Extended Internet outage. Needed to turn off some lights. So went to the HE app on my Iphone. Wanted me to login. But it wouldn't. Turned off my WIFI on the phone. Then the app would login. So then I had to turn on the WIFI again to access the hub.
Why was this logon needed? When my internet is up I don't have to do this. I would think that being on the local network I should be able to connect to my hub without having to redo the login.
I think that initial login to the app is through the cloud.
I would assume the app uses a cloud connection for some things, especially since it can work when away from home, it is not just connecting directly to the hub locally for everything. I think it does device control locally when possible, especially if you use a dashboard it tries to load the local dashboard when it can. Possibly a login token or whatever is uses to keep you logged in just happened to expire? Or maybe because it could not reach the server it thought you needed to log in.
If you want a true local only device control you would need to have a local dashboard link saved or just log into the hub UI
Yes, but I don’t log out. So shouldn’t have to do that every time I want to access the hub.
I just tested it on the new 2.0 beta app and if I put my phone into airplane mode I just get a white screen trying to open the app. I will report it as a bug. Not sure what the solution will be.
After going online again, I force quit the app and restarted it, did not have to log in again it took me right back to the home screen in the app.
If I turn my cellular off and just stay connected to my WiFi (internet still down), the app asks me for login every time. And it won’t proceed with out it. I have remember me turned on and it fills the fields automatically but without being able to connect to the cloud it don’t go nowhere. I can turn WiFi off and cellular on then log in. Once that happens I turn cellular off and WiFi on, without closing app, and I’m ok.
Biggest problem was I was doing this in wee hours of the morning when our power came back on. Didn’t have my total brain working 
As a workaround, you might try opening Hubitat in a browser on your phone if you need to access it. I noticed the same thing before and was always able to access it through a browser. Like @marktheknife stated, I believe the cloud is required for log in. I also believe it will log you out if you try to open the app and have no connection whatsoever. This has happened to me many times after taking my phone into certain areas at work where I have no Wifi or Cell signal....which was annoying, because it forced me to reassociate my phone presence. It used to make my new HOME location as whatever location I hapenned to be at when I logged in. They have since fixed that.
It seems the mobile app needs a cloud connection to start up, even while already logged in.
Given the number of functions in the mobile app that are cloud-reliant (e.g. push notifications, geofencing, remote access to dashboards and the “devices” screen), it may or may not be feasible for the devs to change that behavior.
I agree with @jtp10181 that for direct, local access to either the hub’s admin UI or a dashboard, it makes the most sense to use a web browser.
that's a work around. But it kinda defeats the purpose of having the app. If I have to use a browser everytime I might as well delete the app.
As also mentioned above, you can save a link to either the hub admin UI or a dashboard on your Home Screen.
If all you’re using the app for is local access to the hub’s admin UI or dashboards, then yes it may not be necessary for you.
But as I said in my prior post, the app does other things that simply won’t function without a cloud connection.
I do not use the app for notifications or presence. So other than, what I thought, was quick access to my devices, I guess I don't need it.
I guess my complaint is when local it should be local. No internet required.
I agree that would be nice if local access to devices through the app is a priority.
But what would the app do for all the other features that need a cloud connection?
For users that rely on those features, it would appear to be a mostly-broken app any time they open it without an active internet connection.
I would think there would be a way that they could just not enable those features, at the very least not force a logout if the app is accidentally opened. The app continues to run perfectly fine in the background sending notifications, etc. if you are without WAN but still are on the same LAN unless you actually open the app in the foreground.
It is not often that this would happen (for most users) and I think most users would accept that feature that require internet would not work if they do not have internet. They might not like it, but it is the same as anything else that requires internet. My streaming services don't work, but I can still stream video on my TV from my local server when the WAN is down. That doesn't keep me from using the Google TV I am logged into. Just doesn't let me use the services that require internet.
Do you want the dashboard access from remote AND local? That is one of the things the app does for you, it switches to local when it can, otherwise uses the cloud dashboard. So it is a shame the app does not function when not able to reach the internet.
I am not sure if there is a link you can use that does the same, would need to check. If there was, I would say you are better off just saving that to your home screen. The direct dashboard access via URL is MUCH faster than loading it through the app.
I have seen the dashboards on my wall mounted tablet (always local) switch to local when I have opened a link to my cloud versions. I do not know if it is STILL this way. But, it is a behavior I have noticed.
Something else I noticed during the outage. Everything was very slow. For example, I have a contact sensor on a closet door that turns on/off a light. Was talking about 5 seconds to respond. Once the internet came back on it started working normally.
Depending on how many cloud based integrations you have, if they were retrying to connect it may have been bogging down the hub.
The mobile app is really for mobile use (ie cloud). I use a tablet with my main dashboard open in kiosk mode for local control. You can get the local dashboard links in the dashboard child app settings page and just use that in any browser too.
I got the new Iphone Beta app. My initial testing indicates it will work without the internet.
Download the Hubitat app
