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Register your Android device as a sender

Registering a device means installing the SMS Mobile App on an Android phone, signing in with the same Google account you use on the dashboard, and granting the SEND_SMS permission. Once registered, the phone appears in your dashboard's device list and is eligible to dispatch any job you assign to it.

Prerequisites​

Android phone running 8.0 (Oreo) or newer with a working SIM. A Google account that already exists on your dashboard (sign in there first if you haven't). About 50 MB of storage and a few minutes. Google Play access, or — if you're sideloading — the trusted APK link from the Apps & download page on the main site.

Install the app​

Search for SMS Mobile App by Ahsan Mahmood on Google Play, tap Install, and wait for the Open button to appear. If you're sideloading instead, download the AAB / APK from the trusted link, enable Install unknown apps for your browser or file manager in Android settings, install the package, and disable the unknown-apps permission again afterwards.

Sign in with the matching Google account​

Open the app. Tap Sign in with Google and pick the same account you used on the dashboard. Mismatched accounts are the most common reason a freshly installed device "doesn't show up" — the phone is actually registered, just under a different user's account that you can't see from your dashboard.

If you don't see the account you want in the picker, add it via Settings → Accounts → Add account → Google in Android, then return to the SMS Mobile App and try again.

Grant SEND_SMS​

Trigger any send action (the home screen has a quick Send test SMS button that's safe to tap — it composes nothing and just exercises the permission flow). Android shows the standard permission dialog: "Allow SMS Mobile App to send SMS messages?" with Allow and Don't allow buttons. Tap Allow.

The phone is now technically registered as a sender, but if you tapped Don't allow the registration is incomplete — the dashboard will list the device but every send will fail at the OS level. See Grant SMS and Contacts permissions for the recovery path.

Confirm registration on the dashboard​

Open smsapp.aoneahsan.com/devices on any browser signed in with the same Google account. The phone appears in the list within a few seconds, with:

  • The model name Android reports (e.g. Pixel 8, Galaxy A54, Redmi Note 13)
  • SIM slot count (1 or 2; details on dual-SIM behaviour)
  • Last-seen timestamp
  • Volunteering badge (default state: Volunteering)

If the phone doesn't appear within a minute, sign out of the app and back in. The live Firestore subscription will resync.

Disable battery optimisation for the app on aggressive ROMs (MIUI, EMUI, ColorOS, OxygenOS, OneUI Power Saving). The app prompts when needed; following the prompt opens the right Android settings page. Without the exemption, scheduled jobs and batches that run for more than a few minutes can be killed mid-flight.

If you plan to use the contact picker rather than typing every recipient or uploading CSVs, also grant READ_CONTACTS when the app prompts. This is optional; declining it just means the picker isn't available and you'll need to type recipients or import via CSV.

Re-registering an existing device​

The same phone can be re-registered against a different account by signing out of the app and back in with the new account. The phone appears under the new account; the old account's device list loses it. There's no manual unregister step beyond signing out.

A reset device or a wiped phone re-registers on first sign-in just like a fresh install.

Common errors​

If the dashboard shows an empty device list even after a successful Android sign-in, the most common cause is the mismatched-account scenario covered above. Confirm both surfaces show the same email under the profile picture.

If signing in to the Android app returns Sign-in failed with no detail, the installed APK probably has a SHA-1 fingerprint that doesn't match the one configured in the Firebase project — a sign you've installed an unofficial build. Uninstall and reinstall from Google Play.

If Google Play shows This app isn't compatible with your device, the Android version is older than 8.0. Older devices aren't supported.

What you've achieved​

Your phone is signed in with the right account, has SEND_SMS granted, appears on your dashboard's device list with a recent last-seen timestamp, and is eligible for any job you assign. You're ready to send. From here, the Sending SMS how-to category (lands in Batch 4) will cover single sends, silent batch sends, templates, drafts, and recurring schedules.