iOS client: repeated disconnects and re-auth prompts, especially when switching networks

[TechHutTV]

Opening this on behalf of several users from a Reddit thread in r/netbird. I can't reproduce it myself, so I want to get it in one place where we can track it properly and collect enough detail to actually fix it.

What people are reporting

• The iOS client disconnects and asks to reconnect repeatedly, even with session expiry disabled
• Most often triggered when moving between WiFi and cellular
• Usually no login prompt, just a manual tap on Connect to get going again
• In some cases the app shows connected (with VPN on demand enabled) but traffic doesn't pass until you disconnect and reconnect
• A couple of reports of heavy battery drain, particularly on weak cellular signal
• Multiple people confirm it's iOS only. Other clients, including macOS, work fine
• Reported on both self-hosted and cloud

Not everyone is affected. At least one user on iPhone 16 Pro Max / iOS 26 with a 120 day session expiry has no issues, which makes me wonder if disabling expiry entirely is part of the trigger.

If this is happening to you, please reply with:

• iOS version and device model
• NetBird client version
• Cloud or self-hosted (and version if self-hosted)
• Session expiry setting: disabled, or set to a duration
• Whether VPN on demand is on
• Whether it reliably happens on a WiFi to cellular switch, or at random
• Debug bundle from Settings > Troubleshoot panel

Original thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/netbird/comments/1vqdntr/

[RaspiCoder]

I have been having this issue on all of my IOS clients!

I occasionally get the login prompt but not regularly. The main thing with vpn on demand is that with it off sometimes the clients will just fully disconnect whereas, with it on they will never disconnect but will always enter the weird on and off behavior. Specifically my issue is that peers will connect then about 2 seconds later will disconnect, so their stuck in this weird on and off state.

• I am running IOS 26.6 and have a iPhone 15 pro max.

• I am running self hosted

• session expiration is off

• VPN on demand on and off, makes no difference

• This can be reproduced by manually disconnecting from wifi waiting for the vpn banner to pop up and then, immediately disconnect, wait for the vpn banner to pop up again and then enable wifi. If you do this about 4 to 5 times it will recreate the behavior.

• I believe this is something to do with the recovery behavior because the phone actually establishes a tunnel that is up for around 2 seconds that a ping or two can get through but they immediately got torn down and in the server logs it shows that it was done by the client.

• Here's my debug bundle: 312775911ca5c61bb3f15457bb43d6de2dff309083727bd69358ccca414391c3/c96f3ae6-39ba-4e08-8c13-6b59ce6dfdcc

I will try enabling expiration and see if that fixes the issue

[RaspiCoder]

Also I will add that in this state management server updates still get through ie: I can remove access to peers and that is immediately reflected on the broken client but, removing access and then giving back access does not change the behavior, it will still connect and disconnect.

[RaspiCoder]

I was able to reproduce the behavior with session expiration set to 120 days.
heres the debug bundle: 312775911ca5c61bb3f15457bb43d6de2dff309083727bd69358ccca414391c3/4785a69e-9469-421d-8752-40668a98bb8c