I have SimpleX Desktop installed on a Qubes/Whonix AppVM. The installation was made as sysmaint user (on Whonix-Workstation-18), using the flatpak version of SimpleX Chat. I also have the SimpleX app on my mobile phone, which only connects to the internet using Wifi. In simpleX Desktop on whonix, there is an option to “Link a mobile” device.
Clicking on the “Link a moble” in the SimpleX Desktop app on my SimpleX AppVM, brings me to a page that says:
This device name: Desktop
The device name will be shared with the connected mobile client.
Discoverable via local network: on
QRCODE
Beneath the QR Code is:
"Open Use from desktop in mobile app and scan QR code."
"Waiting for mobile to connect:"
10.137.0.47 (eth0), port 38339
So essentially, to link a mobile device from my SimpleX Desktop app, I need for the SimpleX AppVM (using syswhonix) to be on the same LAN as my Mobile Device. The problem is, is that the SimpleX AppVM is using sys-whonix as it’s lan, and because my SimpleX on my phone is not behind the same sys-whonix LAN, I cannot get my SimpleX Phone App, to find my SimpleX Desktop app on the same network.
I don’t want to sync SimpleX without using sys-whonix, because that would expose my real IP. I talked to the SimpleX team about how to sync the mobile app with the desktop app, without connecting to the clearnet, and they told me, a workaround, would be to disable my WAN connection on my router, and then put both simpleX devices on that Lan, so they can find each other locally, and sync.
This would be the solution, if I was using SimpleX Desktop on a non-qubes non-whonix installation, such as ubuntu or debian on a bare-metal desktop machine. All I would have to do is unplug my modem, then sync the mobile app with the desktop app, because they would both be clients on the same LAN.
What I need to do, is somehow get my mobile device on the same LAN (or vice versa) as my SimpleX sys-whonix AppVM, so that my mobile device will recognize my SimpleX Desktop app, and my Desktop device will recognize my SimpleX mobile Device, allowing the apps to sync properly.
So my question is, how can I get SimpleX on a sys-whonix AppVM, to use the same LAN as the SimpleX mobile device, without connecting either device to the internet, until syncronization has completed for bothe apps?
I either need to get my Mobile device on the whonix-workstation-18 LAN using the specified port, or my Whonix-workstation-18 on my router’s LAN, using the specified port, all without connecting either app to the internet. Could you please advise me on how to do one or the other, or both, so that I can sync my SimpleX Apps?