Why can't I connect to chat?

Are you getting a "Chat is offline. Reconnecting..." message when you try to send a Ping or a chat in a project? 

Screenshot of the chat in the mobile Basecamp app showing the "Chat is offline" error message

Screenshot of the chat in Basecamp showing the "Chat is offline" error message

Sorry this is happening! There's a bug in older versions of Safari that has an impact on how Chat and Pings work — both on Macs (macOS Monterey, version 12) and iPhones (iOS 15).

If you're still running these OS versions, please try the following workarounds to get your chat back in action. 

1) Restart your browser, desktop app, or mobile app

Be sure you're force-closing the mobile app and/or quitting the desktop app or browser, then reopening.

2) Disable how Websockets connect

If restarting doesn't work, try disabling the update to how Safari's Websockets work (that created the bug to begin with) and go back to the stable way. This can be a bit intimidating but don't worry, we've got you covered.

For iOS: 

  1. Open the Settings app on your phone
  2. Scroll down and tap “Safari”
  3. Scroll down to the bottom and tap “Advanced”
  4. Tap “Experimental Features” at the bottom
  5. Scroll down until you see “NSURLSession WebSocket” and switch it off
  6. Force close then reopen your Basecamp app

For MacOS:

  1. Navigate to Safari's Preferences, or press ⌘ and , together to open Safari's Preferences
  2. Choose "Advanced"
  3. Check off the "Show Develop menu in menu bar" option

Screenshot of the Advanced Preferences in Safari where you can see that the "Show Develop menu in menu bar" is highlighted and selected

  1. Choose "Develop" from the menu bar
  2. Hover over "Experimental Features" 

  3. Find and un-check "NSURLSession WebSocket"

  4. Quit the Safari browser and/or quit the desktop app, then reopen

If those steps don't work or you have any questions about this, please reach out to the Basecamp support team. We're here to help!