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Getting started

CashPilot Android installs from an APK on the project's GitHub releases. It works on its own, and it can pair with a CashPilot server so the phone shows up in your fleet.

Before you start

  • A phone or tablet on Android 8.0 (API 26) or later. No root.
  • Optional: a CashPilot server, version 1.0.0 or later, that the phone can reach, and its fleet key. Without a server the app still shows which apps are running on the phone; the server adds the fleet view and the earnings figures.

The app is not in Google Play or F-Droid. The APK on GitHub is the only build, signed with the project's release key.

Install

  1. Open the latest release on the phone and download app-release.apk. The .aab file next to it is for app stores; ignore it.
  2. Open the downloaded file. Android asks you to allow installs from the browser or file manager you used ("Install unknown apps"); allow it for that app, then install.
  3. On Android 13 and later, the first launch asks to show notifications. Allow it: the app keeps one quiet notification while it monitors, and without the permission you cannot see it.

To update, install the newer APK over the old one. Settings are kept.

First run

The first launch opens Welcome to CashPilot, four steps on one screen.

  1. Server Connection (optional). Enter the CashPilot Server URL, for example https://cashpilot.example.com, and the Fleet API Key: the server's CASHPILOT_API_KEY, which the owner can copy from the fleet page with Reveal API Key (how the server's keys work). Leave both empty to run without a server; you can pair later from Settings.
  2. Notification Access. Open Settings takes you to Android's list; switch CashPilot on. The app only checks whether a monitored app has an ongoing notification; it does not read notification content.
  3. Usage Access. Open Settings, then switch CashPilot on. This gives the app each monitored app's last foreground time and its network traffic.
  4. Battery Optimization. Open Settings and allow CashPilot to run unrestricted, or Android may stop the background service when the screen is off.

The main button unlocks once both accesses are granted. It reads Continue to Dashboard when a server URL and key are filled in, and Continue without a server when they are not. Skip for now leaves the setup screen without the permissions; the dashboard then asks for them.

What a working start looks like

  • The dashboard lists the 11 monitored apps. Installed ones show Running, Stopped or Can't tell; the others show Not installed — tap to install. The summary at the top counts them.
  • A notification titled CashPilot stays in the shade. Without a server it reads Monitoring apps...; with one it reads, for example, 3/4 apps running after each heartbeat.
  • With a server, the dashboard's summary shows a green dot and Last heartbeat with a time, and the phone appears on the server's fleet page as its maker and model plus a short device id, for example Google Pixel 8 (a1b2c3d4). The first heartbeat also enrolls the phone: the server issues it its own key (Configuration).
  • Without a server, the summary shows Not paired — running standalone. That is a supported mode, not an error.

If a step does not look like this, see Troubleshooting.