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Use the Mobilerun Portal Android app to connect your own phone to Mobilerun Cloud. Once connected, it appears as a Personal Phone on the Devices page and can run tasks from the Playground or API.

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Requirements

  • A Mobilerun account with a Personal Phone subscription
  • A phone running Android 8.0 (API 26) or newer
  • A stable internet connection
File upload and download require Android 11 or newer. On the Portal main screen, tap Enable Now in the file-access banner and approve All Files Access.

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1. Install Mobilerun Portal

Download the latest APK from the Portal releases page and install it on the phone. To build from source, clone the Portal repository, run its Gradle build, and then install the generated APK:
If Google Play Protect blocks the install, first look for More details → Install anyway. Only change Play Protect settings if you understand and accept the risk, and restore them after installing the APK from the official Mobilerun repository.

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2. Grant the required access

Open Portal once and complete its setup prompts:
  1. Enable Mobilerun Portal under Android Accessibility. Remote UI state and most control actions require this service.
  2. Grant Display over other apps when prompted. This lets Portal show its on-screen element overlay.
Then open Portal Settings and enable the features your tasks need:
  • Notification permission — used for background screen-sharing prompts.
  • Notification Access and event toggles — needed only for notification/device-event forwarding and notification-based triggers.
  • Auto-accept Screen Share — helps accept the Android screen-sharing prompt; the system can still require manual consent.
  • Auto-accept App Installs plus Android Install unknown apps for Portal — needed only when remote tasks install APKs.
  • Keep Screen Awake — prevents sleep during unattended tasks.
Installing the APK can grant some permissions, but you must approve Accessibility, Display over other apps, Notification Access, Install unknown apps, and screen-capture consent on the phone.

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3. Connect to Mobilerun Cloud

On the Portal main screen, choose a connection method:
  1. Sign in with Browser — recommended; authenticate with the Mobilerun account that owns the Personal Phone subscription.
  2. Use API Key — enter a Mobilerun API key directly.
  3. Custom Connection — advanced option for a custom WebSocket host and credentials.
After connecting, you can leave the Portal screen; the phone stays connected in the background. Do not force-stop Portal unless you want to take the phone offline.
Cloud Connection can send device state, actions, events, and screen-sharing data to the configured server. To keep device control local, disable Cloud Connection and follow Framework Device Setup.
For protocol and security details, see the Portal repository’s Reverse Connection documentation.

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Verify the connection

Open Devices in the Mobilerun dashboard. The phone should appear as a connected Personal Phone. Start a task from the Playground and select it to verify end-to-end control. Because this is your physical phone, its installed apps, files, and signed-in state persist across tasks. Use a dedicated device or test profile when tasks should not access personal data.

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Disconnect

Press Disconnect on the Portal main screen to take the phone offline. Sign Out also removes the saved Mobilerun sign-in.

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Reset

Resetting a Personal Phone factory-resets the handset and clears the apps and data accumulated during sessions. The phone goes offline for several minutes while it wipes and reboots. During that time the device shows the resetting state. Mobilerun waits up to 5 minutes for the phone to reconnect. Once the phone is back online, the device returns to ready. If the phone does not reconnect within that window, Mobilerun terminates the device.

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Advanced Portal APIs

For local HTTP, WebSocket, and ADB APIs, see the Portal documentation. Direct WebSocket clients and HTTP calls other than GET /ping require a Portal token.

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