PlainApp

PlainApp is a free, open-source Android app that turns your phone into a self-hosted management hub you can access from any web browser on the same network — no accounts, no cloud, no subscriptions. Whether you need to transfer files, read SMS, browse photos, or mirror your screen, PlainApp puts full control back in your hands.

Why PlainApp?

Most phone-management tools either route your data through their own servers, lock features behind subscriptions, or plague you with ads. PlainApp is different:

• 100% local — your data never leaves your network
• End-to-end encrypted — every connection is secured with TLS + XChaCha20-Poly1305
• Completely free and ad-free — no purchases, no upsells, ever
• Fully open-source — audit the code, build your own binary, or contribute

Features

🌐 Web-Based Phone Management

Open a browser on any desktop or laptop connected to the same Wi-Fi network and get a full dashboard to manage your Android device — no app installation required on the computer side. Supports PWA so you can pin it to your desktop like a native app.

Category	What you can do
Files	Browse internal storage, SD card, and USB drives; upload, download, rename, delete
Media	View and manage photos, videos, and audio; stream them directly in the browser
Contacts	View, search, and manage your contacts
SMS & Calls	Read messages and call logs; send SMS from your desktop
Apps	List installed apps and export APKs
Notifications	Mirror phone notifications to the browser in real time
Screen Mirror	Live-stream the phone screen to the browser with audio and remote control support
Device Info	Check battery, storage, network, and system details

📱 Built-in Android Tools

PlainApp is also a capable standalone app — not just a server:

• Markdown Notes — write and organize notes with a clean editor
• RSS Reader — follow your favorite websites with a distraction-free reader
• Video & Audio Player — full-featured media player with playlist support
• TV Cast — cast media to any DLNA/Chromecast-compatible TV
• Peer-to-Peer Chat & File Sharing — share files and messages directly between devices without a server
• Pomodoro Timer — stay focused with a built-in work timer
• Sound Meter — measure ambient noise levels in real time

🔒 Privacy & Security

• Zero data sent to any third-party server
• All traffic between phone and browser is encrypted (TLS + XChaCha20-Poly1305)
• No account registration required

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjRhC8pSQ6Q

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/plainapp

Discord: https://discord.gg/RQWcS6DEEe

QQ Group: 812409393

How PlainApp Compares

Feature	PlainApp	AirDroid	KDE Connect	AnExplorer	Pushbullet
Open source	✅	❌	✅	✅	❌
100% local / no cloud required	✅	⚠️ partial	✅	✅	❌
End-to-end encrypted (local)	✅	⚠️ paid	❌	❌	❌
Ad-free	✅	⚠️ paid	✅	⚠️ paid	⚠️ paid
Free all features	✅	⚠️ freemium	✅	⚠️ freemium	⚠️ freemium
Web browser access (no desktop app needed)	✅	✅	❌	❌	✅
File manager (browser UI)	✅	✅	⚠️ limited	✅	❌
SMS from desktop	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅
Screen mirroring	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
Media streaming in browser	✅	⚠️ limited	❌	❌	❌
Notification mirroring	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅
Built-in RSS reader	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Markdown notes	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
P2P chat & file sharing	✅	⚠️ paid	❌	❌	⚠️ limited
TV casting (DLNA/Chromecast)	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌
PWA support	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
No account required	✅	❌	✅	✅	❌

✅ Fully supported   ⚠️ Partially supported or requires paid plan   ❌ Not supported

Donations :heart:

This project needs you! If you would like to support this project's further development, the creator of this project or the continuous maintenance of this project, feel free to donate.

Your donation is highly appreciated. Thank you!

• Buy me a cup of Ko-Fi!

• Use WeChat to scan the code

Screenshots

Android App

Web Dashboard

Compatibility

PlainApp requires Android 9.0 or higher.

FAQ

https://plainapp.app/docs

Support

PlainApp is fully open-source.
If you have any doubts, you're free to review the code, build your own version, or simply choose not to use it.

If you run into issues, feel free to open a GitHub issue — I'm always happy to help.

Please don’t leave a one-star review without giving it a fair try.

Work on plain-core

Keep plain-core next to this repository. Run from this repository root.

./scripts/core local        # Use local plain-core
./scripts/core local --off  # Stop using local paths
./scripts/core update       # Lock this project to the latest remote commit

Before publishing Rust consumer changes, publish Core first, run ./scripts/core update, and commit the resulting plain-rs/Cargo.lock with the consumer source. Verify with local overrides disabled:

bash scripts/check-ui.sh
./gradlew :plain-common:testAndroidHostTest :shared:testAndroidHostTest
./gradlew :app:assembleDebug

Build

1. Generate release.jks file under $rootProject/app folder.

keytool -genkeypair -v -keystore ./app/release.jks -alias release -keyalg RSA  -keysize 4096 -validity 36500

1. Create keystore.properties file with following content under $rootProject folder.

storePassword=
keyPassword=
keyAlias=release
storeFile=release.jks