# Cursors on iPhone and iPad

**No WebRTC? Keep using your local tools.** Start, notes, the address book, guides, and the cockpit do not require a peer connection. The connection panel offers an independently verified HTTPS path for published parts.

Safari supports WebRTC, but an API can be missing, blocked, or unable to connect in a particular browser or network. Cursors checks the capability rather than rejecting every iPhone by name. You do not need to disable a privacy setting to use the local tools.

## 1. Open the link and try a note

Open curso.rs and choose **START**. Type in **#this-browser**, choose **SAVE LOCAL NOTE**, then reload and check that it is there. This saves a note in this browser profile, not in a cloud account. The address book below works the same way.

A link opened inside another app may use a different browser or storage context. Use that app's **Open in Safari** action when available, or copy the address into Safari. Do not assume notes or passkeys from the in-app browser have moved with the link.

## 2. Use the connection panel

On Start or Chat, open **ON YOUR PHONE / Connection options**. It opens automatically when peer connections are missing, explicitly disabled, or fail the local capability probe.

Choose **CHECK HTTPS FALLBACK**. Cursors fetches a tiny public test part from this site's published assets. It accepts it only when its size and SHA-256 hash match the pin shipped in the application. No identity, message, credential, or private key is sent.

The result says **hash verified** only after the bytes pass that check. It proves that one part could be fetched, not that every file, a peer, cloud chat, or your backup is available. An offline, HTML, partial, oversized, or incorrect response is not promoted to a successful transfer.

**The picture above is an actual application capture with WebRTC disabled, not a photograph of a physical iPhone or evidence of a live cloud account.**

## 3. When a peer connection stalls

Choose **Use HTTPS-only mode** after saving your current note. The page reloads with `peers=off`, skips the WebTorrent peer observer, and does not automatically join the public reference swarm. Remove `peers=off` from the address to try peer connections again.

| What you are doing | Without WebRTC |
| --- | --- |
| Notes, saved contacts, loaded guides, cockpit inspection | Keep using the local tools. Browser storage still has to permit the save. |
| A part published at this site's `/parts/` path | Fetch with the caller-pinned hash and expected length; no peer library required. |
| A peer-only magnet or file with no published HTTP copy | Unavailable through this path. A publisher or explicit native bridge must provide the material. |
| Existing optional cloud mailbox or GitHub recovery | Uses its existing HTTPS service, but only when that service is enabled and your authorization succeeds. |
| Generic WebSocket relay, automatic cross-carrier chat, full offline synchronization | Not implemented by this change. Do not mistake a supported WebSocket API for an available relay. |

TURN is a WebRTC relay, not a replacement for a missing WebRTC API. The public HTTPS part reader does not silently proxy arbitrary peers, run downloaded code, or switch a private message onto a new service.

## 4. Returning after locking the phone

Keep the page open during a transfer. When you leave the page, its HTTP-check observation is invalidated and a pending diagnostic is cancelled. Returning to a visible page or restoring it from the page cache rechecks cloud health. It does **not** automatically resend notes, publish identity, or save to GitHub.

An already loaded page with retained local state is not the same thing as a guaranteed cold offline boot. A suspended or terminated browser is not an always-on server.

## 5. Keep a recovery copy

Read [Resume Your Cursors](resume-your-cursors.md). Browser storage can be cleared or evicted. A Home Screen icon does not turn it into a complete backup.

**EXPORT ENCRYPTED SELF** saves identity ciphertext, not the notebook, contacts, or all cursor work. Keep the original unlocking credential and test recovery before clearing the original browser. A passkey that cannot reproduce the required PRF output cannot unlock that vault merely because GitHub sign-in worked. This change does not claim real-device passkey interoperability.

[Chat with a Friend](chat-with-a-friend.md) explains the separate cloud path. It remains experimental and is **not end-to-end encrypted**. Do not send secrets through it.

## Evidence and references

The regression suite disables both WebRTC and BroadcastChannel, tests a throwing peer constructor, saves and reloads a local note, verifies the real published part, rejects substituted bytes, and keeps cloud controls disabled under paused health. Chromium and mobile-emulated Playwright WebKit runs are automated; physical iPhone recovery and suspension verification remain tracked in #167.

Primary references: [WebKit WebRTC support](https://webkit.org/blog/7726/announcing-webrtc-and-media-capture/), [WebKit storage and eviction policy](https://webkit.org/blog/14403/updates-to-storage-policy/), and [what Playwright WebKit does and does not test](https://playwright.dev/docs/browsers#webkit).