Build a phone farm of devices you own

A phone farm is a pile of real smartphones that stay plugged in and do work without someone holding each one. In FleetDeck’s case that pile is yours. You buy the phones, you keep them charged, you decide which SIMs live in them. We do not ship a rack today, and we do not pretend a waitlist iPhone is already on that rack.

This page is the hardware and enrollment story: power, heat, Wi-Fi, SideStore, APKs, and how many seats you pay for. The companion page, remote phone farm, is the access pattern: who on your team can open which device, which relay the phone pins to, and how that works when nobody is in the same room as the shelf.

QA benches that need real Android skins and real iOS versions. Support teams that keep a known-good device per OS train. Operators who already bought a handful of phones for regional SIMs and are tired of unlocking each one by hand. Solo builders who outgrew a single spare Pixel on the desk.

If the job is “I do not want to own phones at all,” skip this page and join the rental waitlist. If the job is “make this device look like another device to an app store,” stop. FleetDeck will not do that. It is a remote-control and management tool for enrolled hardware, not an anti-detect farm.

Treat it like a small lab, not like a drawer of dead bricks. Every phone needs a reliable charger (USB-C PD for modern Androids and iPhones), airflow so batteries do not cook, and a Wi-Fi signal that does not collapse when a dozen radios sit in one metal cabinet. Label each device with the name you used in the dashboard so the person who walks up to the shelf can match it to the live view.

You do not need a public IP, a static WAN address, or a switch programmed with port-forwards. Each agent connects outbound to a FleetDeck relay. Design the room for power, heat, and Wi-Fi quality. iPhone remote touch dies when Wi-Fi drops, even if LTE bars look fine.

Android is the easier row. Install the FleetDeck APK once from the pair flow, accept screen capture, leave accessibility on, and keep USB debugging available for the first-time dashboard USB helper if you use it. Mobile data is fine for the relay.

After a reboot, someone (or a cheap KVM habit) still has to tap “Start now” on the system capture prompt unless you are on the optional root path. FLAG_SECURE apps will look black in live view — that is Android, not a farm miswire. Root is not required for the default accessibility path.

iPhone is the row that punishes neglect. Remote touch needs each unit awake, unlocked, and on Wi-Fi. Auto-Lock Never, passcode not sitting on screen, and a cable that actually keeps charge. Cellular-only is not enough for iPhone touch. A jailbreak is not required; already-jailbroken units can use /install/ios instead of SideStore.

First-time setup per iPhone is about 20 minutes: SideStore 0.6.4 nightly or newer (0.6.3 breaks refresh), a free Apple ID (not a $99 Developer Program), FleetDeckConnect, one USB Bootstrapper run (UDID uploaded — you never type it), then FleetDeckTouch. After that, day-to-day control is wireless, but only while those three conditions hold.

Free Apple IDs can sign at most 3 apps and hold 2 development certificates. FleetDeckConnect and FleetDeckTouch use two of those app slots. Put one free Apple ID per iPhone, or write down a sharing plan before you rack ten units against one ID. SideStore’s LocalDevVPN (not FleetDeck VPN) must stay on so the 7-day certificates refresh. If it lapses, the shelf still has wallpaper and nobody can swipe.

1. Create the FleetDeck account, pick a seat count on pricing, then add devices in the dashboard. One token per phone. There is no free tier.
2. Android: APK from the pair flow or install materials, token, capture consent, accessibility.
3. iPhone: SideStore 0.6.4+ nightly, FleetDeckConnect, USB Bootstrapper, FleetDeckTouch. Leave LocalDevVPN on. Budget two of the three free-Apple-ID sideload slots per phone.
4. Confirm each unit shows online, then open live view once so you know which physical slot maps to which dashboard row.
5. For iPhone touch started away from the pairing Mac, follow the FleetDeck VPN step in the setup guide. That is Tailscale for Apple developer services, not a hole in your router.

Sideloaded iOS apps expire in seven days if SideStore cannot refresh them. On a farm that is the silent killer. Put “LocalDevVPN still on?” on the same checklist as “chargers seated.” After an iPhone reboot, Start Broadcast on the phone and click Start touch again.

You already paid for the handsets. FleetDeck charges for connected seats, not for electricity. Solo is $35 for one phone. Small is $25 per device for two to four. Team is $20 per device for five to 10. There is no free tier. A failed card gets 3 days of grace, then enrolled devices are removed and you pair again after you resubscribe.

Eleven-plus phones are not a self-serve toggle. Enterprise is $500 registration, credited against $2000 setup, plus compute on a dedicated server. Refunds are not offered on any of these plans.

None of this is glamorous, which is the point. A farm that stays online is mostly electrical and enrollment hygiene. FleetDeck cannot charge a battery or keep iOS from sleeping. It can show you the screen and move a finger once those basics are true.