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iOS app won't connect locally

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    RainMachine Support (Edited )

    So, the steps are as follow:
    - phone Wi-Fi -> connect to Mini-8 AP
    - RainMachine mobile app - Devices screen - tap on Mini-8 name
    - choose your local Wi-Fi network from the screen
    - enter its password and connect
    - the Mini-8 Wi-Fi logo icon should blink and when connected should stay fully ON.
    - your phone should follow and connect to the same wi-fi network
    - if both are connected you should see the Mini-8 listed on DEVICES screen. This time it is listed locally through your local Wi-Fi network.

    Note: If the Mini-8 has been Factory Reset then, after you connect it to Wi-Fi network, the setup steps will follow: create a password, choose location, validate remote access email and so on.

    Thanks,
    Justin

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    Rachel Leistad (Edited )

    @RainMachine I am having a similar issue using RM via the App on my iPhone. I am unable to access RM via direct access. I am able to access via the web using the ip when I am at home. However, direct access will not work when I am not connected to my home wifi.
    I have set a static IP for RM and set up port forwarding for all ports you mentioned including 8080. Whenever I click on the direct access, it just spins…

    how do I upload pics for you to see? I set up the static ip of 192.168.68.103. I went into app, clicked hamburger and used that static ip followed by :8080  

    it just spins

     

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    RainMachine Support (Edited )

    Hi, @all
    What we would like you to do is:

    • Open your iPhone/iPad iOS Settings and search for the RainMachine app.

      Open it and look for the switch of Local Network. Switch it ON. If you do not see the Local Network switch under RainMachine app settings, then try iOS Settings - Privacy - Local Network and look for the RainMachine app to allow it (switch ON).
      Open the RainMachine iOS app again and see if your RainMachine is automatically discovered or the one you added using Direct Access feature is accessible.

      If that doesn't work, please do the following:

      • delete the RainMachine iOS app from your iPhone/iPad
      • go to Apple AppStore and search for "rainmachine"
      • install the latest version from
      • attention when you are asked to accept this request from the app
        See image attached.
        Without this acknowledge and accept the RainMachine iOS app will not discover your devices automatically or through Direct Access feature.
      Thank you
      RainMachine Support
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    Rachel Leistad

    @Rainmachine. Thanks for the response. I deleted the app and reinstalled but that didn’t solve my problem with direct access. Local access works fine for me. It’s specifically direct access not working.
    When I use the app to add the direct access (after clicking the hamburger), what IP address should I be entering here to access the rain machine not suing my home wifi? The instructions on your website say public ip, but the app says to use rain machine local ip?

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    RainMachine Support (Edited )

    Hi, Rachel
    Yes, sorry about that. For Direct Access from outside your local network you have to use the router Public IP address followed by the port you used to forward to RainMachine Local IP:8080

    Thank you

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    Rachel Leistad

    @Rainmachine do you have another work around to use direct access when not on local network? I’m sure most people (including me) don’t have a static IP set from their ISP since that is typically dynamic. I called AT&T and they quoted me a minimum of $15/month to establish a static IP for my “public IP”.

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    RainMachine Support

    Hi, Rachel
    To by pass the ISP dynamic Public IP you can try to use service like ngrok.com or cloudflare.com or no-ip.com - they all provide free plans with their downsides. They also require some setup knowledge, still, they provide step by step tutorials on how to do it.

    Hope that helps.
    Thank you

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    RainMachine Support

    Hi, all
    We would like you to join the iOS Beta Channel and install the new Beta app released today.

    1. Install Apple TestFlight iOS application from AppStore on your iPhone/iPad. Then access this web link on your Apple device: https://testflight.apple.com/join/mTPgsVCc

    2. You'll be automatically added to our beta testing program and you will be notified by Apple TestFlight when you can install the RainMachine iOS app.

    3. To revert to the current stable App Store version of the RainMachine app, just uninstall the beta app, open App Store and install the RainMachine application.

    Thank you
    RainMachine Support

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    Jefftheman (Edited )

    After reinstalling the original app the local search was working again but I did install the beta to test. Initial reaction is the controller shows up faster upon opening the app and after selected the data/next screens appear sooner.

