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Ask HN: Why aren't phones being used as local private servers?
Phones nowaday have the processing power to do any kind of private server work.
A private server phone is similar to a home-server, as it can be used as a media server, file host, file share, git server, web server (acting as an interface to any of the other utilities).
It can even serve as a configuration server, as many people are struggling with keeping their program configurations the same between several OS'es and or devices.
I can imagine that people don't want to do it because of battery issues, or that most people aren't even aware that you can use your phone as a local server.
- ycmk 12y agoIt's only a matter of time before somebody does it, but at the moment I can't get the damn LXC working on Android :)
- ZenoArrow 12y agoWell, you can certainly get web servers running on Android (I've used Bit Web Server before, and there are free alternatives... https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andi.serverweb&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andi.serve... ). The only question is whether you'd be able to install something like OwnCloud on it... https://owncloud.org/install/ https://owncloud.org/install/
- kbcool 12y agoI would say storage space is still the issue. Most phones still come with 8/16 gigs where as on PCs a terabyte or more is common.
- Redoubts 12y agoI would if I had an Ubuntu Edge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Edge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Edge
- lacoolj 12y agoBranching on this, why not an app to enable a Tor server only when wifi is available? And for those scared to allow it on their own network, allow the user to disable it on a certain SSID or somethin.
- justcommenting 12y agoyou may be interested in https://guardianproject.info/apps/orbot/ https://guardianproject.info/apps/orbot/ which at least previously supported running a relay. the same can be accomplished from within the guardian project's lildebi app.
- zaroth 12y agoI don't know if hidden services behave better if they are actually jumping around between different access networks, or if they can actually hide more safely by staying at a single point (single set of guards). That would be something you would want to know before trying this :-)
- crazybob 12y agoI used an old Android phone for my garage door server: https://plus.google.com/+BobLee/posts/7LyfdV3PC5X https://plus.google.com/+BobLee/posts/7LyfdV3PC5X It runs the Jetty web server. When I was the core library lead for the Android platform ('06-'09), we ran Jetty's test suite as part of Android's acceptance tests, so it works great! Why don't people use phones as servers more often? They're overkill when you can get a Raspberry Pi for ~$50. You typically don't need an LCD, touch screen, accelerometer, cell radio, etc. for a home server. Also, Android runs a heavily stripped down version of Linux, so running off-the-shelf server software can be tricky.
- ja27 12y agoBut you can get a low-spec Jelly Bean phone for $20, with charger, wifi, bluetooth, camera, and battery. I love my Raspberry Pi's (and PogoPlugs) but cheap Android phones are pretty attractive devices too, especially ones that can be rooted without much trouble. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/net10-zte-whirl-2-no-contract-cell-phone-black/8728026.p?id=1219362861847&skuId=8728026&productCategoryId= http://www.bestbuy.com/site/net10-zte-whirl-2-no-contract-ce...
- crazybob 12y agoThat's news to me. Very cool!
- matt_heimer 12y ago* Storage space/attachment is an issue * Local lan speed sucks - some phones still only have 2.4Ghz 802.11n * Cost is an issue - If I have a spare phone sitting around I'd probably be better off selling it and buying a small ARM board with ethernet that I can run Linux on and a USB drive.
- MrDom 12y agoThe reason I don't is battery life. Running a server of any kind kills my phone in record time. I could leave it plugged in, but then it becomes a very expensive and underpowered server. I prefer to use old laptops because the cost/power ratio is more favorable (and those old IBM thinkpads are like the energizer bunny. they keep going and going...)
- anywherenotes 12y agoI have a related question. If I get into a car (especially one loaned for a day), shouldn't I be able to connect to the car with Bluetooth, and then have car settings for at least the radio come up on the phone? So for example if I want button1 to be station 123, all I'd have to do is sync those settings against phone. I guess the question is, if I have a smart phone, why do I still need to use car-interface to set up buttons for radio? Why can't there be apps that remember settings and update them automatically. With such apps, you could configure your car to play kid-friendly radio when you drive kids to school, and your favorite channel on your way to work. You wouldn't have issues switching between your and spouse's car (different settings, and maybe they reset radio or dealer changed battery and reset radio). (or maybe this is all available on better cars than I own)
- rco8786 12y agoThis would require the phone/app to know and be able to reconcile all the different configuration and communication schemas for all the different makes/models of cars AND for the cars themselves to publish what amounts to an API to allow for this sort of interaction. Nobody wants to do that sort of work on the phone side, and the car manufacturers really have no incentive to provide an API especially since they use their interfaces as selling points (BMW's iDrive, Tesla's 60" screen, etc).
- lkedem 12y agoMy phone is my media server. It has a light webserver with streaming and when I'm home this is how I listen to music or watch shows.
- J_Darnley 12y agoBecause that would be you exercising the freedom to use your phones as you wish rather than being locked into the walled garden by the OS manufacturer.