Offline & reconnect

What happens when a device loses its connection, what the warnings in the app mean and how to get every screen back in sync.

StageTick needs a connection

StageTick has no offline mode. Every device needs an internet connection to open a room and to stay in sync. A screen that has already loaded copes with a short drop: a running timer keeps counting from its shared start time, and StageTick reconnects on its own when the network returns. It does not reload the page because a device went offline.

When the network drops during a show

  • Viewer, Fullscreen and Agenda keep showing the room, and a running timer keeps counting. Changes from the Controller, such as a pause, the next timer or a new message, reach these screens only after they have reconnected. They show no warning.
  • Controller, Operator and Moderator stay open and usable. After about 5 seconds a red warning appears at the top of the view: "You are offline. Changes will not sync until reconnected." It disappears as soon as the connection returns. The full-page You're offline screen only appears when you open a room without a connection (see Opening a room without a connection).

Changes you make while offline are sent when the connection returns; until then they exist only in that tab. Do not reload or close a tab while it is offline. After reconnecting, check the room state on another device before you continue.

Warnings at the top of the page

Controller, Operator and Moderator, the dashboard, the Settings page and the sign-in page show warnings in a red bar at the top. Several warnings can be shown at once. Each one can be hidden with Dismiss, and most also disappear by themselves once the cause is gone. On the Operator and Moderator views the bar shows the first warning in one row, with a button such as +1 for the others. The warnings stay in English:

  • "You are offline. Changes will not sync until reconnected." — this device has been without a connection to StageTick for about five seconds. Keep the tab open; the warning disappears when the connection returns.
  • "Connection lost. Check your internet connection." — this tab's live connection to StageTick reported an error and did not recover within about five seconds. A quiet room without changes does not trigger this warning. Check the venue network. If the warning stays although the network works, reload the page.
  • "Security verification failed. Reload the page to reconnect." — the browser's security check (App Check) failed or could not be loaded at start, so the tab no longer receives or saves changes. Reload the page, then check the active timer and your latest changes. In the Controller, Operator and Moderator the same problem can also appear as "Room access could not be confirmed"; reloading helps there too.
  • "Access was denied, so this page may be incomplete. Reload or check your account." — the server refused access, for example because you were removed from the team. Reload the page, or check your account and team membership.
  • "A rendering error occurred. Please try refreshing the page." — a display error. Reload the page.
  • "An action could not be completed. Check the room and try again." — a click or key action failed. Check the room state and try again.

While the Controller is offline, the connection badge in its header turns red with a crossed-out Wi-Fi icon ("Offline — changes will not sync to viewers. Trying to reconnect…").

Audience screens: Viewer, Fullscreen, Agenda and the audience question page never show these warnings. If one of them stops updating, reload it: in the Controller's connections list, or directly on the device if the remote reload does not arrive.

Security verification on long-running screens

StageTick renews a security check (Firebase App Check) in the background. If a screen has been open for hours and the check cannot be renewed automatically, the audience screens Viewer, Fullscreen and Agenda reload themselves once to reconnect. This happens only when the check was rejected (not during plain network problems), only while the device is online, and at most once every 10 minutes per tab. A password-protected output stays unlocked after this reload in the same tab.

Controller, Operator and Moderator never reload automatically. They show "Security verification failed. Reload the page to reconnect." instead; reload that tab when it suits your show.

"Live sync has stopped"

This warning means StageTick has detected a failure that prevents live synchronisation in the affected browser tab. The display may be out of date and changes may not have been saved, even if the internet connection looks fine. The warning can appear on the Controller or on any other screen and stays until the page is reloaded; it cannot be dismissed.

  1. Stop making changes in the affected tab. During a live show, coordinate the brief screen interruption with your operator.
  2. Click Reload in the warning to reload that tab and reconnect. This does not reload the other devices in the room.
  3. Once the room is back, check the active timer and recent changes against another connected device before continuing. Do not assume that changes made before the reload were saved.

StageTick does not automatically reload a screen that shows this warning. If the warning comes back after reloading, note the time, the browser and what you were doing, and contact support.

Blackout: On Viewer, Fullscreen, Agenda and Moderator screens, an active blackout also covers this warning and keeps the output fully black. It does not clear the failure. The warning concerns the affected tab; another device's connection badge does not confirm that this tab has recovered. Controller and Operator controls remain available during blackout.

Opening a room without a connection

If a device opens a room while it is offline, StageTick shows You're offline — "This room will load automatically when you're back online." The room loads as soon as the connection is back. Retry reloads the page; Back to dashboard leaves the room.

If StageTick has not loaded after about 10 seconds, the page shows "StageTick is taking longer than usual to load." with a Reload link.

App updates during a show

When a new version of StageTick is available, it shows a notice instead of reloading your screens: "A new version is available. After your show, close all StageTick tabs and reopen the app to finish updating." The notice never appears on Viewer, Fullscreen and Agenda.

Reload this tab reloads only the current page and is disabled while its timer is running. It does not force the update onto other open tabs. After the reload, this tab runs the new version and the notice only says "This tab is up to date. To finish the update, close all StageTick tabs after your show and reopen the app." It no longer offers a second reload. Later hides the notice during your show.

Before the show

  • Test the venue network on the devices you will actually use.
  • Open every screen and check in the connection badge that all of them are listed (Connections).
  • Make sure the Controller, Operator and Moderator show no red warning bar.

Other messages, such as "Room is full" or "Room access could not be confirmed", are explained in Troubleshooting.