AppRelay runs entirely on your own computer, so most answers live in the docs below. Still stuck? Open a ticket and we'll get back to you by email.
No. AppRelay runs entirely on your Mac or Windows PC. Your repos never leave your machine, and project secrets only travel inside a .relay archive you export — encrypted with AES-GCM behind a passphrase you set. Your projects are never uploaded. What the app does send is anonymous, aggregate counts of the actions it runs (builds, runs, and the like — never your code or secrets), plus a licensing check-in if you unlock AppRelay Studio. The app itself has no login.
No. The app has no sign-up and no login — download it and it runs. If you buy a license you can optionally create an account at studio.apprelay.io to manage your keys, move your seat between computers, and get your receipts. Your license works exactly the same whether or not you ever register.
The free tier is a real console: scan a folder, and build, run, test, and ship — capped at 1 project, 3 builds, and 1 publish (lifetime totals). Studio removes those caps and adds the things the free tier doesn't include at all: exporting and importing .relay archives, driving your computer from your phone, automation (schedules, watchers, webhooks), launching on a real iPhone or iPad, and one-click rollback. It's a one-time $99 purchase, not a subscription.
Every purchase mints a brand-new key; buying again never extends a key you already own. To extend your updates window on an existing license, use Renew updates in your account or on the Manage license page. If you bought twice by accident, open a ticket from the address you paid with and we'll sort it out.
A license runs on one computer at a time, so the most common cause is that the seat is on another machine — activate this one and it takes the seat over. If the app says the license is no longer active, don't re-buy: open a ticket. Keys can also be put on hold if an automated audit can't match one to its original payment, and that's reversible in one step on our side.
On Windows this is almost always Windows Firewall — your phone can discover the PC but can't open a connection back. Go to Settings → Remote and use Allow through Windows Firewall, then try again. Otherwise: make sure both are on the same network, that the relay server is started, and scan the QR fresh (the pairing code rotates every couple of minutes and is single-use). Note that driving your computer from your phone is an AppRelay Studio feature.
We can't — and that's by design. The passphrase is never stored anywhere; it derives the encryption key via PBKDF2 at open time. If it's lost, the secrets inside that archive can't be decrypted. Your project structure in other (unencrypted) copies is unaffected.
Scanning reads real project files (.xcodeproj, build.gradle, package.json, pubspec.yaml, Cargo.toml, and more). Monorepos or unusual layouts can be missed — you can add the lane manually and point it at the right toolchain adapter. If a common stack isn't detected, send us the folder layout via a ticket.
AppRelay orchestrates the tools you already use — it shells out to Xcode, Gradle, EAS, Vercel, and the rest. Most failures are the underlying tool reporting a real problem, and the full output is shown in the step log. If a recipe itself is wrong, duplicate it, fix the step, and let us know so we can update the shipped preset.
macOS 13 Ventura or later on Apple silicon, and Windows 10 (version 1809) or Windows 11 on 64-bit. The two desktop editions are the same console and share the encrypted .relay archive.
Submit a ticket above and you'll get a reference like APR-XXXXXX. We reply by email; you can also check status here any time with your reference and email. If you have an AppRelay Studio account, your tickets live in a full portal in the dashboard — the whole thread, file attachments, a status timeline, and a rating once it's resolved — and the same tickets are readable in the AppRelay Mobile app under Support.
Yes. The Source Control section is a built-in git client for the active project's repositories: pick a repo, stage changes against an inline diff, commit and push, switch or create branches, and read GitHub pull requests — the same on macOS and Windows. It drives the real git repository on your computer and never uploads anything.
Yes. Open a project into its workspace, edit a file in the Code tab, and save — it stages in Pending Upload as a diff against what's currently live. Pick the files you want and publish just those, instead of re-uploading the whole site. It works for any lane that deploys to a host over SFTP/FTPS/FTP/SCP/rsync, shows a per-file diff before you send, and honors a production-approval gate. Opening a project into the workspace is an AppRelay Studio feature.
