iPhone and iPad

The iOS app is a shell around the same web UI: its window looks at your Clauder at home, and there is no server on the device itself. iOS doesn't let apps run other programs, so the agent always works on your computer and the iPhone stays a remote. Minimum is iOS 15.

The app isn't in the App Store. You install it yourself, and this page shows how that works today.

Consider the web UI first

If you want to read chats and answer the agent, you don't need the app. Open your Clauder address in Safari, tap Share → Add to Home Screen, and it will open in its own window without an address bar, like a regular app. Nothing to sign or renew, and it updates itself. More in Web UI and PWA.

On top of that the app adds: connecting by scanning a QR code, the key kept in the iOS keychain, widgets on the Home Screen and the Lock Screen, quick actions on the icon, notifications about agent questions while the app is open, and a background check while it's closed.

What you need

• The Clauder-<version>.ipa file from the builds — handed out on request via @varyen on Telegram. It's under a megabyte — that's expected: the interface comes from your server, and the package holds only a thin shell.
• An Apple ID. A regular free one works — no paid developer account needed. A separate one is better, since the signing tool has to sign in with it.
• A computer with Windows or macOS and a cable to the iPhone.

The file in the release is unsigned: Apple doesn't allow signing an app once for everyone, so it gets signed for your Apple ID and your device.

Installing with Sideloadly

Sideloadly is a free tool for Windows and macOS. On Windows it needs iTunes and iCloud from Apple's website rather than the Microsoft Store — Sideloadly will tell you if they're missing.

1. Connect the iPhone with a cable, unlock it and tap "Trust This Computer".
2. Drag Clauder-<version>.ipa into the Sideloadly window.
3. Enter your Apple ID and press Start. The tool asks for the password and the two-factor code itself.
4. On the iPhone open Settings → General → VPN & Device Management, find your Apple ID and tap Trust.
5. On iOS 16 and later there's one more step: Settings → Privacy & Security → Developer Mode — turn it on and restart the phone. The app won't launch without it.

A signature lasts 7 days

With a free Apple ID the signature is valid for seven days. After that the app stops opening — your data stays, you just sign it again: drag the same .ipa into Sideloadly and press Start. Settings and the key are kept.

To avoid remembering this every week:

• Sideloadly can renew the signature by itself while the computer is on and the iPhone is on the same Wi-Fi (the automatic refresh option in its settings).
• AltStore does the same through its own server on the computer: install the .ipa through it, and it renews the signature over Wi-Fi while the computer and the phone can see each other.

Other free Apple ID limits: no more than three apps signed this way at once per device, and no more than ten different apps signed per week.

With a paid developer account the signature lasts a year, but it can't be paid for from every country — Clauder doesn't need it.

Without an Apple ID: TrollStore

If the device has TrollStore, the app installs without an Apple ID and without weekly renewal: the signature doesn't expire, and the free Apple ID limits aren't spent. There's a separate build for this — Clauder-<version>-trollstore.ipa.

• Installing — in TrollStore tap "+" → "Install from URL" with the .ipa address, or open the file in TrollStore from Files.
• Updated over the old version and the widget turned into an empty white box — in TrollStore open Settings → Rebuild Icon Cache. iOS will then ask for notification permission again.
• This build doesn't add push or Universal Links: the connection code still goes through the clauder.varyen.net/connect page.

Connecting to the server

On first launch the app asks for an address. The easiest way is to scan the QR code shown in Connection → Connect by QR in Clauder's settings on the computer. You can also type the address and key. The regular iPhone camera reads the code too: it opens the clauder.varyen.net/connect page, and Open in the app there hands the address and key over to Clauder.

Right after the first launch iOS asks for access to the local network — allow it, or the app won't reach your computer at home.

Point the phone at the desktop app (or a Docker server at a stable address), not at something that restarts often: if the server disappears, an open page keeps showing what it already loaded but can't move to new sections.

Widgets and quick actions

Two Clauder widgets go on the Home Screen:

• Agents — the small one shows how many agents are working and how many are waiting for an answer; the medium one, up to four chats with their status; the large one, up to six, each with its last message. Tapping a row opens that chat, tapping outside the rows opens the agents screen. On iOS 16 and later the same widget goes on the Lock Screen.
• Recent chats — the latest chats; a tap opens the one you need.

Widgets refresh every 5–15 minutes — iOS doesn't allow more often — and right away when you open the app. If the server doesn't answer, the reason is shown under the label. They work with a free Apple ID signature through Sideloadly too.

A long press on the app icon offers New chat, Agents and Chats. They appear after the first launch.

Background check

While the app is closed, it asks the server now and then by itself: if an agent has started waiting for an answer, a notification arrives (tapping it opens that chat), and the icon shows a badge with the number of waiting agents. Open the app and the badge clears.

This isn't push. iOS decides when to check: usually once every few tens of minutes, and never if Background App Refresh is off in iOS settings or Low Power Mode is on. A question asked a minute after you minimised the app will surface with that delay.

Updating

The app can't install a new version of itself — iOS doesn't allow it. A new .ipa is signed and installed the same way as the first one: Sideloadly, AltStore or TrollStore. Settings and the key are kept. The interface, though, comes from the server, so after updating Clauder on the computer the new web UI features show up here too, without reinstalling.

What's missing compared to Android

• Real background notifications. iOS freezes the app a few seconds after it's minimised, and background push needs a paid account and Apple's service. While the app is open, notifications about agent questions arrive at once; in the background, only with the delay of the background check. If you need them right away, use the Telegram bot.
• "Share to Clauder" from other apps.
• The phone as a worker and a server on the device itself.

If something's wrong

• The app won't open, flashes and closes — the signature expired (7 days passed) or Developer Mode is off. Sign it again.
• "Unable to verify app" — you didn't tap Trust in VPN & Device Management.
• A blank screen or "server unavailable" — check that the computer is on and the phone is on the same network; the app has Retry and Change server buttons.