diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/geeksville/mesh/NodeInfo.kt b/app/src/main/java/com/geeksville/mesh/NodeInfo.kt
index 2588fa367..96e230765 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/geeksville/mesh/NodeInfo.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/geeksville/mesh/NodeInfo.kt
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package com.geeksville.mesh
 
 import android.graphics.Color
 import android.os.Parcelable
+import com.geeksville.mesh.MeshProtos.User
 import com.geeksville.mesh.util.bearing
 import com.geeksville.mesh.util.latLongToMeter
 import com.geeksville.mesh.util.anonymize
@@ -27,6 +28,9 @@ data class MeshUser(
         return "MeshUser(id=${id.anonymize}, longName=${longName.anonymize}, shortName=${shortName.anonymize}, hwModel=${hwModelString}, isLicensed=${isLicensed})"
     }
 
+    fun toProto(): User = User.newBuilder().setId(id).setLongName(longName).setShortName(shortName)
+        .setHwModel(hwModel).setIsLicensed(isLicensed).build()
+
     /** a string version of the hardware model, converted into pretty lowercase and changing _ to -, and p to dot
      * or null if unset
      * */
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/geeksville/mesh/model/UIState.kt b/app/src/main/java/com/geeksville/mesh/model/UIState.kt
index 93628c731..6800bf8d7 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/geeksville/mesh/model/UIState.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/geeksville/mesh/model/UIState.kt
@@ -426,8 +426,6 @@ class UIViewModel @Inject constructor(
             try {
                 // Pull down our real node ID - This must be done AFTER reading the nodedb because we need the DB to find our nodeinof object
                 nodeDB.setMyId(service.myId)
-                val ownerName = nodes[service.myId]?.user?.longName
-                _ownerName.value = ownerName
             } catch (ex: Exception) {
                 warn("Ignoring failure to get myId, service is probably just uninited... ${ex.message}")
             }
@@ -520,12 +518,6 @@ class UIViewModel @Inject constructor(
         }
     }
 
-    /// our name in hte radio
-    /// Note, we generate owner initials automatically for now
-    /// our activity will read this from prefs or set it to the empty string
-    private val _ownerName = MutableLiveData<String?>()
-    val ownerName: LiveData<String?> get() = _ownerName
-
     val provideLocation = object : MutableLiveData<Boolean>(preferences.getBoolean("provide-location", false)) {
         override fun setValue(value: Boolean) {
             super.setValue(value)
@@ -536,22 +528,8 @@ class UIViewModel @Inject constructor(
         }
     }
 
-    fun setOwner(user: MeshUser) = with(user) {
-
-        longName.trim().let { ownerName ->
-            // note: we allow an empty user string to be written to prefs
-            _ownerName.value = ownerName
-            preferences.edit { putString("owner", ownerName) }
-        }
-
-        // Note: we are careful to not set a new unique ID
-        if (_ownerName.value!!.isNotEmpty())
-            try {
-                // Note: we use ?. here because we might be running in the emulator
-                meshService?.setOwner(user)
-            } catch (ex: RemoteException) {
-                errormsg("Can't set username on device, is device offline? ${ex.message}")
-            }
+    fun setOwner(user: User) {
+        setRemoteOwner(myNodeNum ?: return, user)
     }
 
     fun setRemoteOwner(destNum: Int, user: User) {
@@ -726,7 +704,7 @@ class UIViewModel @Inject constructor(
                 longName = if (hasLongName()) longName else it.longName,
                 shortName = if (hasShortName()) shortName else it.shortName
             )
-            setOwner(user)
+            setOwner(user.toProto())
         }
         if (hasChannelUrl()) {
             setChannels(ChannelSet(Uri.parse(channelUrl)))
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/geeksville/mesh/ui/SettingsFragment.kt b/app/src/main/java/com/geeksville/mesh/ui/SettingsFragment.kt
index bba925f78..07a70c996 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/geeksville/mesh/ui/SettingsFragment.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/geeksville/mesh/ui/SettingsFragment.kt
@@ -280,7 +280,8 @@ class SettingsFragment : ScreenFragment("Settings"), Logging {
         regionAdapter.setDropDownViewResource(android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item)
         spinner.adapter = regionAdapter
 
-        model.ownerName.observe(viewLifecycleOwner) { name ->
+        model.ourNodeInfo.asLiveData().observe(viewLifecycleOwner) { node ->
+            val name = node?.user?.longName
             binding.usernameEditText.isEnabled = !name.isNullOrEmpty() && !model.isManaged
             binding.usernameEditText.setText(name)
         }
@@ -361,7 +362,7 @@ class SettingsFragment : ScreenFragment("Settings"), Logging {
             val n = binding.usernameEditText.text.toString().trim()
             model.ourNodeInfo.value?.user?.let {
                 val user = it.copy(longName = n, shortName = getInitials(n))
-                if (n.isNotEmpty()) model.setOwner(user)
+                if (n.isNotEmpty()) model.setOwner(user.toProto())
             }
             requireActivity().hideKeyboard()
         }