VitaSend

Send and receive files, folders and text between your PS Vita and any device running LocalSend - over your own Wi-Fi, no cloud, no cable. A native homebrew app written in C, with a touch-friendly interface, a built-in .vpk installer and a screensaver that shows your transfer progress.

VitaSend is an independent project. It speaks the open LocalSend protocol but is not affiliated with the LocalSend project or Sony. Status: beta (v0.9.8) - see Status.

More pictures are in docs/screens/ (OLED theme, settings, file browser, picture and text viewer, copy / move, screensaver, ...). They are rendered on a PC by the same drawing code the Vita runs.

Features

• Works with LocalSend (protocol v2.1): the Vita shows up in the LocalSend apps on your network, and the Vita can find them. Send files, whole folders and text in both directions.
• Made for a handheld: the left menu, tabs, cards and PlayStation button hints; everything works with buttons, D-pad and the front touch screen (tap, drag to scroll). Dark and pure-black OLED theme. Accents, Greek and Cyrillic text.
• Receive safely: you accept or reject every request (or use Quick Save for favourites / everyone), optional PIN, free-space check, SHA-256 verification, existing files kept / skipped / overwritten as you choose.
• Files tab: browse your memory cards, tick several files and send them together, copy or move them to another folder or memory card, rename, delete, create folders. X opens the highlighted file: a picture (JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF) or text file in the built-in viewer, a .vpk in the installer; tick several with SQUARE and X opens them as a queue you can page through.
• Updates: VitaSend checks GitHub for a new version when it starts (pre-releases count; asks at most once a day; can be switched off in Settings) and has a Check for updates button in About. The download is verified (SHA-256, HTTPS with built-in root certificates) and installed with the normal installer.
• Unzip a .zip into a new folder (progress bar, cancel, unsafe names refused), and a progress bar when deleting files and folders.
• Wi-Fi off? The app asks, tries to switch it on for you, or lets you continue offline. Retail firmware has no system call for the first, so then a button (TRIANGLE) opens the Vita's Wi-Fi settings.
• .vpk installer like VitaShell's: install a received package with one button, install a whole queue, or let VitaSend install packages from favourites automatically (off by default). Open app right after installing.
• Screensaver with the bouncing logo and live transfer / installation progress; wakes on touch, button, a request or a finished job. Optional battery indicator and clock, a short finished chime.
• Retry a failed transfer with only the files that did not arrive, history of the last transfers and messages, favourites, a device details page, an on-screen log for troubleshooting.
• No dependencies beyond mbedTLS: its own HTTP server and client, JSON, ZIP / DEFLATE reader and 2D renderer.

Install

You need a PS Vita with custom firmware (HENkaku / ensō - see the Vita Hacks Guide) and VitaShell.

1. Download VitaSend-v098.vpk from the Releases page.
2. Copy it to your Vita (USB or FTP) and install it with VitaShell (open the file, press X).
3. In the HENkaku settings turn on "Enable unsafe homebrew" - the installer needs the extended permissions (see why). Without it the app will not start.
4. Start VitaSend from the LiveArea.

Quick start

• Vita to Vita / PC / phone: connect both to the same Wi-Fi, open LocalSend on the other device, and send to the device named Vita-XXXX. The Vita shows who is sending - press X to accept.
• From the Vita: open the Send tab, press SQUARE to choose files (or TRIANGLE to type a text), pick the other device in the list and press X.
• Install an app you received: when the transfer finishes, press TRIANGLE to install it (or open the Files tab and press X on a .vpk).
• The Vita cannot see the other device? Some routers block multicast between Wi-Fi clients ("client isolation"). Turn that off, press TRIANGLE on the Receive tab to announce again, or use SELECT > Add by IP on the Send tab.

Everything else - controls, settings, the installer, troubleshooting - is in the user guide.

Status

VitaSend is a beta. What has been checked:

• This is being used on a real PS Vita PCH-1004 with the LocalSend Windows, Linux, Android and iPhone apps: receiving and sending files, text, installing packages, touch, screensaver, sound.
• More than 600 automated checks run on a PC against the real mbedTLS under AddressSanitizer / UBSan: the protocol (against stand-ins that play the other LocalSend device), the transfer engines, the .vpk installer (ZIP / DEFLATE compared with Python's zlib, corrupted and malicious packages), and the whole interface including simulated touch. See docs/TESTING.md.
• Not yet tested: the LocalSend app for macOS, other Vita models (PCH-100x vs PCH-200x, PS TV) and firmware versions, ensō-only setups. Reports are very welcome - use the Bug report template and attach the log (Settings > Log).

Known limits: one transfer at a time, one TLS connection per file (many tiny files are slow), the browser-download API and IPv6 are not supported, only Latin / Greek / Cyrillic text can be displayed. Details in the user guide and PROTOCOL.md.

Build from source

export VITASDK=/usr/local/vitasdk && export PATH=$VITASDK/bin:$PATH
./scripts/build-mbedtls.sh            # once: downloads and builds mbedTLS 3.6.2 (checksum verified)
mkdir build && cd build && cmake .. && make -j4

The result is build/VitaSend-v098.vpk. Docker, WSL, CMake options and common problems: docs/BUILDING.md.

You can also build the whole program as a normal Linux program and test it without a Vita:

./scripts/build-mbedtls.sh host && make -C host SAN=1
python3 host/fake_peer.py && python3 host/test_transfer.py

For developers

The code is plain portable C. Only two files talk to the Vita (src/plat_vita.c, src/ui_vita.c); everything else runs unchanged on a PC, which is how it is tested. Start here:

Document	What is in it
docs/ARCHITECTURE.md	layers, threads, source map, how receiving / sending / installing / the UI work
docs/ABOUT_THE_PORT.md	how the port works, the tools used, and the Vita-specific problems and decisions
docs/PROTOCOL.md	which parts of the LocalSend protocol are implemented, and how
docs/BUILDING.md	building the VPK and the PC test build
docs/TESTING.md	the test harness, test knobs, regenerating the screenshots
CONTRIBUTING.md	how to send a change

src/        the program (see docs/ARCHITECTURE.md for a map of every file)
host/       PC build + the test scripts
scripts/    build-mbedtls.sh
tools/      generators for the icons / LiveArea images and the embedded fonts
sce_sys/    bubble icon and LiveArea images
fonts/      font licences (the fonts themselves are compiled into src/fontdata.c)
docs/       documentation and screenshots

License and credits

VitaSend is free software under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later (LICENSE). The whole project is GPL because the installer follows VitaShell by TheFloW (GPL-3.0): the head.bin template and the install procedure. Other components: mbedTLS (Apache-2.0 / GPL-2.0+), stb_truetype and stb_image (public domain), Mozilla's root certificate list (MPL-2.0, built in for the update check), the Poppins and Liberation Sans fonts (SIL OFL 1.1) - details in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.

The LocalSend protocol is by Tien Do Nam and contributors. "PlayStation" and "PS Vita" are trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.; this project is not affiliated with or endorsed by either company.

Made by trashman. Developed with AI assistance. Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue.