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webOS Dev Mode Manager

webOS Dev Mode Manager

Unaffiliated with LG Electronics Inc. or the webOS Open Source Edition project.

webOS Dev Mode Manager is a mobile-first Android app for LG webOS TVs in Developer Mode. It pairs with a TV over the local network, installs homebrew apps on it, and keeps track of how long the Developer Mode session has left.

The repository and the codebase use the codename Aphanes, from the Ancient Greek ἀφανής, meaning unseen or not manifest. The shipped app presents itself as webOS Dev Mode Manager everywhere a person looks.

Why it exists

The community already has an excellent tool for this: dev-manager-desktop. It is desktop-first, and on a phone it shows. For the first half of 2026 content drew underneath the system status and navigation bars, a regression they have since fixed in v1.99.19. The bottom navigation is icon-only with no labels, and removing a paired device is hard to find.

This project is a rewrite that treats the phone as the primary target rather than an afterthought. Its protocol work is informed by reading dev-manager-desktop and ares-cli-rs, both Apache-2.0. The mobile experience is the entire reason this exists.

What works today

  • Pairing. Trade the six-character passphrase shown in the TV’s own Developer Mode app for a permanent SSH key, then reconnect with that key from then on. See pairing.md for how that exchange actually works.
  • Several paired TVs. Keep more than one, switch which is active, rename them, correct an address that changed, remove one.
  • Reachability. A fast probe reports whether each TV is answering, rechecked by pulling to refresh, and shared across every screen that cares.
  • Apps. List what is installed, uninstall with confirmation, and install either from the public Homebrew catalog or from an .ipk file already on the phone. Catalog downloads are checked against their published SHA-256 before anything is installed.
  • Device details. Model, firmware, webOS release, SoC and OTA ID, plus the current Developer Mode session and a renew action for it. Every field has an explainer.

What is not built

An SFTP file browser and an SSH terminal. Both were in the original scope. Each keeps a tab reserved in the app, hidden by default and switchable on in settings, where it says as much. Neither is ruled out.

Where to go next

  • concepts.md explains every piece of technology involved, in plain language, with a glossary. Start here if terms like luna bus, IPK or Developer Mode session are unfamiliar.
  • architecture.md covers the tech stack, folder structure, state management and the reasoning behind each decision.
  • pairing.md walks through the Developer Mode key exchange in detail, including the security choices behind it and why some checks other apps make would not help here.

Free, and always will be

webOS Dev Mode Manager costs nothing, contains no advertising, and has no paid tier, no subscription and no in-app purchases. That will not change. There is no telemetry, no analytics and no crash reporting either.

Official releases come from the repository’s Releases page and nowhere else. The license permits anyone to redistribute the app, including for a fee, so a paid copy is not necessarily unlawful. It is simply not an official release, and it is not supported by this project.

Privacy

Managing a TV happens directly between the app and the TV on the local network, with no third party in that path. Device lists, files and credentials never leave the phone, and none of it is synced anywhere. There is no telemetry, meaning nothing about how the app is used is ever reported anywhere.

Three features do reach the internet, each only when opened or used: reading the Homebrew catalog listing, downloading an app from that catalog, and checking how long is left on the Developer Mode session. Only the last one sends anything, and what it sends is the session token read from the TV. architecture.md lists all three in full.