diff --git a/public/index.html b/public/index.html
index b5ff64c..fa16fd4 100644
--- a/public/index.html
+++ b/public/index.html
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@
                             </div>
                             <div class="my-auto">My Identity</div>
                             <div class="ml-auto">
-                                <button @click="saveDisplayName" type="button" class="my-auto inline-flex items-center gap-x-1 rounded-md bg-gray-500 px-2 py-1 text-sm font-semibold text-white shadow-sm hover:bg-gray-400 focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:outline-gray-500">
+                                <button @click="saveIdentitySettings" type="button" class="my-auto inline-flex items-center gap-x-1 rounded-md bg-gray-500 px-2 py-1 text-sm font-semibold text-white shadow-sm hover:bg-gray-400 focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:outline-gray-500">
                                     Save
                                 </button>
                             </div>
@@ -161,6 +161,23 @@
                                 <div>LXMF Address</div>
                                 <div class="text-sm text-gray-700">{{ config.lxmf_address_hash }}</div>
                             </div>
+                            <div class="p-1">
+                                <div>Auto Announce</div>
+                                <select v-model="config.auto_announce_interval_seconds" class="bg-gray-50 border border-gray-300 text-gray-900 text-sm rounded-lg focus:ring-blue-500 focus:border-blue-500 block w-full p-2.5">
+                                    <option value="0">Disabled</option>
+                                    <option value="900">15 Minutes</option>
+                                    <option value="1800">30 Minutes</option>
+                                    <option value="3600">1 Hour</option>
+                                    <option value="10800">3 Hours</option>
+                                    <option value="21600">6 Hours</option>
+                                    <option value="43200">12 Hours</option>
+                                    <option value="86400">24 Hours</option>
+                                </select>
+                                <div class="text-sm text-gray-700">
+                                    <span v-if="config.last_announced_at">Last announced: {{ formatSecondsAgo(config.last_announced_at) }}</span>
+                                    <span v-else>Last announced: Never</span>
+                                </div>
+                            </div>
                         </div>
                     </div>
 
@@ -1299,6 +1316,15 @@
                     container.scrollTop = container.scrollHeight;
                 });
             },
+            async getConfig() {
+                try {
+                    const response = await window.axios.get(`/api/v1/config`);
+                    this.config = response.data.config;
+                } catch(e) {
+                    // do nothing if failed to load config
+                    console.log(e);
+                }
+            },
             async sendAnnounce() {
 
                 // do nothing if not connected to websocket
@@ -1318,6 +1344,9 @@
                     console.error(e);
                 }
 
+                // fetch config so it updates last announced timestamp
+                await this.getConfig();
+
             },
             async sendMessage() {
 
@@ -1415,9 +1444,10 @@
                 }
 
             },
-            async saveDisplayName() {
+            async saveIdentitySettings() {
                 await this.updateConfig({
                     "display_name": this.displayName,
+                    "auto_announce_interval_seconds": this.config.auto_announce_interval_seconds,
                 });
             },
             async startNewLXMFConversation() {
@@ -2082,10 +2112,22 @@
                 };
             },
             formatTimeAgo: function(datetimeString) {
-
                 const millisecondsAgo = Date.now() - new Date(datetimeString).getTime();
                 const secondsAgo = Math.round(millisecondsAgo / 1000);
-                const parsedSeconds = this.parseSeconds(secondsAgo);
+                return this.formatSecondsAgo(secondsAgo);
+            },
+            formatSecondsAgo: function(seconds) {
+                const secondsAgo = Math.round((Date.now() / 1000) - seconds);
+                return this.formatSeconds(secondsAgo);
+            },
+            formatSeconds: function(seconds) {
+
+                const parsedSeconds = this.parseSeconds(seconds);
+
+                console.log({
+                    seconds: seconds,
+                    parsedSeconds: parsedSeconds,
+                });
 
                 if(parsedSeconds.days > 0){
                     return parsedSeconds.days + " days ago";
diff --git a/web.py b/web.py
index e383cdc..cffdd9a 100644
--- a/web.py
+++ b/web.py
@@ -954,6 +954,19 @@ class ReticulumWebChat:
             if "display_name" in config and config["display_name"] != "":
                 self.config.display_name.set(config["display_name"])
 
+            # update auto announce interval
+            if "auto_announce_interval_seconds" in config:
+
+                # auto auto announce interval
+                auto_announce_interval_seconds = int(config["auto_announce_interval_seconds"])
+                self.config.auto_announce_interval_seconds.set(config["auto_announce_interval_seconds"])
+
+                # enable or disable auto announce based on interval
+                if auto_announce_interval_seconds > 0:
+                    self.config.auto_announce_enabled.set(True)
+                else:
+                    self.config.auto_announce_enabled.set(False)
+
             # send config to websocket clients
             await self.send_config_to_websocket_clients()
 
@@ -1130,6 +1143,9 @@ class ReticulumWebChat:
             "identity_hash": self.identity.hexhash,
             "lxmf_address_hash": self.local_lxmf_destination.hexhash,
             "audio_call_address_hash": self.audio_call_manager.audio_call_receiver.destination.hexhash,
+            "auto_announce_enabled": self.config.auto_announce_enabled.get(),
+            "auto_announce_interval_seconds": self.config.auto_announce_interval_seconds.get(),
+            "last_announced_at": self.config.last_announced_at.get(),
         }
 
     # convert audio call to dict
@@ -1650,7 +1666,7 @@ class Config:
     # all possible config items
     display_name = StringConfig("display_name", "Anonymous Peer")
     auto_announce_enabled = BoolConfig("auto_announce_enabled", False)
-    auto_announce_interval_seconds = IntConfig("auto_announce_interval_seconds", False)
+    auto_announce_interval_seconds = IntConfig("auto_announce_interval_seconds", 3600)
     last_announced_at = IntConfig("last_announced_at", None)