

One car only. A PIN works only on the VIN it was made for, and that VIN needs its activation.
One account only. The first MQBone account to enter a PIN claims it. Nobody else can use it after that.
Limits. A PIN lasts 30 days and allows a set number of flash attempts, chosen by your tuner, plus a few recovery attempts. If it has expired, been used up or been withdrawn, ask your tuner for a new one.
The tune file isn't saved. It's sent to the app encrypted, kept in memory only for the flash, and never stored on your device or in iCloud.
It needs an internet connection.

Tuners: tunes and PINs are managed at portal.mqbone.app. Sign in with Apple and apply for a tuner account. MQBau approves each one.

What the app does and doesn't reach

Logging, flashing and the app's own diagnostics work with the engine and gearbox controllers it supports. Advanced Diagnostics reaches the rest of the car where our catalog has data for a module. Neither does everything a dealer tool can.
Your exact controller, its software version and your adapter decide what's available, so MQBau confirms each setup by email. See compatibility.
Flashing is over the car's OBD port with the MQBau Bluetooth adapter. Bench flashing isn't offered. If it comes later it will be sold separately.
Vehicles and setups sync through your iCloud account. MQBau doesn't back up your logs or setups on its servers.

Languages

The app's interface is built with 27 localisations. It also follows your text size setting, so larger type stays readable.

The languages included are:

English
German
French
Spanish
Italian
Portuguese (Brazil)
Portuguese (Portugal)
Dutch
Polish
Czech
Swedish
Danish
Finnish
Norwegian Bokmål
Turkish
Russian
Ukrainian
Arabic
Hebrew
Hindi
Indonesian
Thai
Vietnamese
Japanese
Korean
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese

Choosing the language

MQBone follows the language your device is set to. If your system language isn't one of the 27, the system picks the closest match from your preferred language order, and falls back to English.

You can also set a language for MQBone alone, without changing the rest of your device. In the app, General settings opens MQBone's own settings, where you can choose the app's language. On a Mac, use System Settings → General → Language & Region.

Arabic and Hebrew are laid out right to left, with the whole interface mirrored rather than just the text.

Wording is still being refined, and a phrase can fall back to English where a string is newer than its translation. If a translation reads badly to you, tell us at support@mqb.au.

This website is published in English only for now.

Deleting your account

You can delete your MQBone account in the app. Read this first, because it isn't reversible from your side.

The app asks you to sign in with Apple again first, so that someone holding an unlocked device can't delete the account.
Deleting the account signs you out everywhere and removes the VIN activations held on that account. Any Tuner PIN you claimed stops working. If you're a tuner, your client list, tunes and PINs are deleted too.
It does not refund anything. Refund requests for charges made through Apple go to Apple: reportaproblem.apple.com.
It does not move your purchases to a new account. Creating another account, or signing in with a different Apple Account, does not automatically re-grant activations you had before. If you need this sorted out, email us before deleting.
It does not touch your device or your iCloud. Logs, scan history and imported PID files go when you delete the app or its data. Vehicles and setups stay in your iCloud account until you remove them in the app (Reset MQBone removes them on every device). Copy out the logs you want to keep first.
Records we're required to keep for legal, accounting or security reasons are retained. The privacy notice explains how long information is kept.

Getting help

Email support@mqb.au. Car and adapter questions, activation questions and purchase help all go to the same address, and a person answers.

There's also a community Discord for talking to other users. It's run as a community, so account and order help should go to the email address above.