Connecting the mobile apps to your server

The Resgrid Responder and Unit apps from the App Store and Google Play work with self-hosted servers; you don't need special builds. Each user points the app at your server's API hostname once.

Before you start

• The server's API and events hostnames must resolve on the phone's network (public DNS, or records on the WiFi router for LAN/offline installs) and present a certificate the phone trusts (Certificates).
• On Android, the apps only trust publicly issued certificates. Use Let's Encrypt or your own public certificate if Android phones must use the apps; the local CA works for Android browsers and for iPhones.
• Create the users in the web app first (Personnel > Add Person, or invitations if the server sends email).
• For offline deployments, install the apps while the phones still have internet.

Set the server URL

Resgrid Responder

1. Open the app. On the login screen tap Change Server URL.

2. In Server, choose Custom.

3. In Server URL enter https://<your API hostname>, for example https://dispatchapi.example.com. Only the base URL: no /api/v4, no trailing slash. If the server serves HTTPS on a port other than 443 (RESGRID_HTTPS_PORT in .env, set when 443 was already taken), add the port: https://dispatchapi.example.com:8443.

   A private name such as https://rgapi.rick.internal works for iPhones, which trust the local CA. It cannot work for the Android apps: .internal is reserved for private networks and no public CA will issue a certificate for it, so Android needs a hostname under a domain you own (RICK: publicly trusted certificate).

4. Save, then log in with your Resgrid user name and password.

Resgrid Unit

1. On the login screen tap Server URL.
2. Choose Custom and enter https://<your API hostname>, with the port if RESGRID_HTTPS_PORT is not 443 (https://dispatchapi.example.com:8443). The Unit app only accepts https:// addresses.
3. Save and log in with the unit's or user's credentials.

You can change it later under Settings > Server; changing it signs you out. When the phone has no internet, the server sheet first tries to reach resgrid.com and can take up to 30 seconds before it lets you choose Custom.

The app reads everything else from your server: the events hub address comes from RESGRID__SystemBehaviorConfig__ResgridEventingBaseUrl, so that hostname must be reachable from phones too.

On a WiFi network without internet

When the phone joins a network without internet (a RICK kit, a field LAN):

• Android shows No internet access: choose Stay connected / Keep WiFi connection, and turn off mobile data so Android doesn't route the apps over cellular. Turn off Private DNS if it is set to a provider.
• iPhone asks to allow access to devices on your Local Network the first time: allow it (later: Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network). Turn off iCloud Private Relay or VPNs for that WiFi.

What to expect

Feature	Online self-hosted server	Offline (laptop, RICK)
Log in, calls, dispatches, statuses, staffing, personnel and unit lists	Yes	Yes
Real-time updates while the app is open (events hub)	Yes	Yes
Location sharing to the server	Yes	Yes
Messages and chat	Yes (chat needs the Chat feature enabled for the department)	Yes, while the app is open
Push notifications when the app is closed	Only with a configured Novu instance and the apps' Firebase/APNs credentials (RESGRID__ChatConfig__Novu*); not configured by default	No (needs Google/Apple services)
Maps in the apps	Mapbox; set RESGRID__MappingConfig__ResponderAppMapboxKey / UnitAppMapBoxKey	Only areas already cached on the phone
Address search	Needs internet geocoding	No

Because push notifications aren't available on a typical self-hosted server, ask responders to keep the app open (and the screen on, with Keep Alive in the app settings) during an incident so they receive new dispatches immediately.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
"Network error" at login on Android	The certificate isn't publicly trusted. Use Let's Encrypt or your own public certificate.
Login fails on iPhone	Install and enable the CA profile (Certificates), check the Local Network permission.
Logs in but nothing updates	The events hostname doesn't resolve or isn't trusted from the phone.
"Invalid URL" in the Unit app	Use https://; the Unit app rejects http:// servers.
Can't resolve the server name	The phone uses another DNS (Private DNS, VPN, cellular). Fix the router records and the phone's DNS settings.