Several installations
How the app holds several installations at once, what their statuses mean, and what happens when an installation or the network is unavailable.
The app is not tied to one installation. The home screen starts with the “Installations” block — all connected ones: an organisation on buff.systems, your company’s installation, Buff Code on a laptop, each with its kind, name and status. Below it is “Needs attention”: everything awaiting your decision across all installations at once.
Adding an installation
The “+” button by the “Installations” block on the home screen, the “Add installation” item in the side menu, in the installation switcher sheet and in “Settings → Installations” all open the same choice screen: “Scan QR” or “Enter link and code”. From there it is the same as the first pairing: with the workspace or with Buff Code.
Installation statuses
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Online | The installation responds, everything works | — |
| Connecting… | The app has just opened or the network has come back — the connection is being established | Wait a couple of seconds |
| No connection to the gateway since … | The phone could not reach buff.systems: no internet on the phone | Check the internet; the app reconnects by itself |
| Not responding since … | The gateway is reachable, but the installation is silent: switched off, without internet or restarting | Wait or check the installation; it reconnects by itself |
| Unavailable since … | The installation is unavailable for another reason | Wait; the app reconnects by itself |
| Buff Code service is not running | The machine with Buff Code is there, but the service is not working | Start the service on the machine: buff service start |
| Pairing needed | The pairing has been broken (you or the administrator disconnected the phone) | Pair again from the workspace or Buff Code |
| Forbidden by the organisation / Forbidden by the installation administrator | Phones are forbidden by policy | Contact the organisation owner or the administrator |
| Incompatible version | The installation and the app speak different protocol versions | Update the app or the installation |
When an installation is unavailable
An unavailable installation’s screens still open: the app shows what it saw last time. The time since which the installation has been unavailable is in the status (“Not responding since 14:05”), and the screen carries an explanation, for example: “The installation is not responding: it may be switched off or without internet. The last known state is shown; actions are unavailable. We will reconnect by ourselves when it is back.”
While an installation is unavailable, actions are disabled — you cannot approve, answer or send. The app does not queue them “for later”: a decision sent an hour later might no longer mean anything. As soon as the connection is back, the screens refresh by themselves and the buttons work again.
What is saved on the phone is stored encrypted; the key is in the phone’s secure storage (Keychain on iPhone, Keystore on Android).
The installation card
“Settings → Installations” is the list of connected ones. The installation card has:
- “Installation name” — how the installation is labelled on this phone (the name on the computer does not change);
- “Connected as” — under whose name the phone works in this installation, “Phone name” — how the phone appears on the computer in the list of phones, “Paired” — when it was paired;
- the installation’s “Key fingerprint” — by it the administrator or support can tell which installation the phone is paired with;
- “Notifications” — which events of this installation reach the phone (for a workspace; see Notifications);
- “Pair again” — a new pairing with the same installation, for example after “Pairing needed”;
- “Remove from phone” — the phone disconnects from the installation, and its data is wiped from the phone. You can pair again with a new code.
Pairing with Buff Code
How to pair a phone with Buff Code on your machine: in the window and in the console, with or without Buff sign-in, the Buff Code service, what the phone shows.
Notifications
Which notifications reach the phone, how to choose types, what Apple and Google see, and what if push is off or buff.systems is unreachable.