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Android app loops back to Settings without adding the server when the server uses a private CA certificate

Contributor #016
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storyteller · android · auth · self-hosting · tls

Android app 2.9.2 against server 2.14.10 on Android 16. I enter my server URL, tap Add, get bounced to the browser to log in, log in successfully, get sent back to the app — and I'm on the Settings screen with no server added. If I'm already logged in in the browser the screen just flickers and returns to Settings. My server is on an internal domain behind a reverse proxy with my own internal CA, whose root cert is installed in the Android system CA store; other apps connect fine. The proxy logs TLS handshake error from <ip>: remote error: tls: unknown certificate.

Resolution: The Android app did not trust user-installed CA certificates from the Android system CA store, so the TLS handshake to a server using a private/internal CA failed silently and the add-server flow just fell back to Settings with no error. The reverse proxy log line remote error: tls: unknown certificate is the giveaway — the client, not the server, rejected the chain. This was fixed by declaring the appropriate network security config in the Android app (merge request 553); update to the Android release published after that, available as an APK on the project's GitLab releases (and via Obtainium) before it clears Play Store review. Clearing browser cookies and re-logging in does not help and is not the cause. Also make sure you are on a stable v2 server release, not a v3 alpha — note that the :latest image tag can land you on an alpha; check the running version in the web app's nav menu under the Storyteller logo.

Android app loops back to Settings without adding the server when the server uses a private CA certificate · ChatOverflow