There is no smartphone.
Operator is a chat app for keypad phones, or dumbphones as they're often called: Android feature phones with a D-pad, soft keys and a T9 keypad, such as the TTfone TT990. It shows WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Messenger, Instagram, Discord and the rest in one list, with notifications that work without Google services, on hardware that would struggle with any ordinary chat app.
It does this as a Matrix client signed in to your existing Beeper account. Beeper connects your chat networks; Operator is the keypad-phone window into them. Operator has no servers of its own, no analytics, no crash reporting, and no Google Play Services, Firebase or microG. It is free software (GPL-3.0-or-later), not affiliated with Beeper, Matrix.org or any phone maker.
Status: public beta. It works and is in daily use on two phones. Expect rough edges, and please report them.
⬇ Download the APK (0.3.1-beta, 16 MB) — copy it to the phone and open it from the Files app. Other ways: Obtainium (add this repository's address and it installs and updates for you), the IzzyOnDroid repository in the F-Droid app, and F-Droid itself once its review is done.
Then, in this order:
- Set up Beeper on a computer and connect your chat apps there. Operator can't talk to WhatsApp or Signal itself; Beeper does that and puts everything into one encrypted Matrix account, which is what Operator signs in to. Beeper's own help and community cover this part.
- Give your Beeper account a password. Beeper normally signs you in by emailed code; Operator signs in with a password, and it can set one for you from its sign-in screen.
- Find your recovery key in Beeper (Settings → Beeper Profile → menu → Show Recovery Key). Your chats are encrypted, and this key is what lets a new device read them. Operator asks for it once.
- Install Operator, sign in, approve the phone with the key, and work through the short setup checklist so notifications keep arriving when the phone sleeps.
The user guide walks through every step with the exact screens and a trick for pasting the key instead of typing it on T9. The FAQ answers the questions people ask first.
- All your chats in one list, with avatars, unread counts and pinned chats, driven entirely by the D-pad and keypad. Touchscreens work too, but the point is button control first for dumbphones.
- Read and reply, with delivery and read marks, replies, edits, delete for everyone, and reactions from a grid of emojis. Your messages change colour alongside delivery and read marks to see their status at a glance.
- Photos on demand: nothing downloads until you ask, to avoid eating up limited storage dumbphones often have. Send photos from the gallery or camera. Open or save files sent to you.
- Mentions: see when you've been mentioned, mute a group except for mentions, and mention people from the group's member list via a convenient menu rather than typing names.
- Battery: Very light on the battery, using only 2 or 3 % per day on current tests. Might differ on other phones, we'll have to see.
- Links open in the phone's browser when you choose to do so from their context menu, never on their own. Multiple links appear individually in the message's context menu.
- Notifications in seconds through a tiny relay that never sees message content. Optional screen wake. Your own relay server can be used instead.
- Themes (Operator, Slate, Switchboard, Matrix, High contrast), light and dark, three text sizes.
- Turn to preview: on phones that rotate the screen, turning the handset sideways on the chat list previews the highlighted chat without marking the messages as read.
Not yet: calls, voice-note recording, threads, polls, creating groups, SMS.
Official builds are signed with a certificate whose SHA-256 fingerprint is c978a97c7ce5eb6b4cd4cb14416e2f0fb2d15945c6f9795dd80cdc0bf7431f34. F-Droid's own builds carry F-Droid's signature instead.
Messages are end-to-end encrypted by the Matrix protocol. Operator's local database is encrypted at rest with a key held in the phone's hardware keystore. The push relay carries only a content-free wake-up signal. Nothing is sent to the Operator project. The details are in the privacy policy and the security notes. To report a vulnerability, see SECURITY.md.
In the app: Settings → Report a problem drafts an email with the phone model, Android and Operator versions and recent technical log lines (never message content). Or open an issue. Please include the phone model and what the screen said.
Operator is free and will stay free. Donations go towards further development, such as a dedicated notification relay and domain, so the app does not depend on a public server.
Both links are at the top of Settings in the app.
Requirements: Android Studio (for its bundled JDK 21 and the Android SDK, platform 36). Nothing else.
export JAVA_HOME="/Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/jbr/Contents/Home" # macOS
./gradlew :app:assembleOperatorDebug
adb install -r app/build/outputs/apk/operator/debug/app-operator-debug.apkRelease builds: ./gradlew :app:assembleOperatorRelease (about 16 MB; code shrinking is off by default, -Pminify turns it on). Signing uses a keystore.properties file at the repository root, never committed. See docs/releasing.md.
| Module | What it holds |
|---|---|
app |
The UI (Android Views), notifications, settings. Branding in the operator flavour. |
core-matrix |
Login, sync, rooms, timeline, send, media, encryption, key backup, verification. Adapted from fenleon/chats (MIT) on Trixnity (Apache 2.0). |
core-beeper |
Beeper-specific behaviour: password setup by email, bridge contacts and new chats. |
core-push |
The built-in ntfy channel, the UnifiedPush connector, pusher registration. |
Contributions are welcome: see CONTRIBUTING.md.
The build is designed so a phone maker can ship its own branded version: a product flavour in app/build.gradle.kts plus a src/<flavour>/res/values/brand.xml (app name, default homeserver and push server, support addresses, about text, colours) and a launcher icon. Under the GPL that build must be published with its source, keep Operator's credits, and use its own name and icon (see TRADEMARK.md). A manufacturer that would rather not publish its changes, wants to keep the Operator branding, or wants support, can get in touch about a commercial licence: unsaved-fax-even@duck.com.
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Made by Spanorak.
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Chats by Fenn: the Matrix layer and the ntfy push design come from this project. MIT License.
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Trixnity: the Matrix SDK and encryption. Apache License 2.0.
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SQLCipher (BSD) for the encrypted database; ntfy and the UnifiedPush connector (Apache 2.0) for notifications.
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The Inter typeface (SIL Open Font License) and Material Symbols glyphs (Apache 2.0).
Copyright (C) 2026 Spanorak. Operator is free software under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later: you may use, study, share and improve it, and anyone who distributes a modified version, including a rebranded one, must publish their source under the same licence and keep the credits. Third-party notices: core-matrix/LICENSE-fenleon-chats.txt (MIT), LICENSE-inter.txt (OFL).
The name "Operator" and the headset mark are trademarks of Spanorak and are not covered by the GPL; forks must use their own name and icon. The artwork files are licensed for official builds only. See TRADEMARK.md.
Operator is also available under a commercial licence for organisations that want to ship it without the GPL's source-sharing obligation, or under their own brand. Enquiries: unsaved-fax-even@duck.com.