Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP

Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP

Open-source SSH client and terminal with SFTP, port forwarding and jump hosts

LordOfPolls Development Remote Access

Screenshots

Screenshot of Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP Screenshot of Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP Screenshot of Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP Screenshot of Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP Screenshot of Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP Screenshot of Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP Screenshot of Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP Screenshot of Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP Screenshot of Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP Screenshot of Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP Screenshot of Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP Screenshot of Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP Screenshot of Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP Screenshot of Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP Screenshot of Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP Screenshot of Shellwave: SSH Client & SFTP

Description

Shellwave is an open-source SSH client and terminal for Android phones, tablets
and foldables. Connect to your Linux servers, Raspberry Pi or homelab with SFTP,
port forwarding and sessions that survive a dropped connection.

It exists because every mobile SSH client makes you choose between convenient
and trustworthy — and that's a stupid choice.

Sessions that survive
Your train goes into a tunnel and the connection drops. When the signal comes
back, your session is still there — reconnected without re-typing a password,
and with optional tmux-backed sessions, reattached with scrollback intact. You
don't do anything. Hosts can also keep a persistent session running, so you can
close the app and come back to exactly where you left off.

Nothing is trusted for you
Host keys are checked the first time you connect and remembered after that, with
the fingerprint shown so you can check it yourself. If a host key ever changes,
Shellwave stops you before you go any further. There is no accept-all mode, and
a script running from a widget or a tile never answers a prompt on your behalf.

Your keys stay on your device
Password, an imported private key, a key generated on your device (Ed25519,
ECDSA or RSA), OpenSSH certificates, or keyboard-interactive/2FA — whatever you
already use. Everything is encrypted
on-device, with hardware-backed protection on phones that support it, and an
optional biometric lock. You can generate a key on the device and install it in
a host's authorized_keys without the private key ever leaving the phone.

Save yourself the typing
Save commands or scripts against a host, with parameters you fill in when you run
them. Watch them run live, run them in the background and check back later, or
fire them into a session you already have open. You can launch a script from the
app itself, a home-screen widget, an app shortcut, or a Quick Settings tile.
The same widget and tile can wake a sleeping machine with Wake-on-LAN.

Networking, done properly
- Local and remote port forwarding
- A SOCKS5 proxy
- Jump host/bastion chaining through multiple hops
- Import your existing ~/.ssh/config as-is — hosts, ports, users, keys, jump
hosts, Match blocks
Forwarded ports and the proxy bind to loopback unless you say otherwise.

File transfer
Browse a host's files over SFTP from inside a session: upload, download, rename
and delete without switching apps.

A real terminal
256 colours, wide character support, correct cursor and scroll handling. If you use
vim, tmux, or htop, they will look and behave the way you expect. No weird redraws,
no broken keys, no compromises. Search the scrollback, log a session to a file,
and the visible screen is readable by TalkBack.

Built with foldables in mind
On unfolded or wide screens you get a two-pane layout, host list next to the
terminal. Tabletop mode keeps the terminal above the hinge and the keyboard below
it. Fold or unfold mid-session and nothing drops.

Make it look like yours
A handful of bundled monospace fonts, or bring your own. Colour schemes like
Solarized, Gruvbox, Nord, Dracula, Tango and Campbell, plus a full editor if you
want to build your own. A key bar you can customise per host with macros and
layouts. Material You colour throughout.

Privacy
No usage data, no analytics, no crash reporting. Shellwave only connects to the
hosts you tell it to — nothing else.

The Play Store build has an optional one-time tip for the developer. It does not unlock
anything, and the F-Droid build leaves it out entirely.

Open source, GNU GPLv3.

What’s new (1.8.0)

New:
- Add a Nothing colour theme with the Doto display face
- Wake a host from a quick settings tile or home screen widget

Fixed:
- Give the host key dialog three minutes and drop unused BouncyCastle picnic tables
- Make FakeSharedPreferences.remove actually delete on commit
- Keyboard text suggestions are disabled in terminal view (#1)

Versions

Version Date Size Requires Android Download
1.8.0 current
c6c953d5d82c4096…
2026-10-22 13 MB API 31
1.7.1
bea5658538be748f…
2026-09-20 14 MB API 31
1.5.0
b301cc9d796067e0…
2026-09-20 13 MB API 31

Permissions

What the app asks the system for. Android only grants sensitive access after you confirm it.

  • Internet accessSend and receive data over the internet.
  • ACCESS_LOCAL_NETWORK
  • Foreground serviceKeep running in the background, visible in the status bar.
  • FOREGROUND_SERVICE_SPECIAL_USE
  • NotificationsShow notifications.
  • VibrationControl the vibration alert.
  • Network stateCheck whether and how the device is connected.
  • BiometricsUnlock with fingerprint or face.
Show 4 more permissions
  • FingerprintUnlock with a fingerprint.
  • Prevent sleepingKeep the device from going to sleep.
  • Run at startupStart automatically after the device is switched on.
  • shellwave.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION

Comments