Mobile App

The Tracearr mobile app lets you monitor your media servers on the go. Available for iOS and Android.

Download the app: App Store (iOS) · Google Play (Android)

Enabling Mobile Access

Before you can pair devices, you need to enable mobile access on your Tracearr server.

Open Settings

Go to Settings → Mobile in your Tracearr dashboard.

Enable Mobile Access

Click Enable Mobile Access. This activates the pairing system and allows devices to connect.

Set External URL (if needed)

If you’re accessing Tracearr through a reverse proxy or remotely, go to Settings → External URL and set your public URL (e.g., https://tracearr.yourdomain.com). The mobile app uses this URL to connect.

Without an external URL configured, the QR code will contain your local network address, which won’t work when you’re away from home.

Pairing a Device

You can pair up to 5 devices per Tracearr instance.

QR Code (Recommended)

Generate a Pairing Code

In Settings → Mobile, click Add Device. A QR code appears with a countdown timer.

Open the Tracearr App

Launch the Tracearr app on your phone. On first launch, you’ll see the pairing screen automatically.

Scan the QR Code

Point your camera at the QR code. The app will automatically detect and pair with your server.

Done

Once paired, you’ll be taken to the dashboard. Your device now appears in the “Connected Devices” list on the web.

The pairing token expires after 15 minutes and can only be used once. If it expires, click “Add Device” again to generate a new code.

Manual Entry

If you can’t scan the QR code:

In the mobile app, tap Enter URL and Token Manually
Enter your Server URL — e.g., https://tracearr.yourdomain.com
Enter the Access Token — shown below the QR code, starts with trr_mob_...
Tap Connect

Session Expiry

Devices paired after the authentication upgrade use a 30-day rolling session: any use within 30 days extends it, so a device you open regularly stays paired indefinitely. A device idle for more than 30 days needs to pair again.

Devices paired before the authentication upgrade keep working on their existing tokens until they are re-paired; nothing expires them at 30 days. The 30-day rolling session applies to devices paired after upgrading.

Push Notifications

The mobile app supports push notifications for real-time alerts.

Enabling Notifications

In the app, go to Settings → Notifications
Toggle Enable Push Notifications
Grant notification permissions when prompted by your device

Notification Events

You can enable or disable notifications for each event type:

Event	Description
Violation Detected	A sharing rule was triggered
Stream Started	Someone started watching
Stream Stopped	Playback ended
Concurrent Streams	User exceeded stream limit
New Device	New device detected for a user
Trust Score Changed	User’s trust score degraded
Server Down	Media server became unreachable
Server Up	Media server is back online

Violation Filters

When violation notifications are enabled, you can filter by:

Rule Type — Impossible Travel, Simultaneous Locations, Device Velocity, Concurrent Streams, Geo Restriction
Minimum Severity — All, Warning & High only, or High only

Quiet Hours

Pause non-critical notifications during sleeping hours:

Enable Quiet Hours
Set your start and end times (e.g., 11 PM to 8 AM)
Optionally enable Override for Critical to still receive high-severity violation alerts

Rate Limiting

To prevent notification spam, the app enforces rate limits:

Maximum notifications per minute
Maximum notifications per hour

You can see your current rate limit status in the notification settings.

The Now Playing widget shows active streams and transcodes across your servers, and how many servers are down. On iOS it comes in small, medium and large Home Screen sizes and three Lock Screen sizes. On Android it is a resizable widget, 4 by 2 cells by default.

On iOS, long-press the widget and choose Edit Widget to pick what each stream shows: user, episode, quality and bitrate, player, and progress.

The widget always shows the time its data is from, such as “as of 2:06”. Data more than 15 minutes old is shown as stale.

While the app is open, the widget follows what the app shows. When you leave the app, it refreshes once if its data is more than 30 seconds old.

In the background:

iOS: Tracearr sends your phone a silent push when a stream starts or stops. The push wakes the app, which fetches the current streams and asks iOS to redraw the widget. The server sends each device at most one of these pushes every 20 minutes, plus one more when that window ends so the widget gets the latest state.
iOS and Android: the app also asks the system to refresh the widget no more often than every 15 minutes. The system decides when that actually runs.
Android: Tracearr doesn’t send the silent push to Android devices, so the widget mostly refreshes on that schedule and when you open the app. Some Android phone makers stop background work for apps removed from the recent apps list; see dontkillmyapp.com .

iOS Requirements

iOS only updates the widget in the background when:

Background App Refresh is on for Tracearr. Check Settings → General → Background App Refresh: both the main switch and the Tracearr switch. With it off, iOS never wakes the app for the push.
Low Power Mode is off. It turns Background App Refresh off while it’s on.
Tracearr hasn’t been swiped away in the app switcher. iOS doesn’t launch an app the user force-quit until it’s opened again or the phone restarts.

The app can’t read the Background App Refresh setting yet, so it can’t warn you when it’s off.

Apple’s Limits

iOS decides whether and when the widget updates in the background. Two limits apply, and Apple doesn’t publish exact numbers for either:

Background pushes. Apple: “The number of background notifications allowed by the system depends on current conditions, but don’t try to send more than two or three per hour.” iOS can delay or drop pushes past that. (Pushing background updates to your app )
Widget reloads. Each widget you add has its own reload budget over a 24-hour window that iOS fits to how you use your phone. For a widget you look at often, Apple says the daily budget “typically includes from 40 to 70 refreshes”, roughly one every 15 to 60 minutes. Reloads while the Tracearr app is open don’t count. (Keeping a widget up to date )

Expect one to three background updates an hour at best. When a widget’s budget runs out, iOS holds its reloads until the budget refills over the day. Opening the app updates the widget right away either way.

Managing Connected Devices

In Settings → Mobile on the web dashboard:

View Connected Devices

Each device shows:

Device Name — e.g., “John’s iPhone”
Platform — iOS or Android
Last Seen — When the device last connected
Connected Date — When it was paired

Revoke a Device

Click the trash icon next to a device to disconnect it. The device will need to pair again with a new token.

Revoke All Sessions

Click Revoke All to disconnect every device at once. Useful if you suspect unauthorized access.

Disable Mobile Access

Click Disable Mobile Access to turn off the feature entirely. All devices will be disconnected and the pairing system will be disabled.

Troubleshooting

”Invalid QR code” or “Pairing Failed”

The token may have expired (15-minute limit). Generate a new one
Ensure your phone has a clear view of the QR code
Try manual entry instead

App Can’t Connect to Server

Verify your External URL is set correctly in Settings
Check that your server is accessible from outside your network
Ensure HTTPS is working if you’re using it
Check your firewall allows incoming connections

Not Receiving Push Notifications

Check that notifications are enabled in the app settings
Verify your device’s notification permissions for Tracearr
Use Send Test Notification to verify the connection
Check that you haven’t hit rate limits

Open the app. The widget updates right away.
Make sure the app is up to date. Some fixes arrive as over-the-air updates, which install when the app fully restarts, so it can take two restarts.
On iOS, turn on Background App Refresh for Tracearr and turn off Low Power Mode. See iOS Requirements.
Don’t swipe Tracearr away in the app switcher.
If the widget only changes when you open the app, it has probably used its reload budget for the day. It refills on its own. See Apple’s Limits.
On Android, check that your phone’s battery settings aren’t restricting Tracearr.

Device Shows “Last seen” a Long Time Ago

The app updates its “last seen” timestamp when it connects to fetch data. If the app hasn’t been opened recently, this is normal.

Can’t Add More Devices

The default limit is 5 devices. You’ll need to remove an existing device before adding a new one.