Don't hand them your phone.
Give them a link to your Trove.

Why it matters

Built like a tool, not a service.

• It's local. The server listens on your local network — bytes go straight from your disk to the visitor's browser, no third party in between. No data center, no roundtrip — minimal carbon cost, just the watts your router was already drawing.
• It's auditable. The desktop reference is one Python file, ~170 KB, stdlib only — read the whole thing in an evening. The Android source is a focused Kotlin codebase with a small dependency tree (AndroidX, Compose, Ktor, ZXing). Both are GPLv3+.
• It's read-only. Visitors can browse, preview, and download. They cannot upload, modify, or delete anything. By design, not by configuration.
• It's stateless. Stop the server, the share is gone. No accounts, no databases, no log files left on disk.
• It runs everywhere you do. Linux, macOS, and Windows on the desktop; Android 14+ on the phone. No installer needed for desktop, no Termux needed for Android.
• It's interoperable. Phone and desktop implementations both speak Faveat Trove Protocol v1.0. A folder served from a phone and a folder served from a laptop look and behave identically — same lightbox, same search, same keyboard shortcuts, byte-level wire compatibility.
• It's free. GPLv3+ source. Use it, modify it, share it. Forever.

Features

Small surface area. Sharp execution.

Trove does one thing — let your friends browse a folder over the network — and tries to do every part of that thing well.

File formats

What Trove recognizes.

Files in the categories below get the right preview, the right MIME type, and the right thumbnail icon. Anything not in the list still serves and downloads cleanly — it just gets a generic "other" icon.

The list above is the canonical set as of v0.1.0; both the Python reference and the Android app use it. Both implementations also send the right Content-Type for these extensions even when the OS reports application/octet-stream, which is why files like .mkv play in browsers that should be able to play them.

Privacy commitment

Privacy by architecture.

Trove can't leak data because the architecture doesn't allow for it. There is no telemetry, because there is no network code that calls home. There is no cloud, because there is no server but yours.

• Read-only by design. Trove cannot upload, modify, or delete any file. The server has no filesystem write paths.
• Local network by default. The server is reachable from your LAN. On a typical home setup behind NAT the public internet can't reach it. No data leaves your home; no data center is in the loop. Pass --bind 127.0.0.1 to restrict to this machine only.
• No telemetry, no CDNs, no external requests. The page makes zero outbound calls. Auditable by reading the source.
• No accounts. Authentication is a per-session token, generated at startup and discarded at shutdown. Nothing to "create."
• No third parties. Stdlib only. No vendored libraries phoning home, no analytics, no error reporting.
• Source-available. GPLv3+. Read it, modify it, audit it, share it. Forever.

Hostile networks

Not every Wi-Fi plays nice.

Trove needs a Wi-Fi where two devices on the same network can actually see each other. That's most home Wi-Fi. It's not most guest Wi-Fi.

• Hotel, café, library, community guest Wi-Fi. These intentionally block devices from seeing each other — "AP isolation" or "client isolation." Trove can't reach across that block; nothing on top of HTTP can.
• Your own phone's hotspot. Android hotspots may block connected devices from reaching each other. There's no setting to change this. Your best bet is a regular Wi-Fi network.
• The Android app helps. It detects when you're on a network that's likely to block connections and warns you if nobody connects within 30 seconds, so you're not left wondering whether it's the app or the network.
• What we don't do. Suggest your visitor join your home Wi-Fi. That solves connectivity at the cost of privacy — your home network stays untouched.

Get Trove

Three paths in. All free.

Install the Android app, run the Python file on a desktop, or clone the source for both. All three speak the same protocol — pick whatever fits the device in your hand.