· Problem: Roon on my Mac Mini M4 (named “Loon” - like the bird) works (beautifully) and sees all my music and my devices (other than iPhone all are hard wired Ethernet), but I cannot get ARC to connect.
Shot in the dark: On the Mini, Local Network has enabled Roon and two instances of RoonServer. Why? Are the two instances a problem?
Detail: RoonServer is up to date; I have configured RoonServer so that it reports it was automatically configured to allow ARC access; and I deleted ARC from my iPhone (16 Pro Max) and reinstalled it. During initialization, ARC cycles between connecting to Loon or briefly flashing that Loon is online and ready. Eventually the attempt to connect times out.
Loon: Running Sequoia 15.7.5 (hoping to holding off on Tahoe) iPhone: 16 Max Pro, iOS 26.4.1, Private Relay and VPN are turned off.
I am trying to initialize ARC while on my home network via wifi; by the same connection I can run Roon unimpeded as a remote on my iPhone that controls Loon RoonServer just fine.
Tell us about your home network
· eero routers configured as a mesh, Arris Surfboard S34
I solved it (at least, it now works on my home network), sorry for the inconvenience. Seems that I am developing a habit of posting serivce issues then solving them on my own. Arf.
FYI, the two instances of RoonServer are ganged (both on or both off). Solution was embarrassing: during installation, allow ARC to search for local devices. (But I misunderstood that query - and why allow it not to search if doing so disables the app installation? If that notice is an Apple requirement, then Roon should add it’s own disclaimer somewhere.)
But I’m hardly loosing sight of the fact, Roon rocks!
Thank you for your post and we’re sorry you encountered this frustrating problem.
When RoonServer is open (you should see it running in the menu bar), if you open Activity Monitor on this Mac (Applications → Utilities), do you see two instances of RoonServer active in the background?
We can send instructions for deleting the extraneous server instance, if so.
Never iOS and MacOS instances police network access for third-party apps that run in the background. Sometimes, updating/installing ARC and Roon will require you to re-toggle Local Network permissions again. Our development team is constantly looking for ways to workaround the hair-trigger with this, but it’s ultimately the result of Apple’s black-boxed security settings with Tahoe and iOS 26.0+.
We’ll watch for your response and proceed from there!
