Install zvena on Android
zvena for Android is your whole workspace in an app: notifications, sharing from other apps and work without a connection. Get it from an app store, from our website or from our F-Droid repository; all of them are the same app.
Updated
Where to get it
Open zvena.app/download on your phone. It shows every way zvena is available right now, so pick whichever suits you:
- An app store. Where zvena is listed (Google Play, RuStore, AppGallery, Galaxy Store, Xiaomi GetApps or Uptodown), the download page shows a button for that store. The store installs zvena and keeps it up to date.
- The APK from our website, for any Android phone or tablet, with or without Google services. The app keeps itself up to date: when a new version is out, it offers to install it.
- Our F-Droid repository, if you use the F-Droid app store. zvena is not in F-Droid's main repository; this is zvena's own repository, signed by us, and F-Droid keeps the app up to date from it.
Versions from different sources can be signed differently, and Android installs an update only over the same signature. To switch from one source to another, uninstall the app first, then install it from the new source and sign in again.
Install the APK from our website
On your phone, open zvena.app/download. On a computer, scan the QR code next to the Android download with your phone's camera instead.
Apps from outside a store need your permission once. Android asks for it while you install.
Tap Download the APK. When it's done, open the file from the notification or from the Files app.
Android says your browser isn't allowed to install apps from unknown sources: tap Settings, turn on Allow from this source and go back.
No such prompt? Open your phone's Settings → Apps → Special app access → Install unknown apps, choose your browser and turn on Allow from this source. The names differ a little between phone makers.
Tap Install. If Google Play Protect says it doesn't know the app, tap More details → Install anyway.
Tap Open and sign in through your browser.
zvena keeps itself up to date: about once a day it checks zvena.app and, when a new version is out, shows a notification. Tap it, then Install; the first time, allow zvena to install updates. zvena checks the update's checksum and signature before Android installs it. You can also check now in zvena's App settings → Check for updates.
Check the download (SHA-256)Allow only a file you downloaded from zvena.app. To be sure it's ours and complete, compare its checksum with the one on the download page.
The permission covers only the app you allowed. You can take it back afterwards in your phone's Settings → Apps → Special app access → Install unknown apps (the menu names differ a little between phone makers). zvena's own updates are offered by zvena itself and ask you to confirm each time.
Check the file (optional)
The download page lists each file's size and SHA-256 checksum. To check that the file you have is the one we published, compute its checksum on a computer and compare it with the page:
sha256sum zvena-*.apk # Linux shasum -a 256 zvena-*.apk # macOS certutil -hashfile zvena-1.1.0-direct.apk SHA256 # Windows (use the file's real name)
Where the download page shows the SHA-256 of the signing certificate, apksigner verify --print-certs (from the Android SDK) prints the same value for a genuine file. Once zvena is installed, Android itself refuses an update that is not signed with the same key, so a changed file cannot replace it.
Add our F-Droid repository
- Install F-Droid from f-droid.org, if you don't have it yet.
- Add the repository. On your phone, tap Add to F-Droid on the download page: F-Droid opens with the repository filled in. Or, in F-Droid, open Settings → Repositories, tap +, and scan the repository's QR code from the download page or paste its address:
https://downloads.zvena.app/fdroid/repo - Check the fingerprint. F-Droid shows the repository's fingerprint before you add it. It must match the one on the download page; then add the repository, search for zvena and install it.
The F-Droid version has no Google services in it: its notifications come through UnifiedPush (see below).
Signing in
The app doesn't ask for your password itself. It opens your browser at zvena.app, where you sign in the way you always do: Google, GitHub, an email link or code, or your company's single sign-on. If you are already signed in there, the browser asks Sign in to zvena for Android as …?; tap Continue (or Use another account) and you are back in the app, signed in.
The app then appears in Settings → Account → Devices, where you can sign it out from anywhere, or sign it out and have it erase what it keeps on the phone, for example if the phone is lost.
Notifications
- The first time, Android asks whether zvena may send notifications. Allow it, then choose what you want to hear about in zvena's notification settings.
- On phones with Google services, notifications come through Google's Firebase Cloud Messaging; in the versions from RuStore and AppGallery, through their own push services.
- Without Google services (the F-Droid version, or a phone without Google Play services), zvena uses UnifiedPush: install a distributor app such as ntfy, and zvena delivers through it.
- Whichever way they travel, notifications are end-to-end encrypted: the push service delivers them but cannot read them. More in Notifications.
Updates
- From a store: the store updates zvena, like any other app.
- The APK from our website: zvena checks for new versions and offers to install them; Android asks you to confirm. You can also download the newest APK from the download page and install it over the old one.
- From our F-Droid repository: the F-Droid app shows the update.
Most improvements reach you without an update at all: the app shows the zvena you see on the web.
Removing the app
Uninstall zvena like any other app. Uninstalling deletes what the app kept on the phone, but it doesn't sign the device out of your account: sign it out in Settings → Account → Devices, from any browser.