NanoKVM Mobile

NanoKVM Mobile is an unofficial, open-source Android client for a trusted Sipeed NanoKVM. It provides a phone-friendly remote console with direct touch, pan and zoom, Android keyboard input, video controls, and appliance administration.

Important

This project is independent of Sipeed and is not an official NanoKVM app. It can control real keyboard, mouse, reset, power, network, and update operations. Review the target device before using guarded actions.

Download the latest signed APK | Build from source | Report a problem

Features

• Saved NanoKVM profiles with explicit HTTPS certificate review and per-device certificate pinning.
• Direct H.264 video with MJPEG fallback and optional WebRTC-first transport.
• Direct-touch, trackpad, and external mouse/keyboard input modes, including Android pointer capture where supported.
• Native Android keyboard input, special keys, and previewed phone clipboard or share-target text typing.
• Optional Android Keystore-protected passwords unlocked with biometrics or the device screen lock.
• Guarded power, reset, update, virtual-media, Wake-on-LAN, network, and device administration controls.
• Foreground-only terminal, script, shortcut, autostart, and PicoClaw tools on appliances that advertise those capabilities.
• Adaptive Material 3 layouts for compact phones, landscape, large screens, light/dark themes, and optional dynamic colour.

Capability coverage and appliance-specific behavior are documented in the parity ledger.

Screenshots

Connections	Profile setup
Remote console	Video settings

_{These are captures of the real Compose UI using reserved example addresses and a rights-clear synthetic remote framebuffer. No private device data is shown.}

Requirements

• Android 8.0 (API 26) or newer.
• NanoKVM application 2.3.2 or newer, reachable over HTTPS on the local network.
• On Android 17 (API 37), grant Local network access when prompted.

The current stable APK has been used for several weeks without reported issues against NanoKVM application 2.4.3. Hardware-dependent features remain capability-gated and may not appear on every appliance.

Private and self-signed certificates are supported through explicit review and per-profile pinning. The app does not install a global CA or use a global trust-all transport.

Install and update

1. Open the latest GitHub release.
2. Download the .apk and its accompanying SHA256SUMS file.
3. Compare the APK checksum, then allow installation from your browser or file manager when Android asks. GitHub APK updates are manual.

Published APKs use the production signing certificate recorded on each release. A development/debug APK cannot update a production-signed installation. Do not uninstall merely to bypass a signature mismatch: uninstalling removes saved profiles, certificate pins, and protected credentials.

The current production signing-certificate SHA-256 is:

B8:C5:6C:A6:A2:29:C8:5C:D8:29:DA:21:CF:69:72:19:E2:D1:A1:D5:F9:4D:65:87:19:EB:FA:9E:90:90:75:FD

Release assets include the APK checksum, signer evidence, exact source archive, dependency inventory, SBOM, licences, and notices. Maintainer signing and provenance requirements are documented in Distribution.

Quick start

1. Select Add a NanoKVM profile, then enter the device hostname or IP address, HTTPS port, and username.
2. Connect, review an untrusted private certificate if prompted, and enter the NanoKVM password. Saving it is always a separate opt-in choice.
3. Use the console's keyboard, clipboard typing, view pad, input mode, video, power, and More actions controls as needed.

Known limitations

• Appliance and hardware-specific features are hidden, disabled, or read-only when the NanoKVM does not advertise the required capability.
• WebRTC is attempted first only when explicitly selected and may contact appliance-supplied ICE/STUN/TURN endpoints before falling back to H.264 or MJPEG.
• Phone clipboard and share-target text is typed as USB HID input; it is not a shared or bidirectional host clipboard.
• Horizontal scrolling uses Shift+wheel compatibility because NanoKVM exposes one wheel axis, so behavior depends on the remote operating system and app.
• Virtual-media URLs are fetched by the appliance, not downloaded to the phone.
• Terminals, scripts, updates, network changes, power controls, and PicoClaw can disrupt the appliance or controlled host and require deliberate confirmation.

Build from source

Install Android Studio, or install JDK 21 plus the Android SDK command-line tools, platform 37, and platform-tools, then accept the SDK licences. Configure the SDK through Android Studio, ANDROID_HOME, or a local untracked local.properties file before building. Gradle installs the compatible Android Build Tools 36.0.0 package when it is not already present.

git clone https://github.com/andrewginns/nanokvm-mobile.git
cd nanokvm-mobile

Windows PowerShell:

.\gradlew.bat --no-problems-report --dependency-verification=strict :app:assembleDebug

macOS or Linux:

./gradlew --no-problems-report --dependency-verification=strict :app:assembleDebug

The APK is written to app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk. It uses the local machine's debug certificate and cannot update the published APK. Do not share it as an update build. main identifies itself as the next development version; check out a release tag when you need the exact source for a published APK.

The complete maintainer verification commands are in Testing.

Privacy, security, and support

NanoKVM Mobile has no developer-operated service, advertising, analytics, telemetry, or automatic crash reporting. Profiles and protected credentials are stored locally on the Android device; connections go to endpoints selected by the user or supplied by the trusted NanoKVM during transport negotiation.

• Read the privacy notice, security policy, and technical security model.
• Report ordinary defects through GitHub Issues.
• Report vulnerabilities privately through GitHub Security Advisories.

Never include passwords, tokens, private hosts, certificate fingerprints, terminal contents, or framebuffer data in a public report.

Contributing and license

Issues and pull requests are welcome; see Contributing. User-visible changes are recorded in the changelog. NanoKVM Mobile is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. Packaged dependency terms are recorded in the third-party notices.