Frontend does not re-establish connection and/or refresh screen even though connection & local push works #3879
Description
iOS device model, version and app version
Model Name: iPad Pro (10.5-inch)
Software Version: 17.3.1
App version: 2025.1305
Home Assistant Core Version
2025.8.2
Describe the bug
This is related and a followup to #3735. That bug got closed but for a different reason and honestly, I think the underlying issue is a different one (than the new screen that was introduced).
Setup: Wall-mounted iPad Pro with latest HA app. The app is locked into "Guided Access" mode. After a few minutes of inactivity, the tablet turns off. A motion sensor is used to send a notification to the tablet which wakes up the tablet and shows HA. This is a well known implementation of wall tablet in iOS (e.g., [1]).
The tablet itself is 1-2m from a hardwired access point and the signal strength and stability is superior. HA is connected via internal URL and Local Push is enabled.
What happens: Usually this works well, even over hours. But sometimes, the app "looses connection" and is stuck with the message "Connection lost. Reconnecting ..." (see screenshot below). Sometimes this is succeeded by the full screen message described in #3735 (which prompted my first report). However, I can confirm that the network connection is flawless (I can ping the tablet from HA in the background) and when I tap into the app settings, I immediately see the status that app is connected via Internal URL, WebSocket is connected and Local Push is "Available (5)".
Furthermore, when I pull down the screen it refreshes and connection immediately works again.
In other words: The connection itself is not the issue. Connectivity is completely local and perfect.
This behavior completely destroys the user experience of the wall tablet.
I feel this was working flawlessly in the past but kept becoming an issue more recently. I also thought it might be related to my complex dashboards, so I tested with a very simple dashboard but the issue remained.
Expected behavior
I am not sure how the communication between HA server and app works exactly but from user perspective, one of the following must the case:
- Either the app needs to ensure it remains connected to the server. If, for whatever reason, the connection fails, the app has to re-establish the connection, rather than waiting for the user to refresh
- Another option is to automatically refresh if the app is started or brought back from device standby
In my opinion, (1) is the correct expected behavior. I also think that the message "Connection lost. Reconnecting ..." is actually supposed to re-establish the connection but for whatever reason, sometimes it doesn't and remains stuck on the screen.
Screenshots
