Using VETuner Offline
Tuning does not need the internet. VETuner runs in your browser and talks to your ECU over USB. Load the app once and it keeps running whether or not you have a connection, which is the point of it - garages and paddocks have unreliable signal at best.
"Offline" covers two things here
The site uses the word for two different situations:
| Phrase | Means |
|---|---|
| No ECU | No ECU is attached, so you are working on an MSQ file instead. Covered in Connecting to Your ECU. |
| No connection | No internet. The app keeps running, and an ECU can still be connected over USB. |
The first load needs a connection
Open VETuner once while online. That load caches the app on your device, and from then on it starts and runs with no connection at all. If the very first visit happens with no signal, the browser has nothing to fetch and you get a browser error rather than VETuner.
Installing it as an app
Installing is optional, but an installed VETuner gets its own window and icon and starts from your device instead of from a bookmark:
- Chrome or Edge on a computer - Install in the address bar, or Menu → Cast, save and share → Install page as app.
- Android - Menu → Add to Home screen.
- iOS - Share → Add to Home Screen.
What works offline
- Connecting to your ECU over USB and reading live data
- Reading and writing tuning tables, and burning them to the ECU
- Dashboards, gauges and Focus Mode
- Start Doctor and the Configuration Health Check
- Log recording and playback, including marks
- VE Analysis, the Graph tab, the Data Table and the Tooth Logger
- Loading, editing and saving MSQ files, and loading an INI file from disk
- ECU definitions you have loaded before - VETuner remembers them
- GPS tracking - the route is recorded to the log as you drive
- External sensors over Bluetooth or your local network
A few things do reach the VETuner servers and need a connection: signing in, registering, subscribing, cancelling and the billing portal; Cloud Sync (cloud tunes, vehicles, dashboards and the cloud datalog archive); Engine Expert, which diagnoses an uploaded log on the server; Online Tunes and the other shared tune libraries; and bug reports. The GPS route map needs the internet too, so the map is blank offline - recording the route still works.
One more edge case: the first time you use an ECU definition VETuner has not seen before, the definition is fetched from the server. If that happens offline, load the .ini file by hand through Files → Load Manual INI.
Note: working with no ECU and no connection needs nothing more than an imported INI or MSQ file on disk.
Pro features with no connection
A VETuner Pro subscription keeps working offline for the remaining duration of the period you have paid for. VE Analysis, the Graph tab, the Tooth Logger, log recording and playback, and the premium gauge designs all run on your own machine, so all of them stay available. The cloud features need a connection for the same reasons as everything else in the list above.
Sign in before you lose signal. VETuner stays signed in while offline and re-checks your subscription the next time it reaches the server.
Updates
VETuner updates itself the next time you start it with a connection. Once a new version has been fetched, the app tells you a reload is available. Take it at a natural break rather than mid-tune.
Related guides
- Connecting to Your ECU - live connection and file-only mode
- VETuner Pro - what a subscription includes
- Editing Tuning Tables - making safe table changes