Hops mascot bunny

Get Hops

Free to download. You’ll create an account on first launch — that’s the one step that needs a connection.

🤖

Android

The full app. Every feature works here — Radar, Emergency Flare, chat, Hops Share, Community Alerts and the rest.

Requires Android 7.0 (Nougat) or newer.

Download APK

Not on the Play Store — see the install steps below.

🧟

Windows

Developer build, limited. Runs the interface and the offline features — Task Tracker, the games, your saved data.

The Bluetooth features do not work on desktop: Radar, Emergency Flare, 1:1 chat and Hops Share are Android-only. Use this for a look around, not for safety.

Built on request

No published build yet

🐧

Linux

Not available.

The project targets Linux in principle, but no Linux build has been produced or tested.

Not available

🍎

iOS

Not available yet.

iOS restricts the background Bluetooth broadcasting Hops depends on, so an iPhone build is a larger piece of work than a straight port.

Coming later

Installing on Android

Hops is distributed as an APK rather than through the Play Store, so Android will ask you to confirm the install. This is normal for an app installed directly, and the prompts differ slightly between phones.

  1. Tap Download APK above. Your browser may warn that this kind of file can be harmful — that warning appears for every APK, not just this one.
  2. Open the downloaded file. Android will say installing from this source is blocked.
  3. Choose Settings on that prompt and switch on Allow from this source (older phones call it Install unknown apps or Unknown sources).
  4. Go back and tap Install.
  5. Open Hops. It will ask for Bluetooth, Location and Notifications. All three are needed for the mesh to work — Android requires Location permission before it will report nearby Bluetooth devices at all.

Creating your account is the one step that needs a connection. Note that the first 1:1 chat connection to each contact also needs Wi-Fi switched on at both ends — it does not need to be joined to a network, and no data is used. After that first connection, it is pure Bluetooth.

On first launch Hops asks for Bluetooth and location permissions — Android requires the location permission before any app is allowed to scan for Bluetooth devices at all, and Hops never reads your GPS position. You’ll also create an account, which is the one step that needs an internet connection.

Some older and budget handsets can receive Bluetooth broadcasts but not send them. On those, Hops will tell you at startup that it can’t transmit a flare, rather than letting you believe one was sent.