S5 Phone

How a phone connects with the research on the computer, what can be seen and done on it and when the connection does not work. Describes the Strom app 3.21.2 and the research 1.25.2; changes from a later version carry its number. The phone does not open the Strom app: it opens the page Strom research, which the research on the computer serves in the home network.

S5.1 The phone connection belongs to the computer and only a person turns it on

The phone connection is one for the whole computer, not for one tree. Only a person may turn it on, by confirming in a window on the computer. It can be turned off at any time; paired phones stay paired after it is turned off and connect again after it is turned on.

  • Limits: the page for the phone is served by the research, not by the app. Without a running research (S1) the phone sees nothing. The window "Turn on phone connection?" appears on the computer by itself; without an answer within 5 minutes or after Cancel the connection stays off. The agent does not turn the connection on, it may only turn it off. Where the research cannot show the window (a computer without a graphical desktop), it is turned on in the terminal.
  • Controls: app: Research → Other actions → Connect phone… → Turn connection on → on the computer the window "Turn on phone connection?" → Turn on; Turn connection off in the same dialog · terminal: strom phone on (Enter means no), strom phone off, strom phone (state); menu Settings → Phone connection. When the connection is on, the button Research has a dot and the menu item is called Phone with the label on · 2 (the number of paired phones).
  • Since: research 1.18.0, app 3.14.0

S5.2 The phone is paired with a QR code from the computer

The phone connects by reading the QR code shown by the dialog Connect phone (or by the terminal). The code holds for 10 minutes and for one phone. The research then remembers the paired phone, and the page opens without a new code.

  • Limits: the phone has to be on the same local network as the computer (S5.5). The code is not sent to the computer in the page's address and stops holding after pairing; the dialog then has New code. Pairing holds for 400 days. The phone's name in the list is derived from the browser, e.g. "iPhone (Safari)". After pairing, the phone opens the tree for which the code was shown last. The page speaks the language the app had when the code was shown. A computer with several networks (Wi-Fi and cable) offers a code for each of them (Other network: …).
  • Controls: app: in the dialog Connect phone the QR code with the text Code valid for … more, for one phone.; after reading Paired: iPhone (Safari) and Connect another phone · phone: the camera (iPhone) or the camera or Google Lens (Android) · terminal: strom phone qr (only in a person's terminal, not for the agent). On the page, Icon on the home screen adds an icon that opens the page without pairing; it can be added within 10 minutes of pairing.
  • Since: research 1.18.0, app 3.14.0

S5.3 The phone page shows the research read-only

The page Strom research shows the state of the research of one tree, but decides and starts nothing in it. Order of the parts: Now (whether and since when work goes on), Finds, Last 24 h (people, sources, saves), Progress (the latest changes) and at the end Waiting.

  • Limits: items in Waiting can be answered only on the computer ("Decisions are made on the computer in the Research overview.", R6, S4). The page does not show paths to files, record numbers, spending or the agent's model. Finds are only what the agent wrote about the family (a new person, family, name, child, a fact found, corrected or newly proven, a new source, a resolved conflict, a decided question), not a person's edits (S2); by default for the last 24 h, older ones up to 31 days back. Progress shows at most 20 changes, Waiting 20 items with an offer of more; the rest is in the Research overview on the computer. For a Strom archive (a tree without an agent) the page does not show the agent's work.
  • Controls: phone: the switcher Research trees on this computer (all trees with a research on this computer, an archive with the mark archive); the page refreshes by itself every 10 s while it is visible.
  • Since: research 1.18.0; Strom archive 1.20.0; the page in Polish 1.25.0

S5.3.1 Lines from the phone

In research 1.26.0 the page has the card Lines · in the order of work. From it a line can be moved up or down and paused or started again, the same as on the computer (R2).

  • Limits: a line opens on a tap. For a Strom archive the research refuses a change of a line. Waiting can still be answered only on the computer.
  • Controls: phone: Move up, Move down, Pause, Start again.
  • Since: research 1.26.0

S5.4 Photos from the phone go to the research in batches

Photos of documents from the phone (taken on the page or picked from the gallery) are sent to the research of the chosen tree as one batch. A note and a person can be added to the batch. Hand over to research closes the batch, and the research makes tasks to sort it out, the same as with Add materials… (S4).

