ARC on iPad?

[KMM]

I would like to run ARC on an iPad but it will not connect. The corresponding iPhones work. Is this by design?

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

It should connect but it’s not designed for iPad, so the display size will be odd

[Carl]

Does the ARC application have network access granted on iPadOS settings?

If yes, try disabling and then re-enable.

[KMM]

Interesting. iPad does not show options

Background refresh and local network access. iPhone does and both run on 26.5.

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

Strange. It does on my iPad, also 26.5:

I note that yours shows no Notifications option either. Mine doesn’t have the Mobile Data option because it’s a wifi-only model.

[KMM]

Roon ARC appears to be the only app that does not show local network access etc. Roon does.

I reinstalled ARC, same deal. Will check when back home on my other iPads.

[safesurfer (Michael K.)]

I use it on my iPad Pro M2 WiFi only and on my iPad Pro M5 with cellular without any Problem. Do you use any kind of VPN on yours?

Check this in your iPad settings:

[KMM]

Roon ARC doesn’t show up in the list. Something is amiss here. Is it possible that ARC must be installed while in your home network? I installed it when I went on a longer Trip.

[safesurfer (Michael K.)]

Try uninstalling ARC completely and reinstall via Apple AppStore. I remember that there is something popping up like „Roon möchte auf andere Geräte in deinem Netzwerk zugreifen" and you have to allow it

[michael.durio]

I had trouble getting ARC connected to the roon server running on my Windows laptop. Consulted good ole AI and discovered Tailscale, which allowed me to create my own network for the devices (Laptop, iPhone and iPad Pro). Maybe thirty minutes to set up, then ARC works just fine on the iDevices. It even stays connected over cell data when I’m out of WiFi range. BTW, I had to resort to Tailscale because I live in a place where I can’t open ports or change settings in the router.

Hope this helped and didn’t muddy the waters further. Also, I’m running iOS 26.6 (Public Beta) on an iPhone 12 Pro and an iPad Pro 5th gen. also running iPadOS 26.6 (Public Beta). Laptop run Windows 11 Pro Insider Preview edition.

[michael.durio]

That’s a bummer. I installed both ARC and the roon app on my iPad Pro, only to discover that the actual roon app won’t output to my DAC connected to the iPad. And aside from it appearing using all the screen’s real estate. It did output sound on the laptop where the roon server lives, aka Mission Control. It’s kind of a joke that roon can’t blow up the size of ARC to utilize the iPad’s screen space. But it works, so there’s that. Deleting the main roon app off my iDevices, since it’s pointless.

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

The main Roon app is both a remote control for the server and an endpoint. It’s not pointless if one wants to control Roon with it (and it can do much more than the ARC app). When using the iPad as an endpoint, you can choose the iPad as the output, and it definitely can output to the USB port. E.g., look that this signal path from another thread:

Depending on the DAC, it may also be possible to select the DAC as output in Settings > Audio, but this may not be the case for all DACs. See this thread, for instance:

Inability to achieve bit-perfect audio on iPad with USB DAC (ref#1O2D45)

What’s happening? · Other How can we help? · None of the above Other options · Other Describe the issue No fixed output on iPad when connected to USB DAC I’m using the Roon app on my iPad Pro, making my iPad an endpoint. My iPad is connected to an external DAC using USB-C. In the Roon settings, I have chosen ‘Fixed volume”, so as to be bitperfect to the DAC. However, even though I’ve selected Fixed volume, I’m still able to control the volume on my iPad, which affects the volume on my DAC. …

Regarding the display, I don’t quite understand if you do or don’t want the app to use the whole screen, because you don’t seem to like it for the main app:

@michael.durio

And aside from it appearing using all the screen’s real estate

but seem unhappy that ARC doesn’t?

@michael.durio

It’s kind of a joke that roon can’t blow up the size of ARC to utilize the iPad’s screen space.

For what it’s worth, you can definitely run the main app in windowed mode if you have a modern version of iPadOS that supports windowed mode, and if your iPad is large enough. This is on a 12.9" iPad:

[michael.durio]

Hi:

Thanks for your supportive response. Yes, my goal is to have the roon app functional on my iPad. I finally got it up and running last night. Today I had to reboot Windows, and I’m back to not being able to connect to the roon server on my laptop. I used Tailscale to make a private network between the laptop running roon on Windows and my two iDevices. roon ARC connects fine. I think I used an AI last night to finally get the iPad to run roon. I will backtrack on the conversations to see what issue may have cropped up last night as well. I know I’m putting in the address for the roon server (laptop) in the ‘look for server’ dialog, and the math ain’t mathing,

Annoying issue, but solvable, I think. Will post an update.

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

@michael.durio

Today I had to reboot Windows, and I’m back to not being able to connect to the roon server on my laptop.

Possibly this shouldn’t happen. Check your Windows firewall.

FAQ: Adding Roon as a Firewall Exception

If you can’t solve it, I’d recommend opening a case in Support

[michael.durio]

It’s OK. I gave up running the full iPadOS version of roon. Way more trouble than it was worth. I’ve spent hours troubleshooting, setting up a Tailscale network, making sure Windows firewall was letting all the roon-related processes through. Disabling Tailscale while trying to run roon on my Windows 11 machine. And now it’s giving me the “too many failures” routine, and most importantly, NOT PLAYING MUSIC, which I thought was the whole point of the app (plus all the fun metadata). I don’t have the patience to troubleshoot roon every single day. I’m about to delete it and just go back to listening directly through the streaming services. Nice job, roon engineers!

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

None of this should be necessary and either you are making it more complicated than it needs to be (there is absolutely no need for Tailscale here in a standard Roon setup) or something is very wrong with your network. Open a tech support case

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[Cemil]

I had a similar screen on my iPad until I upgraded the iPad OS.

[michael.durio]

Unfortunately, I don’t have control of the house router to do any kind of punch-throughs with ports, etc. That is why an AI recommended Tailscale, and it works just fine for ARC on my iPhone and iPad, both running the latest OS Public Betas. Now the main roon installation on my laptop is messing up. I have opened a tech support case, so once again, I appreciate your help, but I’ll let roon’s people take it from here. Cheers!

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

@michael.durio

Unfortunately, I don’t have control of the house router to do any kind of punch-throughs with ports, etc. That is why an AI recommended Tailscale, and it works just fine for ARC on my iPhone and iPad, both running the latest OS Public Betas.

Ok, I didn’t realize you were after ARC there. (Note that Tailscale is only necessary to use ARC outside your home network. The ARC app should just work without Tailscale or port forwarding if your phone/iPad is on the home network).

@michael.durio

Now the main roon installation on my laptop is messing up. I have opened a tech support case,

Ok, good, I hope they find the problem

[michael.durio]

I was trying to get roon up and running on the iPad. I have set that project aside. My goal is being able to listen to music for a while, after all, not constantly doing troubleshooting and tweaking (even though I’m very, very good at that)! I’ve been a music fanatic since childhood. You can take everything away from me except good coffee and my music. I’m still all good. BTW, my next big project with roon is to get it running on Kubuntu. Again, that’s a project down the road. Hope this finds you well. Appreciate the conversation with you.