Hey y’all, I was reading this self hosting user survey at selfh.st and noticed that some people said they self-host on a mobile phone.

I have an Android phone here I could use and I can picture setting up the phone and then just leaving it plugged in, in a corner somewhere. That seems like a good use for all that computing power but I’m not sure how to get started.

I found this article showing how we can use a phone for a web server:

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/host-a-web-server-on-android

But is there any way to host other apps / services on a phone? Does it have to be rooted first?

Any pitfalls or other tips you can share when to doing this?

Thanks!

  • @knFEnglish
    1•1 year ago

    That’s a possibility for sure. My suggestion would be first to test the capability of the device before buying anything. Once you’re satisfied with it, you can take the next steps and buy additional hardware. In my experience a USB-C -> ETH port was a great purchase as I was experiencing shaky WiFi connection possibly due to battery saving settings.