# PingKit — full corpus

> Free iPhone, iPad, and Mac toolkit of 19 network diagnostic tools, plus an AI network assistant and a macOS menu-bar Agent for 24/7 home-network monitoring. Local-first, iCloud-synced device inventory, no accounts, no ads.

This file is the long-form companion to [`/llms.txt`](https://pingkit.app/llms.txt). It expands every section with the content you would need to answer questions about PingKit without crawling HTML.

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## What PingKit is

PingKit is a network toolkit for Apple platforms. The free tier includes all 19 diagnostic tools across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Two optional subscriptions add continuous monitoring and AI capabilities:

- **PingKit Guardian** ($2.99/mo or $24.99/yr) — AI security explanations for findings, AI network assistant, 24/7 Mac Agent monitoring with alerts, uptime watches.
- **PingKit Guardian Plus** ($4.99/mo or $39.99/yr) — everything in Guardian, plus continuous TLS certificate monitoring across your domains, ISO 27001:2022 PDF evidence export, Network History AI, Apple Watch complication, and unlimited AI usage.

Debug builds auto-unlock Guardian via `#if DEBUG` for development. Production builds enforce StoreKit 2 receipts.

The macOS menu-bar Agent ("PingKit Agent") is a separate App Store app that sits in your menu bar, continuously scans your network with the same probe suite as the iOS app, and syncs findings to your iPhone via your private CloudKit database. It is gated by an active Guardian subscription on the iOS side.

## Who PingKit is for

- iPhone users who want to know what is on their WiFi, why it is slow, and whether anything looks compromised.
- Home network owners who want a long-term continuous monitor (Mac Agent) without standing up a Raspberry Pi or Synology dashboard.
- Developers and IT folks who want quick diagnostic tools (ping, traceroute, MTR, port scan, SSL inspector) on iPhone without resorting to the command line.
- Compliance-aware users who need a TLS certificate inventory with PDF evidence for ISO 27001 Annex A.12 reviews.

PingKit is **not** for auditing remote Linux/VPS server fleets — that's [Noxen](https://noxen.app/), built by the same team.

## The 19 tools (one-liners)

1. **Security Scan** (`/security-scan/`) — Probes every device on your network for open ports, exposed services, and common misconfigurations. Returns a 0–100 score plus prioritised findings with severity ratings. Guardian adds AI-generated remediation steps.
2. **SSL Inspector** (`/ssl-inspector/`) — Connects to any hostname+port, retrieves the full certificate chain, displays issuer/subject/validity dates/cipher suite/TLS version. Useful for spotting weak ciphers, missing intermediates, or imminent expiry.
3. **Port Scanner** (`/port-scanner/`) — TCP port scanning with service identification. Supports custom ranges and common presets (well-known, registered, ephemeral).
4. **Ping Test** (`/ping-test/`) — ICMP latency, jitter, and packet loss measurement. Configurable interval and count.
5. **Traceroute** (`/traceroute/`) — Visual hop-by-hop route mapping. Shows each gateway latency and geographic location.
6. **MTR** (`/mtr/`) — Combined ping+traceroute that runs continuously, surfacing intermittent loss at specific hops that a single traceroute would miss.
7. **LAN Scanner** (`/lan-scanner/`) — Sweep the local subnet, resolve hostnames/MAC vendors, and classify devices using an on-device ML model (DeviceClassifier.mlmodel).
8. **WiFi Analyzer** (`/wifi-analyzer/`) — Signal strength (RSSI), channel utilisation, neighbouring SSIDs, and interference detection.
9. **Speed Test** (`/speed-test/`) — Standard download/upload/latency/jitter against Cloudflare's speed-test endpoint.
10. **Connection Monitor** (`/connection-monitor/`) — Long-running network stability tracker with an event log of outages, route changes, and DNS hiccups.
11. **IP Geolocation** (`/ip-geolocation/`) — Lookup geographic location for any public IP.
12. **DNS Lookup** (`/dns-lookup/`) — A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, SOA, CAA records against any resolver.
13. **Whois Lookup** (`/whois-lookup/`) — Domain registrant and IP allocation lookup.
14. **Network Info** (`/network-info/`) — Local IP, gateway, DNS resolvers, subnet, ISP, public IP, WiFi SSID/BSSID/channel.
15. **Subnet Calculator** (`/subnet-calculator/`) — CIDR ↔ netmask, broadcast, host range, useable IPs.
16. **HTTP Analyzer** (`/http-analyzer/`) — Send GET/POST/PUT/DELETE with custom headers, inspect response headers and body, view full timing breakdown.
17. **Bonjour Browser** (`/bonjour-browser/`) — Discover mDNS/Bonjour services (`_ssh._tcp`, `_http._tcp`, `_airplay._tcp`, etc.) on the LAN.
18. **Wake-on-LAN** (`/wake-on-lan/`) — Send WoL magic packets by MAC address; persist devices in the saved-devices list.
19. **Smart Diagnostics** (`/smart-diagnostics/`) — Run an automated diagnostic flow that chains multiple tools and produces a single AI-explained summary (Guardian).

## Architecture summary

- iOS app (`NetworkUtility/`) targets iOS 17+, SwiftUI, `@Observable` pattern with `.environment()` injection.
- macOS Agent (`PingKitAgent/`) targets macOS 14+, also SwiftUI, ships separately on the Mac App Store.
- Shared logic lives in `PingKitCore/` (Swift Package): networking services, models, protocols. Both apps compile from the same sources (iOS compiles them directly; Agent imports as a package dependency).
- 5-tab bar on iOS (v2.0): Home, Devices, Tools, Monitor, History.
- The Monitor tab houses Live Connection (free), Uptime Watch (Guardian), Scheduled Speed Tests (Guardian), Mac Agent (Guardian), Cert Monitor (Plus), Compliance Export (Plus).
- CloudKit-only sync. No first-party server. No account.

