I'm building Setu, a local-first sharing experience for nearby Android devices. I'm opening its Google Play Closed Beta and looking for a few Android users and developers willing to test the current app on real hardware.
Join the beta: https://setu.devamit.co.in/
The idea behind Setu
Sharing content with someone nearby is an everyday task, but it also raises interesting product and engineering questions.
How should a sharing app behave when connectivity is unreliable? How can the interface stay simple while the underlying system becomes more capable? What happens when content needs to be exchanged, retained, or made available through a cooperative network of devices?
Setu is my attempt to explore those questions through a real Android application.
The project is evolving, and I want to be precise about the distinction between the app's current capabilities and the architecture I'm developing toward.
What the current app includes
The Android app brings together several areas:
- Share and Receive: the main sharing workflows being validated.
- Gallery and Camera: media-related entry points.
- Spaces: an area for shared content.
- Vault: a dedicated area for private files.
- Swarm pool: an entry point to the broader cooperative-content concept.
- Light and dark themes: a consistent visual system with a warm coral accent, restrained surfaces, and custom artwork.
The purpose of the beta is to learn how these features behave on actual devices, where Android versions, permissions, manufacturers, and network conditions can differ.
The broader engineering direction
Three areas are particularly interesting to me.
1. Swarm Protocol
I'm exploring a cooperative model for content discovery, exchange, and retention across participating devices. The challenge is to turn that model into reliable behaviour with clear ownership, lifecycle management, and meaningful recovery from failures.
2. Cryptographic peer-to-peer communication
Cryptography can help establish and verify trust between peers, but it has to be implemented correctly. Authentication, key management, secure transport, and threat modelling are separate engineering concerns; a feature should not be called secure simply because it uses cryptography.
3. Block-based data handling
Representing content as smaller pieces can create opportunities for integrity checking and more flexible storage or transfer strategies. Those benefits depend on the actual implementation and verification process.
These are areas of architectural work, not a claim that every future capability is already complete in the current beta.
Design is part of the engineering
Setu uses a deliberately restrained design language: warm neutral backgrounds, coral accents, carefully considered typography, and custom app iconography.
I want the interface to feel calm and consistent rather than crowded with controls or decorative effects. The design system is intended to support the product, not distract from the sharing experience.
Why I'm looking for testers
A local-first application needs feedback from real environments.
If you have an Android device and are willing to help, I'd appreciate feedback on:
- Installation and first launch.
- How understandable the interface feels.
- Whether the available sharing workflows behave as expected.
- Any permission problems, errors, freezes, or unexpected results.
- Device model and Android version.
- Small changes that would make the experience clearer.
Please use non-sensitive test content and avoid sharing private files in bug reports.
Open-source plans
I'm working toward making Setu open source. I want developers to be able to study the code, understand the architectural decisions, learn from the implementation, and contribute when the repository and contribution process are ready.
I'll share the repository and contribution instructions when they're available.
How to join the beta
- Visit https://setu.devamit.co.in/
- Select Continue with Google using the account associated with your Google Play Store.
- Wait for me to coordinate your Closed Testing invitation.
- Join the testing track, install Setu, and open the app.
- Try the available features and share honest feedback.
Website sign-in is used for beta coordination and does not automatically enroll you in Google Play testing.
Privacy policy: https://setu.devamit.co.in/privacy
Help shape the next stage
I'm looking for a small group of people who are curious about Android, local-first software, and the practical work of turning an ambitious idea into a reliable product.
If that sounds like you, I'd love to have you involved.
Join Setu's Android Closed Beta: https://setu.devamit.co.in/
Thank you for helping me build and improve Setu.
Tags: android reactnative opensource mobile
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