Hiras SMS
Turn your Android phone into a local SMS gateway for developers. Send and receive text messages through your own device and SIM, with no third-party SMS provider in the middle.
Sending a few SMS from your own app shouldn't require a commercial gateway account, per-message billing, and a sign-up flow. For local development, testing, internal tools, and low-volume needs, those services are overkill, and they put a third party between you and your own messages.
Meanwhile, the phone in your pocket already has a SIM, a number, and the ability to send and receive text messages. It's just not something your code can talk to.
Hiras SMS runs on your Android phone and exposes a small local API. Your backend or scripts make a simple HTTP request; Hiras sends the message through the phone's SIM. Incoming texts are pushed to a webhook you control.
The result: your phone becomes a programmable SMS gateway you fully own, with no external SMS provider and no per-message billing for what your own SIM already does.
What it does.
Simple REST API
One POST /api/sms/send with a bearer key, plus health, host info, message history, stats, and diagnostics endpoints.
Local-first & private
The gateway runs on your phone. A local-network guard rejects the public internet; the API key never leaves the device unless you share it.
Multi-SIM support
Pick a default SIM, or target one per request with an optional simSlot. One app, one API, one key.
Two-way over webhooks
Inbound texts are POSTed to your backend as HMAC-signed webhooks. Your API key is never transmitted, and there is no stored inbox.
Zero-cost test modes
Dry Run and Failure Simulation exercise the full API without sending a single real SMS or spending any load.
Truthful history & stats
On-device SQLite records each send as sent or failed, with today/month totals. Stored locally, never uploaded.
How it fits together.
Three parts, one direction. Your code talks to the phone; the phone talks to the carrier.
Inbound messages travel the same path in reverse. The carrier delivers to your SIM, Hiras forwards to your webhook.
The app.
A local gateway with a real control surface. Start it, forward inbound SMS, and check its health at a glance.
Available on APKPure.
Hiras is published on APKPure, which handles the download and tells you when a new version is out. Free, and still no account to create.
APKPure installs Hiras the way any Android app is installed outside
Google Play, so the phone will ask you to allow it the first time. The package is
com.arcwhin.hirassms, signed by Arcwhin. Anything under a different
package name is not our build.
Updates come through APKPure. Install a new version over the top; your message history and API key are kept. What changed in each release is recorded in the changelog.
Docs that respect your time.
Good documentation is part of the product, not an afterthought. The full reference is live now, covering setup and installation, every API endpoint, authentication, webhooks, the built-in test modes, security, and troubleshooting.
Questions.
Who is Hiras SMS for?
Solo developers, students, and indie hackers who need to send or receive SMS for local development, testing, or a low-volume integration, using a phone and SIM they already have. It is deliberately not a bulk-messaging or marketing platform.
Does it work without an internet SMS provider?
Yes. Messages go through the phone’s own SIM and carrier. There is no third-party SMS API in the path, and no per-message commission.
Will I know if a message was actually delivered?
Hiras reports queued, then sent or failed, based on what Android tells it. There are no carrier delivery receipts. It can confirm a message was handed off, not that it landed.
Is there an iPhone version?
No. iOS does not let a third-party app send SMS silently, so Hiras is Android-only (8.0 or newer). That is a platform limitation, not a roadmap item.
Where does my data live?
On the device. Send history is kept in on-device SQLite (newest 1,000 messages) and is never uploaded. Hiras collects no analytics, telemetry, or crash reports.
Hiras is built around a simple idea: your messages are yours. Everything stays on the device, with history in on-device storage, never uploaded, and it collects no analytics, telemetry, or crash reports. Read the full Hiras SMS privacy policy.
Hiras carries its own licence and terms. It is free to download and use, within your carrier's acceptable-use policy and applicable law. Read the full Hiras SMS terms of use.