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    RainMachine Support

    Thank you.
    Apple made serious changed on Privacy for Local Network access from iOS 14 and up and we needed to address that.
    Please keep it for a while and report back if you want.
    Thank you!
    RainMachine Support

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    RainMachine Support

    UPDATE (July 09, 2022)
    The RainMachine iOS app has been updated to include the fixes for Local Network Access. Please update to the latest version from the Apple AppStore.
    Thank you

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    Steve Kunz

    I have the issue of the iOS app not connecting locally. Some details:

    • iOS Rain Machine app version 4.6.124 (I believe this version actually BROKE my local network access)
    • The "Local Network" switch is set "On" on the Rain machine iOS app
    • Rain Machine device Gen 1, firmware version 3.74
    • Home network Google WiFi (mesh) with 4 access points

    When launching the iOS app it shows a startup screen with "Version 4.6.124" at the bottom. I then see a screen with "LOCAL NETWORK" at the top with my Rain Machine name and IP address. Touching that I a black box pops up with a spinning progress circle. That's as far as it gets.

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    Steve J

    I am seeing the same thing as Steve K. - it just spins when I try to access my local device. It seems like the new subscription functionality nuked my local access. Oddly, it worked last week.

    @Rain Machine Support - As you just rolled out an iOS update, is this still being tracked as an open issue?

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    remco

    Having the same problems. Since we bought the device many years ago never a problem, but after the latest update it is not possible to connect anymore from our iPhones:

    - tried already re-installing the latest (4.6.124) version. Too bad there is no option to re-install a previous version that actually worked, As the above users mentioned, I think the 4.6.124 version broke the ability to use local access, as fairly recently we were still able to access the device from our phones.

    - Controller has firmware 3.74; which appears to be the current version

    - re-set the controller (cannot enter home address on the device for some reason, but we will save that issue for when I can actually connect to it)

    - controller connects fine to the router (I can access it through a browser on my PC)

    - router set-up for port forwarding

    - app refuses to connect through either "Direct Access" or "Local Network". No error messages; just keeps spinning forever...

    Seems like the same issue as the people above (and also numerous people commenting on this "updated" version in the review section of the app store). 

    Please let me know what else I can try and/or when a version that will allow me to connect to the controller again will be available.

    Thank You,

    Remco

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    RainMachine Support

    Hi, we are looking into the Touch 1st gen local access spinning wheel issue.

    Would you please try to add it with the Direct Access feature like:

    Name: Your_Chosen_Name
    URL or IP address: http://192.168.12.22

    Where the 192.168.12.22 is your Touch 1st gen local IP number and use the http:// protocol.
    Let us know if that works for you.

    Sorry again for this, it will be fixed and we will release a Beta version as soon as possible.
    Thank you for your understanding.

    Julian
    RainMachine Support

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    vova

    Really very strange.
    Ports 8080 and 8081 had to be opened.
    Through the browser, it enters the controller only through port 8081, and through the application on iOS only through port 8080......
    Something the developers have fooled.... (((

    From a PC through a browser, you need to type https, but if you want to get the same access through a browser on your iOS phone, then you need to type http (I checked all this remotely, not on the home network).

     

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    remco

    @Julian: Yes, using http instead of https works for Direct Access locally via the iPhone app.. Thanks for the quick response !

    Do you happen to have any solution for not being able to enter our address on the device itself? Or is this no longer needed?

    -Remco

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    RainMachine Support

    Hi, Remco
    Unfortunately, we will have to send you another sdcard with the fix. The sdcard replacement on the 1st Gen Touch devices is not an easy task, but also not a hard one. You will need location to be set up on the device in order to get weather data.
    Please contact our support team by email and they will take it from there. Send them the link of this forum post.

    Thank you for your understanding.

    Julian
    RainMachine Support

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    Steve J

    Yes @RainMarchine Support - using the Direct Access with http://<RM IP> worked for me as well.

