Use Tailscale

Tailscale lets your phone reach your computer from any network, with nothing opened to the internet. It is the option Melta recommends when you add a computer. This page explains what you set up on each side and what the setup command does for you.

Why Tailscale

Melta opens SSH from the phone straight to your computer, so the phone needs an address it can reach. On the same Wi-Fi, the computer's local IP works. Away from home, it usually does not. Tailscale puts the phone and the computer on one private network, and the computer gets a stable address in the 100.x.y.z range that works wherever both devices are.

On the phone

Install the Tailscale app and sign in. The Add Host sheet links to it with Get Tailscale. Keep Tailscale connected on the phone whenever you use Melta. If it is off, the phone cannot reach the computer's Tailscale address.

On the computer

The command on the Tailscale tab of Add Host includes the --tailscale flag. With it, the setup command adds a Tailscale step:

• Already connected. If this computer already has a Tailscale IP, it prints Connected as the address and moves on.
• Not installed, on a Mac. It downloads the Tailscale package from pkgs.tailscale.com and installs the app with sudo installer.
• Not installed, on Linux. It runs Tailscale's official install script.
• Installed but not signed in, on a Mac. It opens the Tailscale app and asks you to click its menu bar icon, allow the VPN if asked, and sign in with the same account as your phone. Then run the command again to see the IP.
• Installed but not signed in, on Linux. It runs sudo tailscale up and prints a sign-in link. Sign in with the same account as your phone.

Installing Tailscale, and signing in on Linux, need your password for sudo. If the command cannot ask for it, it says so and tells you to run it in a terminal on the computer.

The address to enter

The last step of the command, Enter these in Melta, prints:

• User: your login name on the computer.
• Tailscale IP: works from anywhere. Put this in the Tailscale IP field.
• Local IP: works on the same Wi-Fi only.

If Tailscale is not running, the command says so instead of printing a Tailscale IP. In Edit Host the field is called Host, and it accepts the computer's Tailscale name (like macbook) or its IP address.

Without Tailscale

Tailscale is optional. Use the Own SSH Host tab with any address your phone can already reach over SSH, such as a public IP or a local address on the same network. See Add a computer.

More detail

For a longer walkthrough, including MagicDNS names and keeping the computer reachable, read Tailscale SSH from iPhone or Android to your Mac or Linux box.