Mobile app support

The wanderer mobile app is in public beta. It talks to your instance through the same API the web interface uses, plus a handful of endpoints (region catalogue, health probe, navigation, and more) that are not in the regular release yet. Until the app is merged into the main release line, an instance only supports the app if it runs the -app builds.

Run the -app images

Both images carry a matching -app tag next to every regular release, e.g. v0.21.2-app. Pin both services to the same tag; the web image hosts the API proxy the app relies on, so mixing a -app backend with a regular frontend does not work.

Minimum version: v0.21.2-app

Current app versions require v0.21.2-app or newer for both images. Earlier -app builds (v0.21.0-app, v0.21.1-app) do not publish the NodeInfo document the app uses to check compatibility, so the app treats them as unsupported and keeps sign-in disabled. If you set up the app with an older -app tag, update both services.

services:
  db:
    image: flomp/wanderer-db:v0.21.2-app
    # ...
  web:
    image: flomp/wanderer-web:v0.21.2-app
    # ...

Then pull and restart:

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

There are no -app git tags. If you run from source, the app-compatible backend is on the feature/app branch; see App development.

The -app builds contain everything the regular release of the same version does, plus the app endpoints and their migrations. Treat them like any other upgrade: take a backup first.

Reachable over HTTPS

The app refuses plain http:// connections to anything but 127.0.0.1. Your instance must be reachable over HTTPS with a certificate the phone trusts; self-signed certificates do not work unless they are installed on the device.

A map tile source

The app’s online map loads tiles from wherever your instance tells it to. By default that is the Protomaps API, which needs an API key: set PROTOMAPS_API_KEY on the web service, or point TILE_SERVER_URL at your own tile server. Without either, the app’s online map stays blank. See Custom map tiles & assets.

Optional: offline map regions

The app can download map regions for offline use, but only the ones you enable. Nothing is built or served until you do; see Region catalogue. Without any enabled region, users can still download trails and navigate them offline, just without a base map.

What users see when an instance isn’t ready

As soon as users pick an instance, the app reads its NodeInfo document at /.well-known/nodeinfo/2.1 and compares the reported version against the minimum it supports. If the instance runs an older version, or no -app build at all, the app shows Server not supported with a link to this page, and keeps login and registration disabled until the instance is updated. The Getting started page tells them to ask their administrator, which is you.

To check what the app sees, open https://<your-instance>/.well-known/nodeinfo/2.1: software.version must be 0.21.2 or newer. A 404 means the instance runs an image without NodeInfo.

Older app versions do not perform this check. On an unsupported instance, their login fails with type 'List<dynamic>' is not a subtype of type 'Map<String, dynamic>' in type cast instead.

If everything else works but the map is blank, the instance has no map tile source configured.

Users pick your instance from the public server list on wanderer.to or type its address; there is nothing to register on your side.