u/SophisticatedLogic

I'm an indie developer who built a small iOS printing app. I've been staring at my analytics and something is bugging me: a significant chunk of users who are on WiFi, grant local network permission, and select a printer brand during onboarding (HP/Canon etc) still can't get the app to find their printer.

Some of them try scanning 10+ times over multiple sessions. Nothing.

My app uses Bonjour/mDNS (same technique as AirPrint but not using AirPrint directly) to discover printers. If that finds nothing, it falls back to a TCP port scan of the local subnet. Still nothing for these users.

I'm trying to figure out if this is a fundamental limitation people run into with all third-party printer apps, or if I'm doing something wrong. A few questions for people who know printers better than me:

1. Do you have trouble with printer discovery in non-OEM printer apps generally?

2. What kills Bonjour on a home network? I know mDNS doesn't cross subnets. Are there common router brands or settings (guest networks, AP isolation, IoT VLANs) that silently break it? I'm wondering if a lot of home users are accidentally on a network segment that can't see their printer.

3. Or is it a more dumber explanation, people download the app without setting it up and then leave because the app doesn't auto-magically fix their printer issue?

4. Does the HP Smart or Epson iPrint app find printers that other apps miss? I'm curious if they're doing something different (direct cloud connection? vendor-specific discovery protocol?) that bypasses the mDNS problem entirely.

Genuinely trying to understand the failure mode here, I am honestly out of ideas at this point. Happy to share more technical detail about what I'm seeing if it's useful.

Hi everyone,

I’m an indie dev working on a project called PrintWave (its live on App Store). I’m trying to build a privacy-first iOS printing utility that uses direct IPP/mDNS discovery to find printers that the default iOS AirPrint menu often misses.

The Problem: I only have one HP Smart Tank 6000 at my desk. One printer does not make for a robust test suite. I cannot test all types of printers myself unfortunately (not to mention different networking setups!)

I’m looking for people with different setups and Canon printers to see if my discovery stack (mDNS) actually picks up your printer on your local network.

What I’m looking for:

1. Do you have a Wi-Fi/Networked printer?
2. Can you see if the app discovers it automatically?
3. (Optional) Try a test print and let me know if the formatting holds up.

My App is called "Print Wave: Smart Wi-Fi Printer" on Apple AppStore.

I really want to make this robust before I put any ad spend behind it. Not looking for soliciting my app here, just looking for people who are willing to help me find weird network discovery bugs that I may have missed. Thanks!!

Hi everyone,

I’m an indie dev working on a project called PrintWave (its live on App Store). I’m trying to build a privacy-first iOS printing utility that uses direct IPP/mDNS discovery to find printers that the default iOS AirPrint menu often misses.

The Problem: I only have one HP Smart Tank 6000 at my desk. One printer does not make for a robust test suite. I cannot test all types of printers myself unfortunately (not to mention different networking setups!)

I’m looking for people with different setups and HP printers to see if my discovery stack (mDNS) actually picks up your printer on your local network.

What I’m looking for:

1. Do you have a Wi-Fi/Networked printer?
2. Can you see if the app discovers it automatically?
3. (Optional) Try a test print and let me know if the formatting holds up.

My App is called "Print Wave: Smart Wi-Fi Printer" on Apple AppStore.

I really want to make this robust before I put any ad spend behind it. Not looking for soliciting my app here, just looking for people who are willing to help me find weird network discovery bugs that I may have missed. Thanks!!

Hi everyone,

I’m an indie dev working on a project called PrintWave (its live on App Store). I’m trying to build a privacy-first iOS printing utility that uses direct IPP/mDNS discovery to find printers that the default iOS AirPrint menu often misses.

The Problem: I only have one HP Smart Tank 6000 at my desk. One printer does not make for a robust test suite. I cannot test all types of printers myself unfortunately (not to mention different networking setups!)

I’m looking for people with different setups and Epson printers to see if my discovery stack (mDNS) actually picks up your printer on your local network.

What I’m looking for:

1. Do you have a Wi-Fi/Networked printer?
2. Can you see if the app discovers it automatically?
3. (Optional) Try a test print and let me know if the formatting holds up.

My App is called "Print Wave: Smart Wi-Fi Printer" on Apple AppStore.

I really want to make this robust before I put any ad spend behind it. Not looking for soliciting my app here, just looking for people who are willing to help me find weird network discovery bugs that I may have missed. Thanks!!

Hi everyone,

I’m an indie dev working on a project called PrintWave (its live on App Store). I’m trying to build a privacy-first iOS printing utility that uses direct IPP/mDNS discovery to find printers that the default iOS AirPrint menu often misses.

The Problem: I only have one HP Smart Tank 6000 at my desk. One printer does not make for a robust test suite.

I’m looking for 4-5 people with different setups (HP, Brother, Canon, Epson, Ricoh, Xerox, Samsung, older wifi printers, etc.) to see if my discovery stack (mDNS) actually picks up your hardware on your local network.

What I’m looking for:

1. Do you have a Wi-Fi/Networked printer?
2. Can you see if the app discovers it automatically?
3. (Optional) Try a test print and let me know if the formatting holds up.

I’ll send a Lifetime Promo Code to anyone who can do a quick test and provide just a confirmation of their printer model and whether it worked.

I really want to make this robust before I put any ad spend behind it. Not looking for soliciting my app here, just looking for people who are willing to help me find weird network discovery bugs that I may have missed. Thanks!!

Hi everyone,

I’m an indie dev working on a project called PrintWave (its live on App Store). I’m trying to build a privacy-first iOS printing utility that uses direct IPP/mDNS discovery to find printers that the default iOS AirPrint menu often misses.

The Problem: I only have one HP Smart Tank 6000 at my desk. One printer does not make for a robust test suite.

I’m looking for 4-5 people with different setups (HP, Brother, Canon, Epson, Ricoh, Xerox, Samsung, older wifi printers, etc.) to see if my discovery stack (mDNS) actually picks up your hardware on your local network.

What I’m looking for:

1. Do you have a Wi-Fi/Networked printer?
2. Can you see if the app discovers it automatically?
3. (Optional) Try a test print and let me know if the formatting holds up.

I’ll send a Lifetime Promo Code to anyone who can do a quick test and provide just a confirmation of their printer model and whether it worked.

I really want to make this robust before I put any ad spend behind it. Not looking for soliciting my app here, just looking for people who are willing to help me find weird network discovery bugs that I may have missed. Thanks!!