Developer Builds Web Server on $25 Walmart Phone

Developer Stetson Blake recently demonstrated that a budget smartphone can serve as a functional web server. By utilizing a device purchased for just $25 from Walmart, Blake successfully hosted a static website. The project was driven by curiosity and the desire for a "fun weekend project," utilizing accessible software tools and AI assistance.

The technical implementation relies on Termux and Andronix to create a Linux environment on the Android operating system. This setup allows the phone to run standard server software, including Nginx for serving web pages and Cloudflared for creating a secure tunnel to the internet. Additionally, the system includes a Prometheus node exporter, indicating that the device is capable of exporting metrics for monitoring purposes.

Crucially, the setup process was streamlined by the use of Claude Code, an AI coding assistant. Blake reported that the AI tool handled "most of the setup," allowing for a rapid development cycle. The resulting website is live and accessible to the public, proving the viability of ultra-low-cost hardware for specific hosting needs.

The core of this project is the $25 Walmart phone, a device typically intended for basic communication. To transform this hardware into a server, specific software layers were required. The foundation of the stack is Termux, a terminal emulator and Linux environment app for Android. This allows the user to run command-line tools that are standard on Linux distributions.

To further enable Linux capabilities, Blake employed Andronix. This tool assists in running a full Linux distribution alongside Android. Once the Linux environment is established, standard server software was installed. The primary web server software used was Nginx, a high-performance web server known for its stability and low resource usage.

Connectivity was managed using Cloudflared. This tool creates a secure tunnel from the local device to the Cloudflare network, allowing the website to be accessible on the public internet without exposing the device directly. For observability, a Prometheus node exporter was included, allowing the collection of hardware metrics from the phone.

Artificial intelligence played a significant role in the configuration of the server. Blake utilized Claude Code, an AI model designed to assist with programming tasks. The developer noted that the AI tool was responsible for "most of the setup" involved in the project. This highlights a growing trend of using Large Language Models (LLMs) to automate complex system administration tasks.

The integration of AI assistance suggests that developers can leverage these tools to overcome technical hurdles quickly. Instead of manually configuring every aspect of the Linux environment and server software, the AI likely provided scripts, configuration advice, and troubleshooting steps. This allowed Blake to focus on the overall architecture and the "fun" aspects of the project rather than getting bogged down in syntax errors or compatibility issues.

The result of this weekend project is a fully functional static website hosted on the Walmart phone. The site is publicly available at https://walmartphone.stetsonblake.com/. The project was initially shared on Hacker News under the "Show HN" category, where it garnered attention for its creative use of low-cost technology.

Blake described the experience as having "a blast," emphasizing the enjoyable nature of the experiment. The project serves as a proof of concept for hosting lightweight web services on mobile hardware. It demonstrates that with the right software stack and AI assistance, even the most inexpensive consumer electronics can be repurposed for technical use cases.