HarmonyDesk

HarmonyDesk is a HarmonyOS-oriented Android compatibility build of RustDesk, focused on using a phone as a remote-control client. It is based on the upstream RustDesk Flutter/Android application, with branding, Android manifest profiles, and build automation adjusted for stricter HarmonyOS/Huawei package installers.

The recommended build profile is client-only: the phone can control remote devices, but the phone is not exposed as a remotely controlled host.

Status

• Base project: RustDesk, commit 84af60c
• Target artifact: arm64 Android APK for HarmonyOS Android compatibility mode
• Recommended profile: HARMONY_PROFILE=client-only
• App label: HarmonyDesk
• Default client-only package ID: com.catbaba.harmonydesk.client
• Native HarmonyOS NEXT HAP: not supported by this branch

Why Client-Only

Some HarmonyOS/Huawei installers block APKs that look like mobile remote-control hosts. The client-only profile removes host-side capabilities that are not needed when the phone is only used to control another computer or device.

The client-only APK keeps only:

• android.permission.INTERNET
• android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE
• the app's generated dynamic receiver permission

It removes Android declarations for:

• AccessibilityService / remote input service
• screen capture / MediaProjection host service
• foreground host service and wake lock
• floating window service
• boot autostart receiver
• camera, microphone, notification, and storage permissions
• RustDesk deep-link scheme

Build

Prepare the toolchain first. The known-good local build used:

• Rust 1.75.0 with aarch64-linux-android
• Flutter 3.24.5
• Android SDK build-tools 34.0.0
• Android NDK 28.2.13676358
• cargo-ndk, flutter_rust_bridge_codegen, and vcpkg dependencies

Build the recommended client-only APK:

export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT="$HOME/android-sdk"
export ANDROID_NDK_HOME="$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/ndk/28.2.13676358"
export VCPKG_ROOT="$HOME/vcpkg"

HARMONY_PROFILE=client-only flutter/build_harmony_android.sh

The output is written to:

rustdesk-1.4.7-harmonyClientOnly-arm64-v8a.apk

To copy the APK to an external output directory:

export OUTPUT_DIR=/path/to/output
HARMONY_PROFILE=client-only flutter/build_harmony_android.sh

Build Profiles

flutter/build_harmony_android.sh supports three Harmony profiles:

Profile	Output flavor	Purpose
client-only	harmonyClientOnly	Recommended. Phone controls remote devices only. Removes host-side services and sensitive permissions.
install-safe	harmonyInstallSafe	Transitional installability test. Removes most sensitive declarations but still leaves the main host service class declared.
compat	harmonyCompat	Closest to upstream Android RustDesk. Keeps AccessibilityService and MediaProjection declarations and may be blocked by strict installers.

See docs/harmonyos-next-build.md for the complete profile details.

Validation

Useful checks after building:

APK=rustdesk-1.4.7-harmonyClientOnly-arm64-v8a.apk

$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/build-tools/34.0.0/aapt dump badging "$APK"
$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/build-tools/34.0.0/aapt dump permissions "$APK"
$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/build-tools/34.0.0/apksigner verify --verbose --print-certs "$APK"

For the client-only build, aapt should not show declarations such as AccessibilityService, MainService, FOREGROUND_SERVICE, WAKE_LOCK, RECORD_AUDIO, CAMERA, POST_NOTIFICATIONS, SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW, or RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED.

Limitations

This branch still builds an Android APK. It is not a native HarmonyOS NEXT application and it does not produce a HAP package.

The client-only profile intentionally disables or removes mobile host features:

• this phone cannot be controlled remotely
• this phone cannot share its screen as a host
• Android accessibility-based input is unavailable
• camera scanning and microphone recording are unavailable
• host notifications and foreground host service behavior are unavailable

For native HarmonyOS NEXT support, a separate OpenHarmony/HarmonyOS app module is required, including HAP packaging, Harmony permissions, and replacements for Android-specific APIs.

Upstream

HarmonyDesk is derived from RustDesk. RustDesk is a remote desktop solution written in Rust with Flutter and native platform integrations.

Upstream project: https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk

Please respect RustDesk's license and security expectations. Do not use this software for unauthorized access or activity that violates privacy, policy, or law.