# TetherFuseNet: sharing Android internet over Wi-Fi Direct and an HTTP proxy > TetherFuseNet shares a phone's internet connection with other devices without root by running a Wi-Fi Direct group and a proxy; recent versions also support SOCKS alongside HTTP, and clients must be configured accordingly. That proxy requirement is the whole design and the main limitation, since many apps ignore proxy settings. **pyamsoft/tetherfusenet** — TetherFuseNet - Internet sharing without Root - Repository: https://github.com/pyamsoft/tetherfusenet - Stars: 925 · Forks: 94 - Language: Kotlin - License: Apache-2.0 - Published: 2026-10-20 · Updated: 2026-10-20 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/pyamsoft-tetherfusenet ## TetherFuseNet shares a connection through a proxy, not a NAT The mechanism is stated plainly in the documentation: TetherFuseNet creates a Wi-Fi Direct legacy group and an HTTP proxy server. Other devices join the broadcast Wi-Fi network and then reach the internet by setting their proxy configuration to the server the app runs. No root access is involved. That is the whole trick, and it explains both what the app can and cannot do. A client that honours proxy settings sends its HTTP and HTTPS traffic to the phone, which forwards it. A client that ignores proxy settings, or a protocol the proxy does not carry, has no path to the internet at all. The application puts a proxy in the path rather than providing transparent internet routing. Its setup guide also documents SOCKS support in newer versions; clients must use a compatible proxy configuration. The Wi-Fi Direct group is what carries the local link. Because it is a direct device to device group rather than a network attached to your router, the app does not depend on your home router, and it works over cellular as well as Wi-Fi. The documentation lists creating a LAN between devices and working around a home router that has hit its device connection limit among the reasons to use it. You do not need a hotspot data plan, though the documentation notes the app works best with unlimited data plans. ## A foreground service keeps the group alive The long-running piece is a Foreground Service, and the documentation is clear that the user is in full control of it, choosing explicitly when to turn it on and off. On Android, a foreground service with a visible notification is the mechanism that lets an app keep a network radio and a socket open while the app is in the background, so this is the standard pattern rather than something exotic. The repository layout matches that design. A service directory, a server directory and a connections directory sit alongside a networktest directory and a status directory, so the concerns are separated into running the group, serving the proxy, tracking which clients are connected, and testing the network. A behavior directory and a tile directory suggest that the operating settings and a quick settings tile are separate surfaces, which is a common Android pattern for a utility that the user toggles often. The main and ui directories hold the interface, and the core directory holds the shared logic. Because the group is a Wi-Fi Direct legacy group, one phone is the group owner and other devices attach to it. The documentation does not describe bandwidth limits imposed by the design, but it does tie performance to the speed and availability of the phone's own internet connection. The consequence is that the shared link is only as good as the upstream cell or Wi-Fi link, and the phone is doing forwarding work in software on top of that. ## The proxy requirement is what breaks apps The documentation does not oversell the project. It says TetherFuseNet is still a work in progress and that not everything will work, and it names specific failures: getting an open NAT type on consoles is currently not possible, and using the app with certain online apps, chat apps, video apps and gaming apps is currently not possible. Some services such as email may be unavailable. General browsing is expected to work, and it is still dependent on the speed and availability of the phone's own connection. The reason for those failures is the proxy architecture rather than a bug list. A console doing NAT traversal for peer to peer play needs an open NAT, and a proxy in the path does not provide one. A game with its own transport, a chat client with a proprietary protocol, or a video service that pins certificates or uses custom transports will not be proxied by an ordinary HTTP proxy. Email is listed as possibly unavailable for the same reason, since it is not simply an HTTP request to a web page. There is a wiki page listing the apps known not to work, and the documentation points people at it. That page is the thing to read before promising a group of people that a phone hotspot will serve them for a work trip. It is also the honest answer to the question of whether this replaces a carrier hotspot, and for many everyday uses the answer is that it partially does. ## Getting the app: Play Store is the only official channel There is no install command to give you, and that is deliberate. The documentation states that official releases are published only to the Google Play Store, with the app listed under the package identifier com.pyamsoft.tetherfi. Everything else is labelled unofficial or community supported. The F-Droid style build is available from the IzzyOnDroid repository, and an OpenAPK listing also carries the same F-Droid flavour of the package, and the GitHub Releases section links to an APK for people who would rather not use a store. The distinction matters for a tool like this. The Play Store build is the one the developer signs and updates, while the F-Droid and OpenAPK builds are community packaged and may lag or differ in signature, while GitHub Releases is also listed among the unofficial or community-supported F-Droid builds. If you install the wrong one first, an in-place upgrade can fail on a signature mismatch and you end up uninstalling and reinstalling, which is annoying but not harmful. For anyone who wants to build from source, the repository is a Gradle project with a settings file, a