Bru: Send and read SMS from the browser
Bru is an Android app and web client that allows users to read and send SMS messages from their browser using their phone. The project, named after the Norwegian word for bridge, is currently available on the IzzyOnDroid app repository and is hoped to be soon available on F-Droid and possibly Google Play as well.
The author of Bru, who has been using a T9 phone as their daily driver, wished for an easier way to type out long messages and have longer conversations without taking their phone out, which could lead to distractions. The author also wanted to avoid the need to continuously pair their phone with their computer, as well as the clunky experience of using KDE's Linux client. Lastly, the author was not impressed with Pushbullet's reliability.
To address these issues, the author first explored the possibility of using Google's Device pairing feature, but found it limited and required frequent re-pairing. They then looked at KDE's Linux client but found it buggy and overwhelming to configure. Pushbullet was another option, but they had previously found it to be unreliable and buggy.
The author decided to build Bru as a statically hosted web app, without any web framework, in order to get a feel for how it is to develop like this in 2026. The client is built using index.html files in a folder hierarchy, a style.css, and typed JavaScript with ESM modules and custom elements for reusable components. While the prototype worked, there were some tradeoffs and challenges that needed to be addressed.
Written by urgent.news from Lobsters's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
