Mobile Device Manager

Mobile Device Manager connects Android and iOS devices to VS Code over Wi-Fi and turns their storage into a normal folder: browse it, open and edit device files in the editor, and copy files both ways with drag and drop.

Nothing to install. iOS support talks to the usbmuxd service that ships with macOS directly (no libimobiledevice, no Python). For Android, if adb is not installed yet, one click downloads Google's Platform-Tools into the extension's storage.

Preview. See docs/ROADMAP.md for what comes next.

Android: connect over Wi-Fi

Open Devices in the Activity Bar and press Connect over Wi-Fi (the antenna button):

• Found on the network — devices with Wireless debugging turned on that adb discovered through mDNS. One click connects.
• Recent — addresses you connected to before.
• Enter IP Address and Port… — the address shown under Developer options → Wireless debugging.
• Pair with QR Code… — the first connection on Android 11 and newer, as in Android Studio: a QR code opens in VS Code, scan it on the phone under Wireless debugging → Pair device with QR code, and the device is paired and connected.
• Pair with Pairing Code… — the same with a six-digit code: on the device choose Pair device with pairing code, pick it in the list (or type the address) and enter the six-digit code. Once paired, the device connects by itself.
• Switch USB Device to Wi-Fi… — for any Android version: plug the device in once, the extension runs adb tcpip 5555, finds the Wi-Fi address and connects. The cable can be unplugged afterwards.

Each device shows its Android version, connection (Wi-Fi, USB, emulator) and battery level, with free storage in the tooltip, or why it is not usable (allow USB debugging on the device, offline). Disconnect drops a Wi-Fi connection.

Recently used devices are reconnected automatically when they come back on the network (mobile-device-manager.android.autoReconnect); a device you disconnect yourself stays disconnected.

iPhone and iPad over Wi-Fi

1. Connect the device with a USB cable, unlock it and tap Trust (on macOS open Finder if the dialog does not appear).
2. Right-click the device in Devices → Enable Wi-Fi Connection (the same switch as Show this iPhone when on Wi-Fi in Finder).
3. Unplug the cable. While the device is awake and on the same network, it stays in the list marked Wi-Fi.

Under the device:

• Media — the shared media area: DCIM (photos and videos), Downloads, Books and the rest of what Finder and Image Capture see.
• Apps — the Documents folder of every app that shares files with the computer (the apps listed in Finder → Files): note-taking apps, VLC, Documents, your own apps with UIFileSharingEnabled.

iOS does not expose anything else: no system files and no data of apps that do not share files. Locked devices show unlock the device.

macOS has everything built in. Windows needs the Apple Devices app (or iTunes) for its USB driver; Linux needs usbmuxd (sudo apt install usbmuxd).

Apps, screenshots and logs

• Install App… installs .apk files on Android and .ipa files on iOS — or drop them on the device in the Devices view. An .ipa must be signed for that device (development, ad hoc or enterprise).
• Take Screenshot (Android) saves a PNG of the screen and opens it.
• Show Device Log opens logcat for Android, or the iOS system log colored by level and filtered by text, in a terminal.

Files and processes

An Android device has three sections:

• Internal storage — the shared storage (/sdcard, change it with mobile-device-manager.android.rootPath). Android mounts it only after the phone is unlocked once since boot; until then the section says so and fills in by itself after the unlock.
• File system — the whole tree from / as the adb shell user sees it (/system, /vendor, /data/local/tmp…).
• Processes — running processes with PID, CPU and memory, refreshed every few seconds while open. Filter by name or PID, open a process's log (logcat --pid), or stop it (am force-stop for apps).

An iOS device shows Media and Apps (see above).

• Click a file to open it in the editor; saving writes it back to the device.
• Open in Explorer adds the device (or a folder of it) to the workspace as android://… or ios://…. The Explorer, Quick Open, search, copy/paste and drag and drop between local and device folders then work as with any folder.
• Upload… / Download… take whole folders and many files at once (adb push / adb pull on Android).
• Drag files from the Explorer or from Finder / File Explorer onto a device folder to upload them. Drag items inside the Devices view to move them on the device, or onto another device to copy them.
• New Folder…, Rename…, Delete…, Copy Path, Open Device Shell (Android: an adb shell terminal in that folder).

Requirements

• Android: adb from Android SDK Platform-Tools. The extension looks in $ANDROID_HOME, the default Android SDK location and Homebrew; if there is none, Download Android Platform-Tools fetches it from Google. On the device: Developer options with Wireless debugging (Android 11+) or USB debugging.
• iOS: usbmuxd — built into macOS, the Apple Devices app on Windows, the usbmuxd package on Linux.
• The device and this computer on the same network.

Settings

Development

npm install
npm run check   # type-check
npm test        # unit tests
npm run build   # bundle into dist/

Press F5 (Run Extension (No Debugger)) to start an Extension Development Host.

Support

If Mobile Device Manager saves you time, you can support its development on Boosty.

Android is a trademark of Google LLC. iOS is a trademark of Cisco, used by Apple under license. Mobile Device Manager is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google or Apple.