Android GCS

The ADOS Android GCS is a native ground control station for Android, written in Kotlin with Jetpack Compose. It runs on phones, tablets and handheld controllers with Android 10 (API 29) or later, in portrait or landscape. This page describes version 0.2.0. The source is in the ADOSAndroidGCS repository under GPL-3.0. Use it when you want a ground station in your hand at the field. For desktop and laptop flying, planning and full flight controller setup, use Mission Control.

Link families

The app reaches nodes over every ADOS link family. Pick one on the Connect screen.

Link	How it connects	On the Connect screen
Agent on the LAN	REST on port 8080, MAVLink over WebSocket on port 8765, WHEP video, ground-station event streams, and the ground station’s relay to the drones it carries	On this network (discovered nodes), Enter pairing code, Manual host, Ground station Wi-Fi
Direct flight controller	USB serial, UDP and TCP	USB flight controller, UDP / TCP
Cloud (opt-in)	Account sign-in, MQTT v5 control, WebRTC over MQTT and the cloud video relay	Cloud sign-in
Phone radio	A receive-only WFB link through a USB radio plugged into the phone	Phone radio

Demo adds a simulated drone so you can try the app without hardware.

Features

Area	What it does
Connect	Discovers ADOS nodes on the network, pairs with a code, adds a host with its API key, joins a ground station’s Wi-Fi, opens USB, UDP, TCP, cloud and phone radio links
Fleet	Every drone, ground station and flight controller you have connected, with battery, mode, arm state, the drones a ground station carries, and a video still
Node	Status and settings of a node, including the ground station tabs
Cockpit	Video with flight controls and the Skills you bind to buttons; warns before you leave while armed
Plan	Waypoint missions, survey areas, polygon and circle fences, and rally points on a MapLibre map
Configure	Flight controller setup such as motor test, refused while armed or when the link is stale
Logs	Flight history recorded automatically from arm to disarm, with telemetry logs and downloaded flight controller logs
Settings	Theme (Dark, Light, Night vision), Glove mode for larger touch targets, and language

The cockpit and stick control fly a real aircraft. Read Safety before you arm from the app.

Video

Agent video plays through a native WebRTC (WHEP) client with hardware decoding. Streams from the phone radio and the relay paths decode with Android’s MediaCodec H.264 decoder.

Gamepad control

With a gamepad connected, the app streams MANUAL_CONTROL to the flight controller at 25 Hz while stick control is on. There are no on-screen virtual sticks.

Phone as a receiver

With a supported USB radio (RTL8812EU or RTL8812AU on a USB OTG adapter) the phone can receive a drone’s video and telemetry directly over WFB. It is receive-only: commands still go through the ground station or the network. The phone needs the fleet’s radio keys from a ground station:

Pair a ground station on the same network.
Open Phone radio, choose the ground station and tap Request keys.
Approve the request whose code matches the one on the phone: in Mission Control on the ground station’s Radio tab (Phone receivers card, see Ground station node panel), or on the ground station’s own dashboard Pairing page.

The ground station serves these requests through its /api/v1/ground-station/wfb/invite routes. Use Forget radio keys to remove them from the phone.

Get started

Fly

Plan and review

Firmware support

Configure the flight controller

Nodes

Test without hardware

Cloud, AI and settings

Android GCS

Link families

Features

Video

Gamepad control

Phone as a receiver

Next steps

Install the Android GCS

Android client on a ground station

​Link families

​Features

​Video

​Gamepad control

​Phone as a receiver

​Next steps

Install the Android GCS

Android client on a ground station

Link families

Features

Video

Gamepad control

Phone as a receiver

Next steps