The iOS app connects well to HA via a URL composed of a private IP address (there is no local DNS happening).
When I’m outside, I use VPN to access my home network. Using Safari or Firefox (on the iPhone) to connect to HA, works just fine. However the iOS app is failing to connect with an error (against a red background) that reads “The Internet connection appears to be offline. NSURLErrorDomain - 1009”
When you kill and relaunch the app, it pops up as just a black screen with a gear button in the lower right corner. I pressed it to reveal the app’s settings …
Under the Details section, the External URL field is set to the HA URL while the Internal URL field is empty. The Connected via field is set to External URL (this cannot be changed). I’ve already tried to set the Internal URL to also point to the HA URL, but that did not help.
So to summarize: external URL is set to something like http://192.168.12.34 and this is an internal IP address accessible when the VPN is connected.
Can you confirm what settings you have in the system Settings app > Home Assistant? In particular, what’s the state of the “Local Network” setting? If this setting is ‘off’ it will appear to be offline, which seems to match up with what you are seeing.
@zacwest thanks for pointing me into the right direction.
In iOS->Settings->Home Assistant, Cellular Data was turned off. I don’t remember setting it that way.
This post also pointed me in the right direction.
iOS → Settings → Home Assistant, Local Access was turned off.
The scenario was very similar to mine, but I was not accessing via VPN:
iPhone on local Wifi
Home Assistant App only has the External URL populated, and no way to enter the local URL.
In my case, the internal and external URLs are exactly the same, using a DNS hostname, not an IP (split DNS).