Forgehaven Labs · FireGlance · iOS · for pfSense® firewall admins

Your firewall, at a glance.

FireGlance is an independent iPhone dashboard for pfSense® firewalls. System gauges, gateway latency and loss, live interface rates, services, and DHCP leases, refreshed every few seconds, via the free open-source pfREST API package you install on the firewall first.

Coming soon to the App Store · iOS 17+ · one-time unlock, no subscription

FireGlance dashboard showing CPU, memory, disk, and swap gauges with gateway latency for a pfSense firewall

The at-a-glance layer

Is the internet down, or is it just the firewall?

The 6 a.m. question every admin answers by logging into the webConfigurator and digging through four pages. FireGlance answers it in one glance from your pocket: status, gateways, interfaces, and services on one live screen. Read-only in v1, so it can never change a rule.

What it does

Everything the webConfigurator makes you dig for.

  • Live system gauges

    Status LED, CPU, memory, disk, and swap ring gauges, plus uptime, load, and temperature, polled every few seconds with last-good values kept on blips.

  • Gateways with history

    Latency and packet loss per gateway with five-minute sparklines. A flapping WAN shows up as a shape, not a number you have to stare at.

  • Real interface rates

    Up/down state, IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, and live in/out throughput computed from counter deltas, not whatever the last page load said.

  • Firewall logs, parsed (Pro)

    The raw filterlog stream decoded into readable pass/block entries: source, destination, ports, interface, and the rule that fired.

  • the security model

    Self-signed HTTPS, pinned

    FireGlance shows the certificate's SHA-256 fingerprint, you approve it once per firewall, and any later change is a hard warning, never silent trust.

  • Nothing leaves your phone

    No account, no backend, no analytics. Your phone talks directly to your firewall; API keys live in the iOS Keychain.

On your phone

Built for the 6 a.m. check.

Gateway latency and packet loss with five-minute sparklines
gateways with sparklines
System dashboard with CPU, memory, disk, and swap gauges
the box at a glance
Firewall log viewer with parsed pass and block entries
parsed firewall logs (Pro)

The honest fine print

You install one free package first.

pfSense CE has no official REST API, so FireGlance talks to the free, open-source pfSense REST API package ("pfREST", pfrest.org), which you install on the firewall before connecting. It takes about two minutes. FireGlance is read-only in v1: it never changes rules, never restarts services, never writes anything. It's built for LAN and VPN use; please don't expose your firewall's API to the open internet.

Who it's for

For the people who run the edge.

  • Homelab admins

    A pfSense box guards the rack. FireGlance is the "is it healthy" glance you've been faking by logging into the web UI from your phone browser.

  • The family's network person

    "The internet is down" arrives by text. One glance tells you whether it's the WAN, a gateway, or nothing at all before you leave the couch.

  • Multi-site tinkerers

    A box at home, a box at the parents', one at the office. Pro watches every firewall you run, over the VPN you already have.

  • Anyone who respects a self-signed cert

    Most apps refuse self-signed HTTPS or trust it blindly. FireGlance pins the fingerprint you approve, and treats a change as a warning.

Pricing

Free where it counts. One price for the rest.

No subscription. No ads. The core dashboard isn't a teaser: it's the full experience for one firewall, free forever.

Free

$0

One firewall, forever.

  • One firewall, full live dashboard
  • Interfaces with live rates
  • Gateways with sparklines
  • Services & DHCP leases
  • Demo mode for every screen
  • Multiple firewalls
  • Firewall-log viewer & widgets

FAQ

Questions admins actually ask.

Does this work with stock pfSense?

Almost. You install one free package first: the open-source pfSense REST API package ("pfREST") from pfrest.org. pfSense CE ships no API of its own, so every client needs something like it. Two minutes, then FireGlance connects.

Can it change my firewall config?

No. v1 is strictly read-only by design. It sends only read requests. It cannot edit rules, restart services, or write configuration.

Do I have to expose my firewall to the internet?

Please don't. FireGlance is built for LAN and VPN use: it talks to the firewall's address on your own network, the same way you reach the webConfigurator.

What about my self-signed certificate?

Fully supported, with certificate pinning. FireGlance shows you the cert's SHA-256 fingerprint, you approve it once, and any later change is treated as a hard warning rather than silently trusted.

Is it a subscription?

No, and it never will be. Free covers one firewall with the full dashboard. Pro is a single $9.99 purchase that unlocks multiple firewalls, the log viewer, and widgets.

Is this an official Netgate app?

No. FireGlance is an independent project, not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by Netgate. pfSense is a registered trademark of Rubicon Communications, LLC.

Coming soon

Know the box is healthy, from your pocket.

FireGlance is heading to the App Store. Drop a line and I'll tell you the day it lands.

iOS 17+ · one-time purchase · no subscription

FireGlance is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by Netgate. "pfSense" is a registered trademark of Rubicon Communications, LLC (Netgate), used here only to describe compatibility. The pfSense REST API package ("pfREST") is an independent open-source project by its own authors. Using FireGlance requires installing that free package on your firewall.