Show HN: BulkHead – iOS File Manager for SFTP, SMB, WebDAV, and S3
oddinks.comHi HN – I’m Laxmi. I’ve been building an iOS file manager called BulkHead and wanted to share it here.
The short version: it connects to SFTP, SMB, WebDAV, and S3 servers from your iPhone or iPad. I kept reaching for my laptop just to check a file on my NAS or poke around an S3 bucket, and the built-in Files app really only handles iCloud and basic SMB. So I built the thing I wanted.
You can browse and manage files, preview images/PDFs/video/code, and edit markdown or code files right on the server (it saves back when you’re done). It also does SSH key management, shows up as a storage provider in the iOS Files app, and has this external display mode where you plug in via USB-C and your phone turns into a remote control for the big screen. Free tier gets you 3 connections with all four protocols, full browsing, preview, editing, favorites, biometric lock, SSH keys – no account needed. There’s a 7-day Pro trial on first install too. Pro is $6.99/year or $14.99 one-time. That gets you unlimited connections, a transfer queue for batch/background transfers, encrypted file cache, and external display controller mode.
On privacy – there are zero analytics, zero tracking, and no third-party SDKs in the app. Credentials live in iOS Keychain and never leave the device. The App Store privacy label says “Data Not Collected” and I intend to keep it that way.
Tech-wise it’s SwiftUI on iOS 17+. The networking layer uses Citadel for SSH/SFTP, SMBClient for SMB, and Soto for S3 – all open source.
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bulkhead/id6759474201
Site: https://www.oddinks.com/bulkhead
Privacy: https://www.oddinks.com/bulkhead/privacy Would love feedback.
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