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 ❤️

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.

Build

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

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

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

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

plain-app