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    RainMachine Support

    Thank you for letting us know, @Steve J

    Julian
    RainMachine Support

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    Steve Kunz (Edited )

    Julian said to try:

        Name: Your_Chosen_Name
        URL or IP address: http://192.168.12.22

        Where the 192.168.12.22 is your Touch 1st gen local IP number and use the http:// protocol.
        Let us know if that works for you.

    When I put this in using my "Name" and trying to specify the "http://" protocol my Rain Machine overrides the protocol setting and uses "https://<my.ip.address>" anyway.  Pressing my machine in the Devices selection (under Direct Access) does connect me to the device with VERY slow response (like taking 45 secs to see the zones).  The "Dashboard"  shows nothing (spinning "progress wheels" in every section) no matter how long I wait.

    Further information on my Touch 1st Gen (under the "About" info) says:

        4.6.124 (6)

        RainMachine Firmware V 3.74

    I presume the first number is the hardware version.

    So - does not work for me as well as others.

    One more piece of info. If I don't use the Rain Machine iOS app and enter "http://<my.rain.machine.ip>" in Safari on my phone I need to supply my local admin password and I get in with a very snappy connection.  So, app combined with my 1st Gen device is the problem.

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    Ray Lamborn

    Could not connect my iPhone 12 to my RainMachine Pro-8-generated WiFi to use a different WiFi SSID. I  tried all combinations, reboots, etc. What finally worked for me was to enable the Apple Home(kit) and add the Rainmaker as an accessory to Apple Home. It worked first time after that, even though I did not want any Apple Home features!

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    Karl

    Exactly the same experiences as Steve Kunz with my gen1 Touch and RM app version 4.6.124.

    Local access was working until I installed 4.6.124. It's summer so I've been using the app regularly, especially since I've been trying to sort out the addition of premium.

    You can say Apple made lots of changes with iOS 15, but local access was working for me with 15.5, which was released in mid May.

    And you can say mesh networks are the problem, but local access has been working with my Eero network for years.

    Premium added very little to my Gen1 Touch's functions, but I signed up for Premium because I believed RanMachine to be a great company, and these are tough times, so I wanted to help support the company. But now I'm starting to question my decision.

    FYI...I've been wanting to buy a new Touch for some time now, but it hasn't been available for a looooooong time now. When I first read posts suggesting RainMachine was closing down and Premium was a way of getting money from their customers before closing up shop, I generally dismissed such comments. Now I'm wondering if that's the direction things are headed. I'm hoping that's not true. I'm hoping RM will get it's app straightened out and their hardware back into production. I guess tiime will tell.

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    RainMachine Support

    Hi, Karl, all
    We will soon release a Beta version with the fix for Touch 1st gen local access issue.
    Thank you for your understanding.

    Julian
    RainMachine Support

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    Steve Kunz

    Just tried version 4.6.125 off the Beta channel.  It has fixed the problem for me introduced by version 4.6.124. 

    Gen 1 Touch device, iPhone running iOS 15.5, Google Wifi (mesh).

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    RainMachine Support

    Thanks for your report, Steve
    The app will stay in Beta for testing and bug reports+fixes and then we will release it on AppStore as Stable release update for all users.

    Thank you!
    Julian
    RainMachine Support

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    FT

    I can't connect locally.  I downloaded the beta and it immediately worked, unfortunately the next day it stopped and uninstalling and re installing does nothing.  I run IOS 15.5, Beta 4.6.125 and a Mini 8..  Remote through port fwd works

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    Karl

    Once again following in the footsteps of Steve Kunz...using the beta channel I installed 4.6.125. That solved the problem of not being able to use the local connection for my gen1 Touch.

    Thanks!

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    JT (Edited )

    Just to pile on, I was unable to connect locally, but the latest beta version works!

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    remco

     

    Hi Julian,

    While we can now connect to the controller via the iPhone app, we have the following issues:

    - the app does not remember the program we made 

    - it does not restore it either when doing a restore from the automatically made back-up

    - the controller does however continue to execute the program regardless.

    I also am still waiting for a reply from the "Support Team" after I requested a SD card last week, per your suggestion, to fix the problem that my 1st Gen Touch has with adding my location. Ticket # is 34018. How long does it usually take for them to respond?

    Thanks,

    -Remco

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