Questions regarding device tracking on iOS

Mobile Apps Home Assistant Companion for Apple
1

Hi, I am having some issues with iOS device tracking and not too sure why, ive gone through all (or I think all) the required settings on the iOS device but still it will not work.

I have one question too though, I noticed that if I do not have a connect to my HA instance from outside, no HA cloud or VPN, I still get notification come through somehow, not sure how this works.

My question is and im sure its a stupid question, do I need access to my HA instance via either cloud or VPN for the device tracking to work?

Thanks

2

Notifications work through Apple’s ecosystem, and are therefore different to how the Companion App sends data. Since it is sending from your phone to your HA, your server needs to be visible to your phone. This could be done with a VPN running on your home network, or Nabu Casa, or exposing your server to the internet using the NGINX Proxy Manager (as examples). I’n not sure you’d want your phone to always be connected to your VPN though, as that sounds slow.