The latest articles on Forem by Fatih Kurt (@fatihkurtl). https://forem.com/fatihkurtl https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F1183970%2F788c275f-051d-4433-93be-62e7a16bd3a6.jpeg https://forem.com/fatihkurtl en Fatih Kurt Mon, 09 Mar 2026 06:46:23 +0000 https://forem.com/fatihkurtl/why-i-built-my-own-mobile-ssh-client-and-why-you-should-care-about-your-keys-4n0b https://forem.com/fatihkurtl/why-i-built-my-own-mobile-ssh-client-and-why-you-should-care-about-your-keys-4n0b <p>Let’s be real: managing a production VPS from a smartphone is usually a nightmare.</p> <p>A few weeks ago, I had a runaway Docker container eat up all the RAM on a client’s server at 2 AM. By the time I got to my laptop, the damage was done. I tried using some of the "big" mobile SSH apps, but they all had the same problems:</p> <ol> <li>They felt like they were designed in 2012.</li> <li>They were bloated with features I didn't need.</li> <li>The biggest red flag: They wanted to sync my private SSH keys and server IPs to their cloud.</li> </ol> <p>As a developer, handing over my "keys to the kingdom" to a third-party cloud never sat right with me. So, I decided to build ServerGlance.</p> <h2> The "No-Cloud" Architecture </h2> <p>My first rule was simple: No credentials ever leave the device. Period.<br> I used flutter_secure_storage for local AES-256 encryption. When you connect to your server, the iPhone talks directly to the VPS via SSH. No middleman, no telemetry, no "syncing" to my servers.</p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fs3071ij8aapex2h7ioiu.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fs3071ij8aapex2h7ioiu.png" alt=" " width="800" height="1739"></a></p> <h2> Solving the Keyboard Agony </h2> <p>Using a terminal on a touchscreen is painful because standard keyboards lack Esc, Tab, Ctrl, and arrow keys. I built a custom keyboard accessory row and "Quick Actions" so I could run htop or df -h with a single tap.</p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F8b3whrac4ggug6z7aj9o.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F8b3whrac4ggug6z7aj9o.png" alt=" " width="800" height="1739"></a></p> <h2> Docker Visibility at a Glance </h2> <p>Instead of just being a terminal, I wanted to see my containers without needing a full SSH session. I implemented a view that surfaces your Docker containers directly on the dashboard. At a glance, I can see which containers are running, which have exited, and which image versions are live—all without typing a single command.</p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F0js0nkyjwdqwzirpsk2v.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F0js0nkyjwdqwzirpsk2v.png" alt=" " width="800" height="1739"></a></p> <h2> Who is this for? </h2> <p>If you manage a handful of VPS instances (Hetzner, DigitalOcean, AWS) and you actually care about where your private keys are stored, give it a look. It’s built by a developer who got paged one too many times.</p> <p>I’m looking for feedback from fellow SysAdmins and DevOps engineers. What’s the one feature that would make you actually leave your laptop closed during a minor server crisis?</p> <p>Links:</p> <ul> <li><p>App Store: <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/serverglance-ssh-monitor/id6758614736" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://apps.apple.com/us/app/serverglance-ssh-monitor/id6758614736</a></p></li> <li><p>Website: <a href="https://serverglance.fktyazilim.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://serverglance.fktyazilim.com/</a></p></li> </ul> productivity devops sysadmin ios