Support
Help with Oikou.
Oikou is a browser for your own web apps. They run on a computer you own. If something isn’t working, the answer is probably below. If it isn’t, email us and a person will reply.
Contact us
Email ben@clabs.ca. Tell us what you were doing, what you expected and what happened instead. Include your device and its iOS version, or your computer and its operating system. Please don’t send passwords or sign-in codes.
What is Oikou?
Oikou Host is free software you run on a computer you own: a Mac, or a Linux computer running Debian, Ubuntu or Fedora. The running copy is your Personal Cloud. It keeps your web apps and their data on that computer.
The Oikou app for iPhone and iPad is how you use your Personal Cloud away from that computer: your web apps, Unified Search, photos, files and notes. You add and remove web apps, and change your Personal Cloud’s settings, on its own web page.
How do I sign in?
Oikou uses one Oikou account for the app, for your Personal Cloud and for the people you share it with. Sign in with your email address and the one-time code we send you, or with Apple, Google or GitHub where the app offers it.
- No code? Check your spam folder, then ask for a new one. Codes expire, so use the newest one you were sent.
- Invited by someone? Sign in with the email address the invitation was sent to, so their Personal Cloud can find you.
- Signed in with Apple and chose to hide your email? Apple gives us a relay address instead. Invitations sent to your real address won’t match it, so ask to be invited at the relay address or sign in another way.
Why doesn’t my Personal Cloud show up or open?
The Oikou app opens web apps from your Personal Cloud, so the computer it runs on has to be reachable.
- Check that the computer is on, awake and online, and that Oikou Host is running on it.
- Make sure you are signed in to the app with the same Oikou account that set up the Personal Cloud, or the one you were invited with.
- If your Personal Cloud is reached through Tailscale, Tailscale has to be on and signed in on your phone too.
- If it is reached through a Cloudflare tunnel on your own domain, check that the domain and tunnel are still active in your Cloudflare account.
How do I add or remove web apps?
Web apps are added on your Personal Cloud’s own web page, where you also find the Catalogue. Open that page in a browser, add or remove web apps there, and they appear in the Oikou app. The app itself doesn’t add or remove web apps.
Web apps in the Catalogue are made by their own publishers. Each one’s Catalogue page says who publishes it. If one misbehaves, you can report it.
How do I report a web app, a widget or an AI answer?
If a web app, a widget someone made, or an AI answer is objectionable, harmful or misleading, report it from the Oikou app:
- A web app: touch and hold it, or open its menu, and choose “Report this app”.
- A widget someone made and shared with you: open its details and choose “Report this widget”.
- An AI answer: choose Report on the answer.
Pick a reason and, if you like, add a note, then send it. A web app from the Catalogue and an AI answer are reported to Oikou’s moderators. A web app that is your Personal Cloud’s alone, and a widget, are reported to the Personal Cloud’s owner. The app tells you where your report went. The Privacy Policy says what a report holds.
How do I hide a web app?
After you report a web app or a widget, the app offers “Hide this app for me” (or “Hide this widget for me”). You can also hide a web app at any time from its menu, with “Hide this app for me”.
Hiding is for you alone. The web app leaves your home screen and your lists, and its notifications stop reaching you. Nobody else’s Oikou changes, and the Personal Cloud’s owner isn’t told. To remove a web app for everyone, its owner removes it on the Personal Cloud’s web page.
- To see it again, open Settings, choose Hidden apps, and choose Show again beside it.
What are the browser and Smart Bookmarks?
The Oikou app has a built-in browser for the rest of the web. It works without an Oikou account. A page you save from it is a Smart Bookmark, and Unified Search can find it along with your web apps, documents, files and the text in your photos.
Why don’t my notifications arrive?
Your web apps can send notifications to the Oikou app through your Personal Cloud. If they don’t arrive:
- Allow notifications for Oikou in your device’s Settings, under Notifications.
- Check that you haven’t muted that Personal Cloud in the Oikou app.
- Make sure your Personal Cloud is running, since it is what sends them.
How do I get Oikou Host?
Oikou Host is free to run yourself. Downloads for Mac and the install script for macOS and Linux are behind sign-in with your Oikou account at https://account.oikou.app/downloads.
How do I delete my Oikou account?
You can delete your Oikou account yourself, from the app or the web.
- In the Oikou app, open Settings and, under Oikou account, choose Delete Account.
- Or sign in at https://account.oikou.app/account, find “Delete this account”, type DELETE and choose “Delete my account”.
This deletes your account, its email addresses, sign-ins and memberships straight away. It doesn’t touch anything on your own computer: your Personal Cloud and its data are yours to keep or remove. The Privacy Policy says what else happens.
How do I report a security problem?
If you’ve found a security issue, email security@oikou.app and please give us a chance to fix it before you tell anyone else.