FileBeacon

Your files. Always within reach.

FileBeacon is an Android app that turns your phone into a wireless file server. Start the server, open the displayed URL on any device sharing the same WiFi network, and you have a full-featured file manager in your browser — no cables, no cloud, no accounts required.

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App Screenshots

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Web Server Screenshots

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Features

Web File Manager

• Browse the full phone file system from any browser
• Upload multiple files with drag-and-drop — original filenames always preserved
• Download files individually or bulk-select for batch download
• Create folders, rename, move, copy, and delete files
• Multi-file selection with batch operations (move, copy, delete, archive)
• Inline search across file names and file contents

File Viewing

• Image gallery with slideshow mode
• Audio and video media player with Google Cast support
• Inline PDF viewer with PDF-to-image conversion
• Full-text search with content matching and line previews

Archive Support

• Create ZIP archives from any selection of files
• Extract ZIP, RAR, TAR, and GZ archives
• Browse archive contents before extracting

Themes & Customization

• 5 color themes: Light, Dark, Blue, Green, Purple
• 3 icon packs: Emoji (default), Minimal, Colorful
• All preferences persist across sessions

Android App

• One-tap server start and stop
• Real-time WiFi status indicators
• Displays connected network (SSID) and the server URL
• Configurable server port
• Nearby device discovery via mDNS
• Optional HTTP Basic Auth password protection
• Multiple Material3 app themes (Light, Dark, AMOLED, Blue, Green, Purple, Sunset)
• Portrait and landscape layouts

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How It Works

FileBeacon runs NanoHTTPD as an embedded HTTP server inside a foreground service on your Android device. When started, the app shows a local URL such as http://192.168.1.100:8080. Any device on the same WiFi network can open that URL in a browser to access the full web UI.

The web UI is plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, served directly from the app's assets. No internet connection is needed — everything runs on your local network.

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Requirements

• Android 8.0 (API 26) or higher
• Both devices connected to the same WiFi network
• Any modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)

Permissions

Permission	Purpose
INTERNET	Run the local web server
ACCESS_WIFI_STATE	Read IP address and connection info
ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION	Required by Android to read the WiFi SSID
READ_MEDIA_* / READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE	Browse and serve files
WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE	Save uploaded files (Android ≤ 12)
MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE	Full file system access (Android 11+)
CHANGE_WIFI_MULTICAST_STATE	mDNS device discovery
FOREGROUND_SERVICE	Keep the server running while the app is backgrounded

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Building

1. Clone the repository
2. Open in Android Studio (Hedgehog or newer)
3. Sync Gradle
4. Build and run on a device or emulator

./gradlew assembleDebug

The Montserrat font is required. Download from Google Fonts and place the files in app/src/main/res/font/:

• Montserrat-Regular.ttf → montserrat_regular.ttf
• Montserrat-Bold.ttf → montserrat_bold.ttf

Dependencies

Library	Version	Purpose
NanoHTTPD	2.3.1	Embedded HTTP server
NanoHTTPD Apache FileUpload	2.3.1	Multipart file upload parsing
JmDNS	—	mDNS/Bonjour device discovery
Gson	2.13.2	JSON serialization
Apache Commons Compress	1.28.0	ZIP/TAR archive support
Junrar	7.5.7	RAR archive extraction
Kotlin Coroutines	1.10.2	Async file search
Material3	—	UI components

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Project Structure

app/src/main/
├── java/com/jphat/filebeacon/
│   ├── MainActivity.kt             # App entry point, UI, server control
│   ├── WebServer.kt                # NanoHTTPD server, all HTTP endpoints
│   ├── FileManager.kt              # File operations (save, delete, move, copy)
│   ├── FileExplorerService.kt      # Foreground service wrapper
│   ├── ArchiveManager.kt           # ZIP/RAR/TAR create and extract
│   ├── SearchManager.kt            # File name and content search
│   ├── AuthManager.kt              # HTTP Basic Auth
│   ├── DeviceDiscoveryManager.kt   # mDNS advertising and discovery
│   ├── ThemeManager.kt             # App theme management
│   ├── ThemeSelectionDialog.kt     # Theme picker dialog
│   ├── PdfConverter.kt             # PDF to image conversion
│   ├── ResumableTransferManager.kt # Resume offset tracking
│   └── TransferTaskManager.kt      # Upload/download task tracking
├── assets/
│   ├── script.js                   # Web UI JavaScript
│   ├── style.css                   # Web UI styles and themes
│   ├── manifest.json               # PWA manifest
│   └── sw.js                       # Service worker
└── res/
    ├── layout/activity_main.xml      # Portrait layout
    └── layout-land/activity_main.xml # Landscape layout

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Security

By default the server is accessible to anyone on the local network. To restrict access:

1. Tap Security Settings in the app
2. Set a password
3. Enable authentication

Once enabled, the browser will prompt for credentials. Access uses HTTP Basic Authentication.

Note: HTTP Basic Auth is not encrypted. Use password protection only on trusted private networks. Never expose the server port to the public internet.

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License

This project is open source. See LICENSE for details.

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Author

Built by jPHat