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How it works

Your laptop (adb, Android Studio), browser, CLI or CI
│ encrypted connection
▼
PocketShare relay ── accounts, rentals, access, metering
▲
│ outbound connection from the host's hub
│
Host's PocketShare hub (a Raspberry Pi, Linux or Windows computer)
│ USB
▼
A real Android phone
  • Hosts own the phones. Each phone is a reset spare plugged into the host’s hub, a computer running PocketShare’s hub software.
  • You rent a specific phone: exact model, Android version and build, at the hourly price the host set, with a spending cap. Only one renter uses a phone at a time.
  • You connect through PocketShare. pocketshare connect gives you a local ADB endpoint, so the phone shows up in adb devices and Android Studio. The browser view streams the screen. All traffic goes through PocketShare’s relay, never straight to the host’s network.
  • Your access is time-limited. The hub only lets you in under a short lease that renews while your rental is active. If it lapses, the hub cuts access, even if it loses contact with PocketShare.
  • You pay for the minutes you use. Billing starts when the phone is connected and usable and stops when you end the rental. See Pricing.
  • The phone is wiped after every rental and checked against its starting state. If that can’t be confirmed, the phone stays unavailable, so the next renter never starts on a phone in an unknown state.