  • Limits: photos are saved unchanged, in full resolution and outside the tree's history. A file the research already has is not sent again ("already in the research, not sent"). One photo may have at most 500 MB. Where the computer cannot convert the HEIC format, the page accepts only JPEG. A batch nobody hands over is handed over by itself an hour after the last photo. Photos taken on the page are not saved to the phone's gallery. Unsent photos wait on the phone and are sent by themselves once the connection is back; after a week without opening the page the browser may delete them. For a Strom archive the photos are saved to the archive on the computer.
  • Controls: phone: Take photo, From gallery → Photos to send → note and person (from 2 letters, at most 8 suggestions) → Done → Hand over to research (for an archive Save to the Strom archive); Cancel hand-over, Next batch; for unsent photos Save to phone, Discard.
  • Since: research 1.18.0; Save to the Strom archive 1.20.0

S5.5 When the phone does not connect

The phone reaches the computer only on the same local network, through the computer's private address on Wi-Fi or a cable, and only when the research runs on the computer. Other devices and the computer itself do not get the page.

  • Limits:
    • another network: a guest Wi-Fi, mobile data, a VPN or a virtual network is not enough; a computer without a local network reports "The computer is not on any local network right now." and the connection starts by itself once on Wi-Fi;
    • firewall: Windows wants Private networks ticked and Allow access in the window for node.exe, and the network must have the type Private, not Public; a Mac may want Allow; on Linux the firewall must allow the connection's port;
    • port: the research tries the ports 47800–47819; when they are taken, it reports "Another program is using port …";
    • a change of the computer's address: phones paired before and bookmarks stop holding, and the phone has to be paired again (a yellow strip The computer address changed to … with the button New QR); reserving the address in the router helps;
    • the research is not running: the dialog shows "A phone connects through the running research." and the connection comes back by itself with the research;
    • research older than 1.18.0: "This version of the research does not connect a phone.";
    • the computer sleeps or is off: after two failed refreshes the page shows "The computer is not responding right now" with the last data and their time; the connection is retried by itself.
  • Controls: app: when the phone does not answer within a minute after the code is shown, the dialog offers the list The phone has not reached the computer yet. Check: with the link How to; on an error the item Phone with the label connection problem appears right in the menu Research. The dialog offers the phone only on a computer with a mouse, not in Safari and only for a tree with a research. Following the research (S4) opened by a link on a phone shows "The research runs on a computer".
  • Since: research 1.18.0, app 3.14.0; coming back with the research after a restart research 1.19.0

S5.6 An unpaired phone sees nothing any more

Unpairing takes access away from one phone. Turning the connection off stops the page for all phones but keeps the pairing.

  • Limits: Unpair can be undone only for 15 s (Undo); after that the phone has to be paired again. An unpaired phone sees on the page "This phone is not paired with this computer"; unsent photos stay on it and are sent after a new pairing. After a change of the computer's address, the dialog offers at a new pairing Remove old entry for the same phone.
  • Controls: app: Connect phone → Paired phones · 2 → Unpair / Undo · terminal: strom phone list, strom phone remove …; menu Settings → Phone connection.
  • Since: research 1.18.0, app 3.14.0

S5.7 The Strom app on a phone does not run the research

The Strom app opened on a phone or a tablet does not connect to the research on the computer. Sending edits to the research and its other actions work only on the computer where the research runs; the page Strom research belongs on the phone (S5.3).

  • Limits: for a tree that already has its research, Ancestor research on a phone shows only an explanation: edits made on the phone stay in this browser and get to the research by opening the tree on the research's computer (after an export to a file). A link to follow the research opened on a phone shows "The research runs on a computer" (S4). Connect phone… is not offered on a phone.
  • Controls: app on a phone: More → Tree → Ancestor research.
  • Since: app 3.9.0; the link to follow on a phone 3.12.0
  • From app 3.22.0: the app on a phone shows directions (R2) read-only with the sentence "Directions can be changed in Strom on the computer where the research runs."; a tap shows the direction in the tree.