diff --git a/apps/ios/Shared/Model/SimpleXAPI.swift b/apps/ios/Shared/Model/SimpleXAPI.swift
index e67585453d..72aa164135 100644
--- a/apps/ios/Shared/Model/SimpleXAPI.swift
+++ b/apps/ios/Shared/Model/SimpleXAPI.swift
@@ -117,7 +117,6 @@ func chatRecvMsg() async -> ChatResponse? {
 }
 
 func apiGetActiveUser() throws -> User? {
-    let _ = getChatCtrl()
     let r = chatSendCmdSync(.showActiveUser)
     switch r {
     case let .activeUser(user): return user
@@ -725,13 +724,12 @@ func apiUpdateGroup(_ groupId: Int64, _ groupProfile: GroupProfile) async throws
 func initializeChat(start: Bool, dbKey: String? = nil) throws {
     logger.debug("initializeChat")
     let m = ChatModel.shared
-    (m.chatDbEncrypted, m.chatDbStatus) = migrateChatDatabase(dbKey)
+    (m.chatDbEncrypted, m.chatDbStatus) = chatMigrateInit(dbKey)
     if  m.chatDbStatus != .ok { return }
     // If we migrated successfully means previous re-encryption process on database level finished successfully too
     if encryptionStartedDefault.get() {
         encryptionStartedDefault.set(false)
     }
-    let _ = getChatCtrl(dbKey)
     try apiSetFilesFolder(filesFolder: getAppFilesDirectory().path)
     try apiSetIncognito(incognito: incognitoGroupDefault.get())
     m.chatInitialized = true
diff --git a/apps/ios/Shared/Views/Database/DatabaseErrorView.swift b/apps/ios/Shared/Views/Database/DatabaseErrorView.swift
index 32b0d87353..5c6451e50b 100644
--- a/apps/ios/Shared/Views/Database/DatabaseErrorView.swift
+++ b/apps/ios/Shared/Views/Database/DatabaseErrorView.swift
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ struct DatabaseErrorView: View {
 
     private func runChat() {
         do {
+            resetChatCtrl()
             try initializeChat(start: m.v3DBMigration.startChat, dbKey: dbKey)
             if let s = m.chatDbStatus {
                 status = s
diff --git a/apps/ios/SimpleX NSE/NotificationService.swift b/apps/ios/SimpleX NSE/NotificationService.swift
index 0e8ebd852c..1684a4b9e7 100644
--- a/apps/ios/SimpleX NSE/NotificationService.swift	
+++ b/apps/ios/SimpleX NSE/NotificationService.swift	
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ var chatStarted = false
 func startChat() -> DBMigrationResult? {
     hs_init(0, nil)
     if chatStarted { return .ok }
-    let (_, dbStatus) = migrateChatDatabase()
+    let (_, dbStatus) = chatMigrateInit()
     if dbStatus != .ok { return dbStatus }
     if let user = apiGetActiveUser() {
         logger.debug("active user \(String(describing: user))")
@@ -230,7 +230,6 @@ func receivedMsgNtf(_ res: ChatResponse) async -> (String, UNMutableNotification
 }
 
 func apiGetActiveUser() -> User? {
-    let _ = getChatCtrl()
     let r = sendSimpleXCmd(.showActiveUser)
     logger.debug("apiGetActiveUser sendSimpleXCmd responce: \(String(describing: r))")
     switch r {
diff --git a/apps/ios/SimpleXChat/API.swift b/apps/ios/SimpleXChat/API.swift
index 92d2a5e8aa..5737101110 100644
--- a/apps/ios/SimpleXChat/API.swift
+++ b/apps/ios/SimpleXChat/API.swift
@@ -14,19 +14,12 @@ private var migrationResult: (Bool, DBMigrationResult)?
 
 public func getChatCtrl(_ useKey: String? = nil) -> chat_ctrl {
     if let controller = chatController { return controller }
-    let dbPath = getAppDatabasePath().path
-    let dbKey = useKey ?? getDatabaseKey() ?? ""
-    logger.debug("getChatCtrl DB path: \(dbPath)")
-    var cPath = dbPath.cString(using: .utf8)!
-    var cKey = dbKey.cString(using: .utf8)!
-    chatController = chat_init_key(&cPath, &cKey)
-    logger.debug("getChatCtrl: chat_init_key")
-    return chatController!
+    fatalError("chat controller not initialized")
 }
 
-public func migrateChatDatabase(_ useKey: String? = nil) -> (Bool, DBMigrationResult) {
+public func chatMigrateInit(_ useKey: String? = nil) -> (Bool, DBMigrationResult) {
     if let res = migrationResult { return res }
-    logger.debug("migrateChatDatabase \(storeDBPassphraseGroupDefault.get())")
+    logger.debug("chatMigrateInit \(storeDBPassphraseGroupDefault.get())")
     let dbPath = getAppDatabasePath().path
     var dbKey = ""
     let useKeychain = storeDBPassphraseGroupDefault.get()
@@ -40,11 +33,12 @@ public func migrateChatDatabase(_ useKey: String? = nil) -> (Bool, DBMigrationRe
             dbKey = key
         }
     }
-    logger.debug("migrateChatDatabase DB path: \(dbPath)")
-//    logger.debug("migrateChatDatabase DB key: \(dbKey)")
+    logger.debug("chatMigrateInit DB path: \(dbPath)")
+    logger.debug("chatMigrateInit DB key: \(dbKey)")
     var cPath = dbPath.cString(using: .utf8)!
     var cKey = dbKey.cString(using: .utf8)!
-    let cjson = chat_migrate_db(&cPath, &cKey)!
+    // the last parameter of chat_migrate_init is used to return the pointer to chat controller
+    let cjson = chat_migrate_init(&cPath, &cKey, &chatController)!
     let dbRes = dbMigrationResult(fromCString(cjson))
     let encrypted = dbKey != ""
     let keychainErr = dbRes == .ok && useKeychain && encrypted && !setDatabaseKey(dbKey)
diff --git a/apps/ios/SimpleXChat/SimpleX.h b/apps/ios/SimpleXChat/SimpleX.h
index 1b2f5d821b..edd9d46bbc 100644
--- a/apps/ios/SimpleXChat/SimpleX.h
+++ b/apps/ios/SimpleXChat/SimpleX.h
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ extern void hs_init(int argc, char **argv[]);
 
 typedef void* chat_ctrl;
 
-extern char *chat_migrate_db(char *path, char *key);
-extern chat_ctrl chat_init_key(char *path, char *key);
+// the last parameter is used to return the pointer to chat controller
+extern char *chat_migrate_init(char *path, char *key, chat_ctrl *ctrl);
 extern char *chat_send_cmd(chat_ctrl ctl, char *cmd);
 extern char *chat_recv_msg(chat_ctrl ctl);
 extern char *chat_recv_msg_wait(chat_ctrl ctl, int wait);