Use an Android Phone as an HTTP Proxy

Name: Use an Android Phone as an HTTP Proxy
Availability: InStock
Author: viru7

by viru7·May 3, 2026·1 point·0 comments

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AI Analysis

●●SolidNiche GemBig Brain

Turns a friend's Android into a geo-spoofing exit node without paying for a VPN.

Strengths

•Self-hosted relay architecture means no third-party logs or trust dependencies.
•Dockerized server setup reduces friction for deploying the broker component.
•Solves temporary geo-access needs better than committing to a full VPN subscription.

Weaknesses

•Requires manual APK sideloading and port forwarding, adding significant friction.
•Relies entirely on a trusted contact's battery life and mobile data stability.

Post Description

I created a simple project to allow you to use a phone as a web proxy. This is not a proxy for the phone, its a way to proxy web traffic from elsewhere via the phone. One practical use case is accessing geo-restricted content. If you have a trusted contact in the country with an Android phone, this can serve as a simple alternative to a commercial VPN.

To set it up you need to run a proxy server which can run as a docker container. You then need to install the app on the Android phone which will connect to the server. Finally you configure a browser to use the proxy server as the HTTP/HTTPS proxy.

More details here: https://github.com/vgaj/proxy#mobile-phone-proxy

Let me know how you go and if you run into any issues.