On your phone

The Android build is the same Rust application as the desktop one, with an interface built for a phone. Install it from Releases — HookEcho-arm64-v8a.apk, arm64, Android 10 or newer. See Install for the two ways to sideload it.

Getting around

The map opens with controls closed. Tap the radar name above the map to change its product, site, tilt, or threshold. The timeline stays above the bottom navigation so you can scrub without opening a menu.

The bottom bar opens one focused sheet at a time. Tap its destination again, tap ×, or swipe the handle down to return to the map:

• Radar has the site, product, tilt, threshold, and advanced settings.
• Layers has storm tracks, MRMS, storm attributes, and the SPC outlook. Tap the selected outlook day again to remove it.
• Alerts shows the warning count and list. New warnings never open the sheet automatically; the map warning switch is inside Alerts.
• More has Analyst, saved locations, workspaces, Settings, and the walkthrough.

Search and custom locations are one tap from the buttons above the map. On Android, the system Back gesture closes search or the open sheet before leaving HookEcho.

• Long-press the map to inspect what’s under your finger.
• Double-tap and drag up or down to zoom with one hand.
• Open Analyst from More to use presets and linked panes. Pane tabs show one map at a time on a phone. Tap Back to Radar to restore your radar view.
• The app buzzes on scrubber ticks, sheet snaps, and new warnings.

Notifications with the app closed

Turn on the background alert service and the phone tells you about warnings for your saved locations whether or not HookEcho is running, tiered watch / warning / emergency, with a tornado emergency arriving at urgent priority. Tapping a notification opens the app at that storm. Android is asked for notification permission only at the moment you switch an alert feature on — never at install.

A home-screen widget shows current radar and what’s warned at your saved locations, and there’s a quick-settings tile for a one-swipe look.

Out in the field

• Chase mode puts your live GPS position on the map as a blue dot, with a storm-relative readout: closest approach, and an escape bearing.
• Offline chase packs pre-download the basemap tiles for an area before you drive into it. Radar still needs a data connection; the map underneath it won’t.
• Position sharing — opt in, and every HookEcho on the same network sees everyone’s dot. Off-network, point it at a relay URL you host yourself.

Keeping it fast

Phones are not workstations. Drop the 3D quality preset, turn off the animated wind particles, and close station cards you aren’t reading. There’s a battery-saver mode that slows the polling and repaint cadence when you’re running on what’s left of the battery.