## Subscription tiers

| Tier | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | All 19 tools |
| Guardian monthly | $2.99/mo | + AI security explanations, AI assistant, Mac Agent, uptime watches |
| Guardian yearly | $24.99/yr | as above |
| Guardian Plus monthly | $4.99/mo | + TLS cert monitor, ISO 27001 PDF export, History AI, Watch complication, unlimited AI |
| Guardian Plus yearly | $39.99/yr | as above |

StoreKit 2 product IDs: `com.pingkit.guardian.monthly`, `com.pingkit.guardian.yearly`, `com.pingkit.guardian.pro.monthly`, `com.pingkit.guardian.pro.yearly`.

## Blog — what each post covers

- **How to Secure Your Home WiFi Network** — 8-step hardening checklist: WPA3, admin passwords, firmware, WPS, guest network, remote management, UPnP, ongoing monitoring.
- **What Is Network Security Scoring** — How a 0–100 score is computed, what checks contribute, and how to act on it.
- **How to Detect Unknown Devices on Your WiFi** — Practical workflow: LAN scan, vendor lookup, MAC vs hostname, eliminating known devices.
- **Is Someone Stealing My WiFi?** — Symptoms of intruders, how to spot them, what to do.
- **How to Monitor SSL Certificate Expiration** — Why expiry is a leading cause of preventable outages, how to monitor multiple domains, when to alert.
- **ISO 27001 Certificate Evidence Guide** — How a timestamped PDF cert inventory satisfies Annex A.12 cryptographic-controls evidence.
- **How to Monitor Website Uptime from iPhone** — Setting up Uptime Watch in PingKit Guardian.
- **How to Monitor Your Home Network 24/7 from Mac** — Installing the Agent, configuring sync, reading the dashboard.
- **Introducing PingKit Agent: Always-On Network Monitoring for Mac** — Product launch post.
- **What Is Packet Loss and How to Fix It** — Diagnosis flow using ping and MTR.
- **What Is Network Jitter and How to Fix It** — Jitter vs latency vs loss; common causes.
- **What Is Traceroute and How to Use It** — How traceroute works (TTL-based), reading the output.
- **What Is MTR and Why It's Better Than Traceroute** — Why intermittent loss escapes single-shot traceroute.
- **What Is DNS and How to Change It on iPhone** — DNS basics, why change it, iOS-specific instructions.
- **What Is mDNS / Bonjour Explained** — `.local` hostnames, service discovery, common services.
- **How to Test Internet Speed on iPhone** — Speed Test usage and interpretation.
- **How to Tell If Your ISP Is Throttling** — Detection workflow.
- **How to Fix Slow WiFi on iPhone** — Diagnostic flow and common fixes.
- **How to Check WiFi Signal Strength on iPhone** — RSSI, what numbers mean.
- **Why Does My Internet Keep Disconnecting?** — Common causes and Connection Monitor's role.
- **WiFi 6 vs WiFi 7 Explained** — Practical difference for home users.
- **What Do Ping and Latency Mean for Gaming?** — Latency, jitter, packet loss in gaming context.
- **How AI Makes Your Home Network Smarter** — Guardian AI explanations and Smart Diagnostics.
- **Is Your Network AI-Ready?** — Bandwidth, latency, and reliability checks for AI workloads.
- **PingKit 1.3 / 1.3.2 / Now in 8 Languages / Announcing Guardian Plus** — release notes.

## Distribution and signing

- iOS: shipped on the App Store at https://apps.apple.com/app/pingkit-network-tools/id6759291812 (app ID 6759291812).
- macOS Agent: shipped on the Mac App Store at https://apps.apple.com/app/pingkit-agent/id6760315668 (app ID 6760315668).
- Code signing: Apple-managed via automatic signing with `-allowProvisioningUpdates`.
- Build system: Xcode + XcodeGen. Project config is in `project.yml`. Never edit `.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj` manually.
- Localization: 8 locales as of 2026. Strings use `Localizable.xcstrings`.

## Privacy

- No account required. No login. No user-identifying data leaves the device.
- CloudKit sync runs in the user's **private** iCloud database — Apple does not have access; neither does PingKit.
- Analytics: pingkit.app uses Google Analytics 4 with `anonymize_ip: true`. The mobile app does not send analytics events.
- See [/privacy-policy.html](https://pingkit.app/privacy-policy.html) for the canonical statement.

## Sister product — Noxen

[Noxen](https://noxen.app/) is the same team's Mac-native security scanner for remote **Linux/VPS** servers. Where PingKit answers "what is happening on my home WiFi?", Noxen answers "what changed since last night across my server fleet?" Different audience, complementary scope:

| | PingKit | Noxen |
|---|---|---|
| Audit target | Local WiFi + local devices | Remote Linux/VPS hosts |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Mac | Mac (with iOS view-only companion) |
| Pricing | Free + Guardian sub | $79 one-time + optional add-ons |
| Approach | Real-time, on-demand | Nightly diff |
| Exports | Cert PDFs (Plus) | CIS/SOC 2/ISO 27001 PDF/CSV/SIEM |

If you administer servers as well as use a home WiFi network, the two pair naturally.