# Compatibility

> What Fregata Mobile needs and works with — iOS, iPadOS and watchOS versions, Frigate 0.17 and 0.18 and what differs between them, the extras on Fregata NVR, iPad, languages, and administrator versus viewer accounts.

## Devices

| | Needs |
|---|---|
| iPhone and iPad | iOS or iPadOS 26 or later |
| Apple Watch | watchOS 26 or later, paired with an iPhone running the app |
| AI descriptions of alerts and events | iOS 27, on an iPhone or iPad that supports Apple Intelligence, with it switched on |
| Running a shortcut when an alert arrives | iOS 27 |
| Live Activities | An iPhone; the Dynamic Island on iPhones that have one, and the Smart Stack on a paired Apple Watch |

The app is in English, Spanish, French and German, and follows the device's language. Frigate's
object names, such as _person_ and _license plate_, are shown in that language too, the way
Frigate's own web interface names them.

On iPad, the app uses the extra room: Cameras, Review, Explore and Settings show a list and its
detail side by side.

## Servers

Fregata Mobile works with **Frigate 0.17 or later** and **every version of Fregata**, the native
port of Frigate for Apple silicon Macs. Older versions of Frigate aren't supported.

Connect the app to Frigate's signed-in port, **8971** by default, and sign in. Alerts are
registered to an account, and which one depends on how the app connects:

- **Sign-in can be off.** With it off, alerts are filed under the `admin` account, which Frigate
  and Fregata create the first time they start with sign-in on, as they do by default. Only a
  server that has had sign-in off since it was installed has no such account: it accepts the
  app's registration and silently saves nothing. Turn sign-in on and restart it once to create
  the account.
- **Not port 5000.** Frigate's internal port, 5000, skips sign-in. Live view works over it, but
  while sign-in is on, Frigate files an alert registration made through it under an `anonymous`
  user that has no account: the registration reports success, saves nothing, and no alerts
  arrive. Use port 8971. When the app is connected through port 5000, **Server Notification
  Setup** says so, and **Settings › Diagnostics** shows **Connected without signing in**.

### Frigate 0.17 and 0.18

Almost everything works the same on both. The differences:

| | 0.17 | 0.18 |
|---|---|---|
| **Ask Frigate for a test notification**, in Server Notification Setup | Not accepted, even from an administrator. Walk past a camera instead. | ✓ |

### Extras on Fregata NVR

With a server running Fregata NVR, the app also:

- offers **lighter live streams** for every camera, made on the fly, and opens on a lighter one
  away from home;
- plays **recordings that adapt** to a slow connection;
- shows which part of the Mac runs detection, such as the **Neural Engine**, on the
  [server status](https://mobile.fregata.app/docs/server/status/) screen.

## Accounts

Any Frigate account works. An **administrator** account also lets the app change the server:
setting up alerts for you, turning a camera's detection, recording, snapshots and notifications on
or off for everyone, camera groups, and restarting. A **viewer** can do everything else. The full
list is in [Administrator or viewer](https://mobile.fregata.app/docs/getting-started/connect/#administrator-or-viewer).

Frigate can give an account access to only some cameras. The app shows that account only those
cameras.

## Networks

The app reaches your server directly, at home or [away](https://mobile.fregata.app/docs/getting-started/remote-access/):
over your home network, a VPN such as Tailscale, Cloudflare Tunnel and Access, or a reverse proxy.
Alerts arrive through Apple's push service, wherever the iPhone is.