HomelabARR Mobile
Your homelab goes with you.
A server may live in a cupboard. Its controls should not require a desk. We built HomelabARR Mobile as a direct companion to the dashboard people already use.
Get HomelabARR Mobile- iOSAvailable on the App Store
Android is planned.
- Your serverDirect dashboard connection
Supports local addresses, private networking and HTTPS domains.
- One dashboardShared with HomelabARR CE
The mobile companion loads the existing responsive interface.
- ConnectEnter the address of your HomelabARR server.
- RememberKeep the selected server for the next launch.
- ManageUse the existing responsive dashboard.
- RecoverRetry or change the address if the server cannot be reached.
The problem
HomelabARR already has a responsive web dashboard. Rebuilding every control in a second application would create two interfaces to maintain and two places for behaviour to drift. The mobile problem was more immediate: connect to the right server, remember it, navigate comfortably and recover clearly when the connection fails.
A self-hosted server also has no single address format. One person uses a private network address; another reaches it through a private network service or an HTTPS domain. A companion has to respect those choices rather than requiring a hosted account between the user and their own machine.
Who it’s for
HomelabARR CE users who want to check and manage their own server from an iPhone or tablet.
What we built
We built an iOS companion that opens the existing dashboard inside an application shell. First launch asks for the server URL and an optional API key. The app remembers the connection between launches, follows the device theme and keeps its appearance in step with the dashboard.
Pull-to-refresh, a header back button and a swipe gesture provide familiar mobile navigation. External links open in the system browser. Connection errors offer a retry or a way to change the server, and connection actions include haptic feedback.
The scope is deliberate. The app brings HomelabARR to the phone; the server remains responsible for the homelab. Users keep the same dashboard and the same source of operational information instead of maintaining a separate mobile copy.
How it works
The app is a thin companion around the mobile-responsive HomelabARR CE interface. It stores the selected server locally, then loads that address in the embedded browser. Dashboard navigation stays inside that view while links to other destinations leave through the normal browser.
Connection options include local IP addresses, private-network addresses, public domains and secure tunnels. Local networking support allows a phone on the same network to reach the server directly. Remote access still depends on a route to that server; the mobile app does not create one by itself.
The iOS release is available through the App Store. Android is planned. The first-launch flow, saved server and connection recovery are shared parts of the companion’s design.
What was hard
The important engineering decisions sit at the boundary between a familiar web product and a native device. Back navigation must behave predictably. An unavailable server needs an actionable state. A link should open where the user expects, and a local address must be allowed to connect.
Keeping the companion small is part of the solution. We reused a dashboard already built for smaller screens and spent the application layer on connection, navigation and recovery. That is a product choice with a clear maintenance benefit, rather than an excuse to duplicate the same controls.