Project · runtime
Holochain Android Runtime
- How you run it
- not recorded
- Holochain version
- 0.5.6
- Activity
- stalled
- Checked
- 29 October 2026
What is Holochain Android Runtime and what is it for?
Holochain Android Runtime is an Android app that keeps a Holochain network node running on a phone as a background service. It exists so that mobile Holochain apps can share one node instead of each carrying its own, and keep taking part in their peer-to-peer networks even when the apps are closed.
The repository holds an Android app that manages a system-wide Holochain conductor running as an Android foreground service, together with the parts developers build against: Tauri plugins, Kotlin libraries and Rust crates. The app starts and stops the service, lists installed Holochain apps and uninstalls them, and it can be built to run as a normal app on any Android device or as a system app in custom AOSP builds.
On a phone, a Holochain app needs a node taking part in its peer-to-peer network. Giving every app its own node means several of them competing for battery and background time. Holochain Android Runtime instead runs one shared conductor as a foreground service that can keep going after the app is closed, so the phone stays a participant in the networks of the Holochain apps installed on it.
The same repository includes an example client app, based on the scaffolded forum example, that connects to the conductor provided by Holochain Android Runtime rather than bundling its own. Developers following the pattern can read the README for each component and the repository's own development notes for build details.
How to get it
On Android
- Prebuilt Android packages are published in the Holochain organisation's android-service-runtime repository on GitHub, under Releases.
- Install the user build as a normal app on any Android device; the system build is intended for custom AOSP builds, where it appears in system settings.
- Builds come as .apk files for a single CPU architecture or .aab bundles covering several; the supported architectures listed are armv8, x86 and x86_64.
Source: https://github.com/holochain/android-service-runtime/releases
Questions people ask
- What does the foreground service do?
- It is the Android mechanism the app uses to keep a Holochain conductor running while the app is closed, so the phone stays a participant in the peer-to-peer networks of its Holochain apps. source
- Can another Holochain app use the same conductor?
- Yes. The project publishes a client Tauri plugin so an app connects to the conductor provided by Holochain Android Runtime instead of bundling its own, and ships an example client app showing that arrangement. source
- How do I get the Android app?
- Prebuilt packages are published in the Holochain organisation's Holochain Android Runtime repository under Releases: a user build that installs on any Android device and a system build intended for custom AOSP builds. source
From 4 public sources, checked 23 September 2026.
Try Holochain Android Runtime
- Code on GitHubOpen on GitHub ↗Last change 21 October 2025.
- ReleaseNo GitHub release recorded.
- The project's own files do not say how it is run.
Details & sources
Evidence
- Last change
- api.github.com/repos/HelloVolla/android-service-runtimelisted by a third party · seen since 20 October 2026 · github.repository@1
- Activity
- api.github.com/repos/HelloVolla/android-service-runtimelisted by a third party · seen since 22 October 2026 · liveness@1
Compatibility
- hdk
- 0.5.6 · Cargo.lock @ 4514bf6
- hdi
- 0.6.6 · Cargo.lock @ 4514bf6
- holochain-client
- —
- happ.yaml
- absent
- web-happ.yaml
- absent