What does the volla-cloud-services app do on a phone?

It manages a Holochain conductor as an Android foreground service, and the app can start and stop the service, list installed Holochain apps and uninstall them. Because it is a foreground service, it can keep running even when the app is closed, so the device stays a participant in its apps' peer-to-peer networks.

Does every Holochain app on the device need to bundle its own conductor?

No. tauri-plugin-holochain-service-client is provided so a Tauri app can connect to the conductor exposed by the android-service-runtime app rather than packaging a conductor of its own.

Can it be built as a system app rather than a normal user app?

Yes. The default build is a standard user app that appears in the App Grid, and building with the system_settings feature flag produces a system app that appears in Android System Settings instead.

Project · runtime

volla-cloud-services

Name: volla-cloud-services
Author: HelloVolla

an Android service for peer-to-peer appsNo description published yet.

Explore this project All projects

How you run it: On a phoneOn Volla
Holochain version: 0.6.1-rc.5
Activity: active
Checked: 30 October 2026

What is volla-cloud-services and what is it for?

volla-cloud-services is an Android app and a set of developer libraries that run a single, system-wide Holochain conductor on a phone, so Holochain apps on that device share one always-on node instead of each bundling its own. It exists so a mobile device can stay a participant in its apps' peer-to-peer networks even when those apps are not open.

volla-cloud-services is an Android runtime for Holochain. Its centrepiece is an Android app that manages a system-wide Holochain conductor, the process that hosts Holochain apps and connects them to their networks. The app runs that conductor as an Android foreground service, so the conductor can keep running after the app itself is closed.

Alongside the app, the project ships Tauri plugins and Kotlin libraries for people building Holochain apps for Android. One plugin is used by the runtime app itself, while another is added to a Tauri app so that it uses the conductor the runtime app already provides instead of bundling its own. The Kotlin libraries package the service and a client for calling it from Android code.

A worked example ships with it: example-client-app, based on the scaffolded example forum app, connects to the conductor run by the runtime app. Each component has its own README inside the repository, and the repository's DEVELOPMENT.md covers developer information that spans components.

How to get it

On Android

Build the android-service-runtime app from the repository with the Tauri toolchain: copy src-tauri/gen/android/key.properties.example to key.properties and fill in the values.
Run npm run tauri build to produce the default build, a standard user app that appears in the App Grid.
To build the version that appears in Android System Settings instead, add the feature flag: npm run tauri build -- --features system_settings.

Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HelloVolla/volla-cloud-services/main/apps/android-service-runtime/README.md

As a library

For a Tauri app, add tauri-plugin-holochain-service-client from crates.io to use the conductor provided by the runtime app rather than bundling one; the plugin crates are published to crates.io by CI on release tags.
For Android code, add the Kotlin client and service libraries from Maven Central; publication there is also handled by CI on release tags.

Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HelloVolla/volla-cloud-services/main/CHANGELOG.md

Questions people ask

What does the volla-cloud-services app do on a phone?: It manages a Holochain conductor as an Android foreground service, and the app can start and stop the service, list installed Holochain apps and uninstall them. Because it is a foreground service, it can keep running even when the app is closed, so the device stays a participant in its apps' peer-to-peer networks. source
Does every Holochain app on the device need to bundle its own conductor?: No. tauri-plugin-holochain-service-client is provided so a Tauri app can connect to the conductor exposed by the android-service-runtime app rather than packaging a conductor of its own. source
Can it be built as a system app rather than a normal user app?: Yes. The default build is a standard user app that appears in the App Grid, and building with the system_settings feature flag produces a system app that appears in Android System Settings instead. source

From 4 public sources, checked 23 September 2026.

Try volla-cloud-services

Code on GitHubOpen on GitHub ↗Last change 1 September 2026.
Releaseandroid-service-runtime-v0.3.3Pre-release, published 7 July 2026.
Ships an app for Volla phones (android-service-runtime-v0.3.3)github.com/HelloVolla/volla-cloud-services/releases/tag/android-service-runtime-v0.3.3 ↗
Ships a phone app (android-service-runtime-v0.3.3)github.com/HelloVolla/volla-cloud-services/releases/tag/android-service-runtime-v0.3.3 ↗

Details & sources

Source: HelloVolla/volla-cloud-services

Evidence

Release: github.com/HelloVolla/volla-cloud-services/releases/tag/android-service-runtime-v0.3.3shipped in a release · seen since 20 October 2026 · github.release@1
Last change: api.github.com/repos/HelloVolla/volla-cloud-serviceslisted by a third party · seen since 20 October 2026 · github.repository@1
Activity: api.github.com/repos/HelloVolla/volla-cloud-serviceslisted by a third party · seen since 20 October 2026 · liveness@1
Volla: github.com/HelloVolla/volla-cloud-services/releases/tag/android-service-runtime-v0.3.3shipped in a release · seen since 20 October 2026 · volla.shipped@1
Phone app: github.com/HelloVolla/volla-cloud-services/releases/tag/android-service-runtime-v0.3.3shipped in a release · seen since 20 October 2026 · mobile.shipped@1

Compatibility

hdk: 0.6.1-rc.5 · Cargo.lock @ a77b650
hdi: 0.7.1-rc.5 · Cargo.lock @ a77b650
holochain-client: —
happ.yaml: absent
web-happ.yaml: absent

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