root build script, a gradlew wrapper and a fastlane directory, and it also carries a mise.toml file for tool version management. The README does not document a build command, so there is no supported build recipe in the documentation to follow here. These are the three places the documentation points you to for a download: ```bash https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pyamsoft.tetherfi https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/com.pyamsoft.tetherfi https://github.com/pyamsoft/tetherfusenet/releases/latest ``` The first is the official channel, the second is the community packaged F-Droid build, and the third is the APK in the Releases section of the repository. ## Project governance files hint at the direction of travel Beyond the code, the repository carries a set of documents that say more about intent than the README does. There is a GOALS file, a DISTRIBUTION file, a NAME file explaining the naming, a privacy policy and a terms and conditions document, and a CHANGELOG-adjacent history in the releases. The presence of a NAME file is unusual and suggests the project has been through at least one renaming, which matters because the repository is called tetherfusenet while the package, the Play Store listing and the badges all use tetherfi. That mismatch is the single most likely source of confusion for a new user. Searching for the repository name will not find the Play Store listing, and the screenshots referenced in the README are hosted under a different repository path. The privacy policy and terms files also tell you that in-app purchases exist, and the documentation states plainly that the app never tracks users, never sells or shares data, and that the purchases are never required to use the application or any feature. The licence is Apache 2, with the full licence text in the repository and a copyright line naming pyamsoft for 2026. The Apache 2.0 grant covers both use and modification with a patent grant, which is a permissive position that most organisations can adopt without a review, though the trademark clause means you cannot imply endorsement. The development model is stated too: the project is developed in the open on GitHub, and contributions are invited through issue tickets for bugs and feature requests. ## Release numbering and the current state of the project The repository is not archived and the last push was on 2026-10-14. The recent releases are numbered 76 on 2026-10-07, 75 on 2026-09-16 and 73 on 2026-09-15, which is a plain build counter rather than a semantic version scheme. That tells you releases are frequent and that the version number carries no compatibility promise, so an upgrade can bring a behaviour change without a major version bump to warn you. The cadence matches the nature of the project. A foreground service that manages a radio, a proxy and a set of client connections needs frequent small fixes, especially across the range of Android versions and vendor firmware that ship in the wild. The interface is built with Jetpack Compose, given the compose topic and a ui directory, and the screenshots in the documentation show both a light and a dark mode. What you should take from the release record is that this is an actively changing application rather than a stable library, and that the documentation is candid about the gaps. For a person whose phone is their only way online, that combination is workable. For a product that depends on it, the not working list and the proxy requirement are the two things to evaluate before anything else. ## Conclusion TetherFuseNet is worth installing if you need a hotspot on a phone with no tethering plan, or if your carrier caps or throttles the normal hotspot, and if the devices on the other end are laptops or browsers that honour proxy settings. It is the wrong tool for consoles that need an open NAT, for chat, video and many gaming apps, and for anything that expects a transparent NAT or networking that works without a compatible proxy client. Before relying on it, check the Known-Not-Working wiki entry for the apps you care about, and confirm that the client devices can be pointed at a manual HTTP proxy, because the app id and the Play Store listing use the tetherfi package name rather than the repository name you are reading. ## FAQ ### Does TetherFuseNet need root on Android? No. The app uses a Foreground Service to run a Wi-Fi Direct legacy group and an HTTP proxy server, so other devices can share the phone's connection without root access. ### How do I get the official TetherFuseNet app? Official releases are published only to the Google Play Store, under the package identifier com.pyamsoft.tetherfi. F-Droid style builds are available from the IzzyOnDroid repository and OpenAPK, and an APK is linked from the GitHub Releases section. ### Why do some apps not work with TetherFuseNet? The app works by proxying traffic, so clients that ignore proxy settings or use protocols an HTTP proxy cannot carry will fail. The documentation says consoles cannot get an open NAT type this way, and that certain chat, video, gaming and email services are currently not usable. ### Can I use TetherFuseNet without a carrier hotspot plan? Yes. The documentation states that you do not need a hotspot data plan to use the app, and that it works best with unlimited data plans. It also lists having a hotspot plan with a data cap or with throttling as a reason to use it. ### What licence is TetherFuseNet released under? The project is released under the Apache License, Version 2.0, with the copyright line naming pyamsoft for 2026. The app offers in-app purchases to support the developer, which the documentation says are never required to use any feature. ## Sources - [Issues](https://github.com/pyamsoft/tetherfusenet/issues) - [License: Apache-2.0](https://github.com/pyamsoft/tetherfusenet/blob/main/LICENSE) - [pyamsoft/tetherfusenet on GitHub](https://github.com/pyamsoft/tetherfusenet) - [README](https://github.com/pyamsoft/tetherfusenet/blob/main/README.md) - [Releases](https://github.com/pyamsoft/tetherfusenet/releases) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/pyamsoft-tetherfusenet