WebDAV Server for Android

A self-contained WebDAV server that runs on your phone. Built with Kotlin, Jetpack Compose (Material 3), an AMOLED dark UI, and an embedded Ktor (CIO) engine.

Turn your Android device into a local / offline file sync hub on your private network — no cloud account required.

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What this is (and is not)

Designed for	Not designed for
Phone as a local file server on LAN, USB tethering, or your own hotspot	Hosting on the public internet
Offline-oriented sync and share	Replacing SaaS / hosted WebDAV
WebDAV clients on Windows, macOS, iOS, Linux, Android	Full website-style file browsing in a browser

Keep the server on a network you control. Traffic uses HTTP Basic over the LAN (typical for local WebDAV).

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Features

• Embedded WebDAV server in a foreground service (stays alive with notifications + optional “run in background”)
• Multi-user accounts: Admin (global root) vs User (personal home folder)
• Read-only users
• In-app Files browser with Live refresh, previews (images, audio, text)
• Request log for debugging client access
• Browser download portal (form login + one-time download tokens; not a full file manager)
• Public /favicon.ico for browsers (no login)
• Setup wizard, QR code for the server URL, AMOLED theme

Supported WebDAV methods

OPTIONS, GET/HEAD (Range), PUT, DELETE, MKCOL, PROPFIND, PROPPATCH, COPY, MOVE, LOCK/UNLOCK

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Requirements

Version	1.0.0
Application ID	com.localdev.webdavserver
Min SDK	31 (Android 12)
Target / Compile SDK	36 (Android 16)

To build: a Unix-like shell (bash), curl or wget, and unzip.
setup-env.sh downloads a portable JDK 17, Android SDK packages, and the Gradle wrapper into ./tools (not committed).

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Quick start

chmod +x setup-env.sh build-debug.sh package.sh
./setup-env.sh        # one-time: JDK + SDK + Gradle → ./tools
./build-debug.sh      # → dist/webdav-debug.apk

Install:

adb install -r dist/webdav-debug.apk

Release build (signed)

keytool -genkeypair -v \
  -keystore release.jks \
  -alias webdav \
  -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000

export KEYSTORE_PATH="$PWD/release.jks"
export KEYSTORE_PASS="your-store-password"
export KEY_ALIAS="webdav"
export KEY_PASS="your-key-password"

./build-release.sh    # → dist/webdav-release.apk

Never commit keystores or real passwords. See .env.example for the signing variable names only.

Build	Typical size
Debug	~50–70 MB
Release (R8 + arm64-only)	~15–25 MB

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First launch

1. Open the app → Setup wizard
2. Create the first account (Admin)
3. Grant Files access (and optionally notifications + run in background)
4. Pick a root folder (or skip and set later in Settings)
5. Home → Start Server
6. Connect clients to http://<phone-ip>:8080/ with HTTP Basic auth

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Connect a WebDAV client

Platform	How
Windows	File Explorer → This PC → Map network drive → http://<ip>:8080/
macOS	Finder → Go → Connect to Server → http://<ip>:8080/
iOS	Files → … → Connect to Server
Android	Cx File Explorer / Solid Explorer / similar → WebDAV
Linux	gio mount dav://<ip>:8080/ or Nautilus → Other Locations

Tip: scan the QR code on the Home screen.

Windows Basic auth over HTTP

If mapping fails, allow Basic auth over non-HTTPS (local use only):

reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WebClient\Parameters /v BasicAuthLevel /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f

Then restart the WebClient service.

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Users & security notes

Role	WebDAV root
Admin	Global shared root
User	{root}/{username} only
Read-only	Writes blocked (User role)

• Passwords stored as salted SHA-256 in EncryptedSharedPreferences
• Path traversal is rejected server-side
• Last remaining admin cannot be deleted or demoted
• Prefer private Wi‑Fi / hotspot / USB tether; not public internet

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Project layout

app/src/main/kotlin/com/localdev/webdavserver/
  data/local/       # DataStore, models, encrypted users
  data/server/      # Ktor WebDAV engine + handlers
  domain/           # Repositories & use cases
  presentation/     # Compose UI (Home, Files, Users, Log, Settings, Setup)
  service/          # Foreground service
  di/               # Manual DI (AppModule)
setup-env.sh        # Portable JDK + SDK + Gradle
build-debug.sh      # Debug APK → dist/
build-release.sh    # Signed release APK
package.sh          # Optional source + APK zip

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Troubleshooting

Problem	What to try
Port already in use	Settings → Port (e.g. 8081), restart server
No root folder	Settings → Root Folder
401 Unauthorized	Check username/password; client must send Basic auth
403 Forbidden	Read-only user wrote, or user has no home folder
Server dies in background	Enable Run in background + notifications
Browser /favicon.ico ≠ file on disk	Expected: that URL is the public app icon; use a WebDAV client for storage files

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License

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.