Install Varco
Download Zapstore
Download
- Scan the code with your phone’s camera
- Tap Download anyway if the browser warns about the file
- Allow your browser to install unknown apps if Android asks
- Open Zapstore and finish the onboarding
Open Varco in Zapstore
Open
- Scan the code to open Varco in Zapstore, or search for it there
- Tap Install, and Download if Zapstore asks you to confirm the developer
- Confirm in Android’s install dialog. Allow Zapstore to install unknown apps if Android asks
SSH client. It uses the Termux terminal engine, so vim, htop, tmux and other full-screen programs work correctly. New keys are made in the phone's secure chip, and the private key can never go out of the chip.
Varco is an SSH client. It uses the Termux terminal engine, so vim, htop, tmux and other full-screen programs work correctly. New keys are made in the phone's secure chip, and the private key can never go out of the chip. No trackers, no Google Play Services.
Varco has a small number of features, and thus a small attack surface. It does not have port forwarding, jump hosts, Mosh, agent forwarding or FIDO2 security keys.
- Terminal: true colour, mouse, an extra-keys bar and pinch to zoom.
- Sessions: more than one at the same time. A reconnect keeps the screen and the scrollback.
- Keys: Ed25519 or ECDSA P-256 in the secure chip, YubiKey PIV over NFC and USB-C, and imported OpenSSH keys.
- Import from Termux: keys,
~/.ssh/config,known_hosts, colours and font. - SFTP file browser, snippets and 13 colour schemes.
Summary generated by Zapstore from source.
Original description, as the developer published it.
Stacked in
Latest release
It asks for no sensitive access.
Permissions
- Notifications POST_NOTIFICATIONS Send you notifications
Release notes
Varco 0.2.4 can connect to SSH servers on your local network on Android 17.
Requires Android 15 or later. It runs on all ABIs because the APK has no native code. Update from 0.2.3 in place: the signing key is the same.
Changed
- When you connect to a server that looks local, Varco asks for the Nearby devices permission first. Then it connects. A local server is a private IP address (for example 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x), a name without a dot, or a name that ends in
.local,.lan,.home.arpaor.internal. Varco does not ask when you connect to a server on the internet. - If the permission is off and a connection times out, the message tells you to allow Nearby devices.
Fixed
- SSH to a server on the local network timed out on Android 17. Android 17 blocks the local network for apps that target it until you allow Nearby devices, and Varco did not ask for this permission.
Privacy and security
- New runtime permission: Nearby devices (
ACCESS_LOCAL_NETWORK). Varco uses it only for SSH connections to your local servers. You can deny it; then only local servers do not work. - A VPN with "Block connections without VPN" still blocks local servers. Android lets only the VPN app through, and Varco cannot change this.
| File | Use |
|---|---|
Varco-0.2.4.apk |
Release build, signed. |
SHA-256:
Varco-0.2.4.apk:083cffd5f2ec52c3c4104ce5f827bdacdd083e0909562d8ff5d9c4fa50c624fa
Signing certificate SHA-256: c1:c9:b7:b7:7e:23:d0:28:d1:55:ce:ae:f9:6f:80:b8:b1:8b:f6:92:22:b2:ef:c6:ff:7f:ff:1e:99:b0:a9:d9
Check the certificate with apksigner verify --print-certs Varco-0.2.4.apk or with AppVerifier. Do not install an APK with a different certificate.
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Updates checked on your device, and every release verified before it installs.