Building JoeBro Mobile yourself: iOS version, signing, and push requirements

I’m Joe, creator of JoeBro and JoeBro Mobile. JoeBro Mobile is source-only. There is no App Store build to install, so using it means opening the Xcode project, setting up signing for your device, and building it yourself.

What you need

The mobile app requires an iPhone on iOS 17 or later and Xcode that matches your iOS version. A free Apple ID is enough to build the app to your own phone. In the repository, copy Config/Local.xcconfig.example to Config/Local.xcconfig, then set your own development team and bundle ID prefix before opening the Xcode project and selecting your device.

The bundle ID prefix matters because the app's widget, share extension, and App Group derive from it. The local configuration file is gitignored. Keep it that way, and do not commit signing configuration, tokens, or push credentials. The Mac side is a separate native app; its documented requirement is macOS 26 or later on Apple Silicon, built with Xcode 26 or later.

Push is optional

The phone companion works without push. While the app is open, it can poll the Mac's inbox. If you want push notifications, you need a paid Apple Developer account, your own APNs Auth Key, and matching Team ID, Key ID, and bundle identifiers. You upload the key through the Mac app's Mobile notification settings. The documentation notes that an APNs acceptance response only confirms Apple accepted the request; it does not prove the phone displayed it.

This distinction helps set expectations: a free Apple ID can get the source build onto a personal phone, but it does not unlock push notification credentials. You can decide whether push is worth that extra setup after pairing and using the app without it.

The iPhone connects to JoeBro 1.3 or later on your host, with QR pairing and a token. The documented setup expects the Mac app to be open and awake. I also use a personal Raspberry Pi backend over Tailscale, but Pi hosting is not an officially documented installation path and there is no Pi or Docker guide.

The steps and source are maintained in JoeBro Mobile; the host app and release requirements are in JoeBro.