Three steps, and the first one only once
The phone only needs to be on, unlocked and on the same Wi-Fi network as the PC. The apps keep running on the phone, with their data and their accounts.
Once, on the phone
Developer options → Wireless debugging on, then pair the PC with the 6-digit code. The window «Add a phone» guides you step by step; a cable route exists for phones that need it.
Start Phonestra on the PC
It finds the phone on the Wi-Fi network and connects, over an encrypted connection.
Open apps in windows
Picture and sound go to the PC; clicks, keys and files go to the phone.
A phone’s apps, at home on the PC
Phonestra shows the picture of the apps on the PC and sends clicks and keystrokes to the phone. The name: phone + finestra, Italian for «window».
Each app in its own window
Open several apps at once. They are ordinary desktop windows: move them, tile them side by side, go full screen. They appear in the taskbar with the app’s name. Click = tap, wheel = scroll, Esc = Back.
Over Wi-Fi, nothing installed on the phone
It uses Android’s own Wireless debugging, turned on once. A small program is copied to a temporary folder on the phone at every connection and deleted at the end.
The drawer
Phonestra’s main window: the phone’s apps (search, favourites, all apps), the notifications, and the phone’s real screen, live, usable with the mouse — home screen, notification shade, quick settings, widgets.
Sound on the PC
The audio of the phone’s apps comes out of the PC’s speakers or headphones, in sync with the picture. The phone stays silent.
Keyboard and clipboard
Type with the PC keyboard. Copy and paste text in both directions; passwords marked as sensitive are not passed.
Notifications on the PC
On the «Notifications» page and as desktop alerts, with an option to show only the app’s name.
Files both ways
Drag files onto the drawn phone to send them. «Receive files…» browses the phone and copies files to the PC. Drop an .apk to install an app.
Screenshots and recording
A screenshot of an app is saved and copied to the clipboard. Record an app’s screen, with its audio.
The phone’s screen turns off
While you use it from the PC (battery, privacy). It turns back on at the end — and when a call comes in.
Everything put back
Screen timeout, media volume, audio, the apps opened in windows: all restored when Phonestra closes, even after a sudden disconnection.
Private
No internet, no account, no advertising, no usage statistics. Phonestra only talks to the phone on the home network, over an encrypted connection.
Protected screens stay protected
Screens that apps protect (banking, passwords, paid video) never reach the PC: Phonestra shows «Protected screen» instead and does not get around it.
One file
An AppImage (about 97 MB) with everything inside. No adb or other program to install, no administrator password.
What you will see
Drawn from the designs the program was built from. The interface is in English or Italian; the manuals are in English.
The drawer
Phonestra’s main window. On the left: «Apps», «Notifications», «My phones» and the tools — «Install app…», «Send files…», «Receive files…». In the middle: «Search for an app», «Favorites» and «All apps». On the right, the phone’s real screen, live, usable with the mouse.
Illustration
An app window
A top bar with «‹» (Back), the app’s name and «Phone», a screenshot button, a record button and the «⋮» menu: «Rotate» (Ctrl+R), «Copy screenshot» (Ctrl+Shift+C), «Close app» (Ctrl+W).
Illustration
The first connection
The window «Add a phone» lists what to prepare: «Phone and PC on the same Wi-Fi network», «Unlock Developer options», «Turn off the protections that block the connection», «Wireless debugging: turn it on and pair this PC» — then the 6-digit code shown by the phone. Done once per phone; afterwards Phonestra connects by itself in a few seconds.
Illustration
Your phone, left as you found it
Nothing installed
No app to install on the phone. A small program is copied to a temporary folder at every connection and deleted at the end.
Everything put back
Screen timeout, media volume, audio and the apps opened in windows are restored when Phonestra closes, even after a sudden disconnection.
No internet
No account, no advertising, no usage statistics. Phonestra talks only to the phone, on the home network, encrypted.
Protected screens stay protected
Banking, passwords, paid video: what an app protects never reaches the PC. You see «Protected screen» instead.
Illustration — «Protected screen»
What you need, and what it does not do
Said plainly, before you download.
Requirements
- PC64-bit Linux on Intel or AMD (x86_64) with a graphical desktop (GNOME, KDE, Xfce, Cinnamon or similar); distributions from 2022 on — for example Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Fedora, Arch.
- PhoneAndroid 14 or later, any brand.
- NetworkPC and phone on the same Wi-Fi network (not a «guest» network, not mobile data); the PC may be on a cable to the router.
Honest limits
- The phone must stay on, unlocked and on the same Wi-Fi network.
- Calls are heard and made on the phone (Android does not carry call audio to the PC); the PC’s microphone and webcam do not reach the phone.
- One phone active at a time — several can be paired, and you switch between them.
- Protected screens stay black on the PC, by design; apps that forbid audio capture stay silent.
- Wireless debugging must be turned on by hand on the phone, once: Android does not let a program do it.
Version 1.0
Version 1.0.0 is the first stable release. It is used every day by the author and has been tried so far on two Samsung Galaxy phones with Android 14 and later; the AppImage starts on Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Fedora 43 and Arch. Other brands are expected to work — Phonestra uses only standard Android features — but have not been tried yet.
Tried it with your phone?
Phone model, Android version, Linux distribution, what worked and what did not. A phone where everything worked is as useful a report as one where nothing did.
Send a reportDownload Phonestra
Phonestra-1.0.0-x86_64.AppImageAppImage · about 97 MB · 64-bit Linux (x86_64)Then, once
$ chmod +x Phonestra-*-x86_64.AppImage $ ./Phonestra-*-x86_64.AppImage
Or make it executable from the file manager (Properties › Permissions) and double-click it. At the first start the window «Add a phone» guides you.
Check the download
$ sha256sum -c --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS
Checksums SHA256SUMS · Licence files LICENSE.txt and NOTICE.txt
The manuals
The interface is in English or Italian; the manuals are in English.
Freeware
Free to use, at home and at work. Copy it and give it away unchanged, also in free collections of software.
Not allowed without a written licence: selling it, including it in a product or service that is sold, modifying it, decompiling it beyond what the law allows — write to phonestra@nicfio.it.
Versions up to 1.0.0-rc.8 were released under their own personal-use licence, which they keep; the freeware licence applies from the next version. Read the licence