Foto Master

Selfie Wi-Fi Companion App Issues

Updated 5 days ago · 5 min read

The Selfie Wi-Fi companion app runs the slideshow that shows guest selfies on a TV or monitor at your event (and drives auto-printing when enabled). If it stops pulling new photos, won't connect to the event, or shows photos in the wrong order, the issue is almost always a connectivity or settings sync problem. This article walks through the fixes.

Quick Diagnostics

  1. Is the display device on the same Wi-Fi network as the booth/iPad? Confirm both devices show the same exact SSID — not just two networks named similarly like "Hotel-Guest" vs "HotelGuest."
  2. Is the event name selected on the display device the same as the one running on the booth? Exact match matters.
  3. Is the companion app logged into the correct Cloud account?
  4. Open cloud.fotomaster.com on a phone and confirm the photos exist in the gallery. If they are not in the Cloud, the issue is upstream of the display app.

Common Situations

The companion app won't connect to the event

What's usually going on: Either the device is logged into a different Cloud account than the booth, or the event name on the display does not match the event name on the booth.

How to fix it:

  1. Confirm Cloud account match. Log out and log back into the companion app using the same Cloud credentials the booth uses.
  2. Select the exact same event the booth is running. Event names with subtle differences (trailing space, capital letter) are treated as different events.
  3. Confirm both devices are on the same Wi-Fi. SSID must be identical — not just similarly named.
  4. Restart both devices. Cycle the display device, then re-launch the app.

Slideshow not pulling new photos

What's usually going on: Either download monitoring is disabled in the companion app's settings, or the device has temporarily lost its connection to the Cloud and hasn't reconnected.

How to fix it:

  1. In the companion app, open Settings and look for Download Monitoring or Auto-Download. Toggle it on.
  2. Restart the companion app to force a fresh fetch from the Cloud.
  3. Confirm internet connectivity on the display device by opening a web browser and loading any external site.
  4. Check the gallery in the Cloud — if new photos are there, the display device isn't pulling them. If not, the issue is upstream.

Transitions look choppy or stuttery

What's usually going on: Display hardware constraints. Older Macs (pre-2018) and Raspberry Pi devices sometimes struggle to render high-resolution photos at full framerate.

How to fix it:

  1. Reduce slideshow image resolution in the companion app settings (if available).
  2. Use simpler transition styles — crossfade is gentler than 3D effects (cube, fold).
  3. Increase the duration each photo is shown — fewer transitions per minute.
  4. Close other applications on the display device so the slideshow gets all available resources.
  5. Upgrade the display device if problems persist. A modern Mac mini (M-series) handles slideshows of any complexity without strain.

Photos appear out of order

What's usually going on: The companion app's sort order is set to random or reverse, or photos arrived from the Cloud in a different order than they were captured (network delays).

How to fix it:

  1. Open Slideshow Settings in the companion app and check the Sort Order option.
  2. Choose Newest First (so the latest guest selfie is always on screen first), Chronological (oldest first), or Random — your preference.
  3. If you want a specific photo to always appear first (such as a sponsor logo), pin it manually in the Cloud event's gallery.

Recovering after a Cloud disconnect

What's usually going on: The display device briefly lost internet and the companion app didn't recover automatically.

How to fix it:

  1. Restart the companion app — quit and relaunch.
  2. Verify internet is back with a browser test.
  3. Re-select the event from the app's event picker.
  4. For chronic disconnect issues, hard-wire the display device with Ethernet rather than Wi-Fi — much more reliable for all-day events.

Print queue is stuck

What's usually going on: The connected printer is offline, out of paper, out of ribbon, or the print queue itself has stuck jobs.

How to fix it:

  1. Check the printer. Power, paper, ribbon, USB connection.
  2. Open the OS print queue (System Settings > Printers on Mac, Devices and Printers on Windows).
  3. Cancel stuck jobs. A single failed job at the front of the queue blocks everything behind it.
  4. Restart the printer. Power off, wait 10 seconds, power on.
  5. Restart the companion app so it re-establishes printer communication.
  6. See Printer Troubleshooting for deeper printer help.

Tip: During an event, glance at the printer every 10–15 minutes. A jam or empty paper drawer caught early is a 30-second fix; caught after 50 queued prints, it's a major recovery effort.

Guest phone isn't showing the photo preview

What's usually going on: The Preview step wasn't added to the workflow before the QR Code step, so guests don't get a chance to confirm their photo before it's submitted.

How to fix it:

  1. In the Cloud, edit the Selfie Wi-Fi workflow.
  2. Add a Preview step that previews the Final Photo, placed before the QR Code or upload step.
  3. Save the workflow and test on your own phone.

Pre-Event Checklist for the Companion App

  • Display device is on the same Wi-Fi as the booth
  • Companion app is logged into the correct Cloud account
  • The correct event is selected
  • Download Monitoring / Auto-Download is enabled
  • Slideshow sort order is set as desired
  • Test photo from the booth appears on the display within 30 seconds
  • Printer (if used) is online with paper/ribbon loaded
  • Internet connection verified with a browser test

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