Megan Ellis / Android Authority Self-hosting services save you from subscription costs and give you control over your data. While I’ve previously experimented with self-hosted media servers and file storage, I only really dove into self-hosting this year. I’ve learned a lot over the past few months, but one thing I was happy to find out is just how many of these services can integrate with apps on your Android phone. The main benefit of this is that you can control your services even when you’re not at your main computer, but it also opens up a lot of usability through push notifications and frequent backups. Here are a few of my favorite self-hosted apps that I use with my own smartphone… Would an Android app make you more interested in trying out a self-hosted service? 6 votes Yes, but only if it's simple to set up. 33 % Yes, even if it requires additional setup. 50 % No. 17 % 1. Immich Megan Ellis / Android Authority Immich was one of the first self-hosted services that I tried out. If you’re not familiar with the platform, it’s a Google Photos alternative that lets you back up photos to your own server. Since I want to back up images from my phone, the Android app has been indispensable. Immich lets me back up photos from my smartphone straight to my NAS. Immich has really evolved over the years and the app has a sleek appearance, with many of its features rivalling Google Photos. You can select specific folders you want to back up, while also enabling background syncing. I also like the fact that Immich includes the ability to search for specific people in your pictures. I do find that it’s sometimes slower than I would like, but it really feels empowering to have control over my own data. When I finally do decide to cancel my Google One subscription, I’ll already have a well-tested system in place to replace it. 2. Paperless-ngx Megan Ellis / Android Authority Every year when tax season comes around, I inevitably find myself looking for the documents I need in case my freelance expenses or medical cost claims are audited. But every time, no matter how organized I thought I was, some invoice ends up missing or a receipt is no longer where I left it. The folders I set aside to keep these documents have also become filled with paper, meaning it takes me longer to find everything while flipping through pages. As a result, I’ve tried out different self-hosted services to help me scan and sort documents. One of these is Paperless-ngx, an open-source document management platform. The service is surprisingly easy to deploy in a Docker container, but using the companion mobile app also makes it more powerful. Using Paperless Mobile with Paperless-ngx has given me more control over my document storage. Paperless Mobile is the app I use to connect to my Paperless-ngx server. While I haven’t been using it for that long, I love how it makes uploading documents simple. I can use its built-in scanning function or upload documents directly from my phone to the app. This seamlessness makes the whole document storage endeavor less tedious and more approachable. 3. Vikunja Megan Ellis / Android Authority I use TickTick as my main to-do list app, but I also enjoy trying out alternatives to see if they offer the simplicity I’m looking for. Vikunja is one of these alternatives, an open-source to-do list app with an Android app. The Android app is handy for receiving push notifications, which is really important to me since I’m extremely forgetful. It has a clean interface and all the important features for task management. Vikunja allows you to receive push notifications, but you will need to sideload it onto your phone. The main caveat is that the app is not yet available on the Google Play Store since it is in early beta. This means that if you want to use it, you will need to sideload the APK file from the GitHub release page. 4. Home Assistant Rita El Khoury / Android Authority I’ve always been interested in trying out Home Assistant, but I never had the knowledge to deploy it until I started really investing in self-hosting this year. Home Assistant feels like the holy grail of self-hosted apps since it unlocks so much functionality across different devices. I currently have Home Assistant deployed in a container on my NAS, which means that I don’t have access to features like add-ons. This is due to my lack of always-on hardware with enough RAM to host a Home Assistant OS install. But even with my container, I’ve been impressed with how much in possible in the app. The road isn’t without bumps, however. The majority of my smart home devices from Xiaomi and the integration no longer appears to be working in Home Assistant (possibly due to changes on Xiaomi’s side). Despite this, I was able to easily detect other devices in my home using Home Assistant. There have been some hiccups when using Home Assistant, but the app has so much functionality to explore. I have also been able to integrate an AccuWeather API to help me get weather warnings on my smartphone. I already have this running in IFTTT with a Weather Underground applet, but I want to self-host as many automations as possible — customizing them to my specific needs. It will take time before I can truly delve into all the integrations and automations available to me, but I really enjoy using Home Assistant to get an overview of internet-connected hardware in my home and data from free APIs. 5. Karakeep Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority Karakeep is a self-hosted bookmarking app you can use across different devices, including your Android phone. I currently use the Karakeep extension linked to my server to save bookmarks from my desktop browser easily, but I added the Android app to my setup so that I can also easily save sites from my phone. Using the Karakeep app and browser extension lets me easily sync bookmarks and links to my server. Not only does the Android app feature an easy-to-navigate UI, but I can also use the link sharing feature in my browser and certain social media apps to save pages without needing to copy and paste. This lets me save important posts and sites to the app, but also lets me use Karakeep as a read-later app. Another benefit of using Karakeep is that it can sync with Obsidian through the use of a community plugin. Right now I’m using it as a way to sync important pages to Obsidian, as well as certain snippets of text from websites. 6. Donetick Megan Ellis / Android Authority One think that I enjoy about self-hosting services is finding niche apps that are incredibly powerful and Donetick fits the bill. It allows me to create tasks for my chores and automate their scheduling according to completion dates. While I already use other to-do list apps, Donetick’s focus on chores and personal tasks saves me from notification overwhelm. I used to frequently forget how much time had passed since replacing the cat fountain filter or the sand in my cats’ litter boxes. But since I’ve started using Donetick, I have been able to keep track of these intervals more easily. Donetick has an Android app available on GitHub, so you need to sideload it. It also does not seem to support an HTTP connection, even when you’re just using the service on your home network. This means you will need to make your server available through an HTTPS connection. I use Donetick through a shortcut saved on my phone and it has helped me get a handle on my chores. One workaround, which I’ve been using, is to access the service on your smartphone’s browser and then save the site as a shortcut on your home screen. Since the site is mobile-responsive, you will be able to easily use it to manage, edit, and complete tasks. But it has its drawbacks: specifically that you can’t receive push notifications for your reminders. However, you can use an app like Telegram or Pushover to receive notifications from your server. There are plenty more cross-platform self-hosted services, including Jellyfin and Nextcloud, and I plan to continue trying out different self-hosted services and their Android apps. I have been pleasantly surprised that so many support cross-platform access. It takes some setup and significant troubleshooting, but the effort is often worth it. Follow