Local Proxy

A lightweight Android proxy that lets you access remote servers via localhost, giving your web apps the same privileges as a secure origin — without needing HTTPS certificates on your dev server.

Why?

Testing web features that require a secure context (HTTPS or localhost) is painful during development. Browsers treat localhost as a secure origin, which means features like these work without HTTPS:

• Microphone / camera access (getUserMedia)
• Installing PWAs (Add to Home Screen / service workers)
• Clipboard API
• Web Bluetooth / Web USB
• Geolocation (on some browsers)
• Notifications API

Local Proxy runs on your Android device and forwards localhost:<port> to your actual dev server. Your browser sees localhost, grants secure-context privileges, and your dev server doesn't need a certificate.

How it works

The app creates a local proxy server on your device that listens on a configurable port and forwards all connections to a target host. Point your browser at localhost:8080 and it transparently proxies to your real server.

Features

• Configure target address and local port
• Start/stop proxy with a single tap
• Runs as a foreground service with persistent notification
• Real-time connection logging with color-coded log types (errors, connections, requests, info)
• Address history with quick-select and delete
• Copy/clear logs
• Handles both HTTP and HTTPS traffic
• CORS support — answers OPTIONS preflight requests locally and injects Access-Control-Allow-Origin: * into all HTTP responses
• 10-second connect timeout — fails fast when the target is unreachable
• Cache-safe 502 errors — includes Cache-Control: no-store to prevent cache poisoning

Usage

1. Enter the target address (e.g. 192.168.1.100:3000 or example.com:443)
2. Set the local port (default: 8080)
3. Tap Start Proxy
4. Configure your device or other apps to use localhost:8080 as their proxy

The proxy will continue running in the background as a foreground service until you stop it.

Pre-built APK

A pre-built debug APK is available in the apk/ directory. Install it with:

adb install apk/localproxy.apk

Building from source

Requires Android SDK with API level 34.

./gradlew assembleDebug

The APK will be at app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk.

Requirements

• Android 7.0+ (API 24)
• Internet permission (granted automatically)
• Notification permission (requested at launch on Android 13+)

Tech stack

• Kotlin
• Jetpack Compose (Material 3)
• Kotlin Coroutines
• Android Foreground Service

Current State

Working proxy service. A standalone developer tool for enabling PWA secure-context features against a local dev server without HTTPS.

Where It's Heading

• Configuration UI (target host/port)
• Per-app proxy rules

License

MIT