What these apps do with a home server
An iPhone or iPad is the screen most people reach for first, so it’s where a home server earns its keep. Photos back up to the server instead of to iCloud, films and music play from it, passwords fill in from it, and the lights you control with Home Assistant switch on from it. Each of those services has its own app, and the app talks to the server over your network.
At home that’s easy, because the phone and the server are on the same Wi-Fi. Away from home the phone is on mobile data, and your router keeps outsiders away from the server, which is what you want. Tailscale, the pick, gives the phone a private, encrypted route back home, so the same apps carry on working on a train or in a hotel without you opening anything to the internet.
How apps get onto an iPhone
Apple decides what can run on an iPhone, so nearly everything comes from the App Store. There’s no setting that lets you install an app file you’ve downloaded, the way Android does. There are three exceptions worth knowing:
- TestFlight. Apple’s own app for trying unfinished versions. A developer shares an invite link, you install TestFlight from the App Store, open the link, and the test version installs like any other app. Each test version stops working after 90 days unless the developer sends a newer one. Audiobookshelf’s official iPhone app is offered this way.
- Alternative app marketplaces. In the European Union, Japan and Brazil, Apple allows other app stores, such as AltStore PAL, which you download from the store’s own website. Your Apple Account must be set to that region and you must be there in person. In the EU this covers iPads too, and some developers can offer apps straight from their own websites. Everywhere else, none of this is available.
- Web apps. Many self-hosted services are web pages. Open one in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen, and it gets its own icon and opens without the browser’s toolbars. This is the way in for services that have no iPhone app.
Jailbreaking, which removes Apple’s restrictions altogether, is the only other route, and the list of things to skip explains why it isn’t worth it.
What you need
- An iPhone or iPad on a recent version of iOS. Tailscale needs iOS 15 or later.
- A home server, or any computer that stays on, running the services you want to reach. If you don’t have one yet, start with hardware you already own.
- An account to sign in to Tailscale with, such as Google, Microsoft, Apple or GitHub. Tailscale’s Personal plan is free and covers up to six people.
- Nothing on your router. Tailscale doesn’t need port forwarding, the router setting that opens a door from the internet to one device.
How Tailscale fits in
Tailscale is a VPN, short for virtual private network: an encrypted link that makes devices behave as though they’re on the same network. The VPN apps advertised for privacy send your browsing through a company’s servers. Tailscale connects your own devices to each other instead. On the phone it gives you:
- The same address everywhere. Each device gets a name and a fixed address beginning with 100, so an app you set up at home keeps working when you’re out.
- Nothing open on your router. The server stays invisible to strangers on the internet.
- A connection that stays up. iOS keeps Tailscale running in the background, and it reconnects after a restart.
- Your devices only. Only devices signed in to your Tailscale network can reach the server. If a phone is lost, remove it from the admin page.
- Exit nodes, if you want them. Send all the phone’s traffic through your home internet connection, which is handy on public Wi-Fi.
- Sharing. Invite someone in your household so their phone reaches the server too.
The easy way to set it up
You won’t need a terminal on the phone, and on most home servers you won’t need one there either. The Tailscale guide covers the server side in detail.
- Put Tailscale on the server. On ZimaOS or CasaOS, install Tailscale from the App Store and open it from the dashboard. Its web page has a button to log in. On a Windows PC or a Mac, use the normal installer from tailscale.com. On a plain Linux server it’s one copy-paste line, which the guide gives you.
- Sign in on the server with the account you’ll use on every device.
- Install Tailscale on the iPhone from the App Store. Open it, tap Get Started, and allow the VPN configuration when iOS asks. Then log in with the same account.
- Find the server in the app’s list of devices, and note its name or its address beginning with 100.
- Put that address into each app, for example in the server field of the Immich or Jellyfin app.
- Test it away from home by turning off Wi-Fi and trying again on mobile data.
Apps that pair with a home server
Most self-hosted services have an iPhone app, and each one asks for your server’s address the first time you open it. The options below go into more detail.
| On the server | On the iPhone | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Immich | Immich | Backs up the camera roll. See photo backups. |
| Jellyfin | Jellyfin Mobile or Swiftfin, both free, or Infuse | See media servers. |
| Home Assistant | Home Assistant | Controls, alerts, and the phone’s location for automations. |
| Vaultwarden | Bitwarden | On the sign-in screen, choose Self-hosted under “Logging in on” and enter your server’s https address. |
| Nextcloud | Nextcloud | Files, plus automatic upload of new photos. |
| Syncthing | Synctrain | Syncs folders while iOS lets it run. |
| Audiobookshelf | The official app, a TestFlight beta | Several independent players on the App Store connect to it too. |
| A shared folder | The built-in Files app | In Browse, tap the three dots, choose Connect to Server, and type smb:// followed by the server’s address. |
Questions people ask
Can I run Tailscale alongside another VPN?
Not at the same moment. iOS runs one VPN at a time, so connecting another VPN app disconnects Tailscale. Switch between them as you need to, and see VPNs for when a commercial VPN is worth having at all.
Why do my photos only upload when I open Immich?
iOS, not the app, decides when apps run in the background, and it gives less time to apps you rarely open and to a phone in Low Power Mode. Turn on Background App Refresh for Immich and open it every few days to keep uploads moving.
Do I need a Mac or a paid Apple developer account?
No. Everything on this page installs on the phone itself, from the App Store or through TestFlight.
Is there a terminal for the iPhone?
Yes. The options below include an SSH app for reaching your server and a command line that runs on the phone, and Shortcuts can run one command on the server from a home screen button. Nothing on this page needs them.
Wouldn’t it be easier to put the server on the internet, so I don’t need an app?
For a first server, keeping it private behind Tailscale is safer: nobody can reach it unless they’re on your Tailscale network. Remote access compares the other ways in and what each one exposes.
