Back to JournalJournal Entry
2026-07-08

Building Oni-Ofix: A Private, Distraction-Free Sideloading Ecosystem

Today marks the beginning of the development of Oni-Ofix—a minimal, private, and distraction-free package installer ecosystem.

Oni-Ofix was born out of a simple frustration: package installation should be direct, private, and task-only centered. It shouldn't require complex configurations, invasive permissions, or distract you with recommendations.

The ecosystem is split into two components:

  1. Oni-Ofix CLI: A multi-platform user-space command-line installer designed for laptops.
  2. Oni-Ofix Android App: A lightweight, native Kotlin app to search, download, and install packages on your phone without going through the command line or store frontends.

🛠️ The Laptops CLI (oni-ofix-cli)

On laptop terminals, Oni-Ofix acts as a zero-dependency local directories and package installer. It runs entirely in user-space, avoiding the need for sudo to run installed apps.

Installation

You can install the CLI globally on your laptop via NPM:

sudo npm install -g oni-ofix-cli@latest

Commands & Usage

  • Linux Installation (ofix -l): Installs any application directory locally, registers binary wrappers in ~/.local/bin/, and automatically generates desktop shortcuts (.desktop launchers) in ~/.local/share/applications/ so the app is searchable in your GUI app menus. 
    ofix -l /path/to/your/application-folder
  • Windows Exporter (ofix -w): Generates a native PowerShell install.ps1 package wrapper for Windows environments. 
    ofix -w /path/to/your/application-folder
  • ADB Sideload (ofix -a): Broad-casts and sideloads any target APK onto all connected Android devices instantly. 
    ofix -a /path/to/app.apk

📱 The Android App (oni-ofix-android)

On mobile, the app is a minimal utility designed to fetch and install packages directly on-device. With the release of Version 1.4.0 (the latest release), we have introduced:

  • Dual Search API: Seamlessly query and choose between the Aptoide API (mirroring Play Store apps) and F-Droid API (open-source apps) without any bloat.
  • Top 5 Suggestions: Displays clean, styled suggestions with application names, package descriptions, and asynchronously loaded icons.
  • Hardware Compatibility Engine: Reads your phone's physical CPU architecture (ABIs like arm64-v8a) and SDK version to automatically filter search queries—ensuring you only get APKs compatible with your specific phone model.
  • Manual & Auto Updates: Features an update button (↻ UPDATE) in the app header which checks your repository's public GitHub Releases, downloads the ZIP, extracts the APK, and prompts the self-upgrade.

📥 Direct Download

You can download and install the compiled Android app directly from this site:

👉 Download Oni-Ofix Android APK (v1.4.0)

(Note: If you run into installation compatibility alerts on Xiaomi/HyperOS, make sure to uninstall any old debug versions first and allow "Restrict Data Usage" in settings to authorize network calls!)