I've built Selectable - a freemium Postgres client for Android devices. It's currently available for open testing, links below.
The key feature is the SQL query editor. The query editor was designed to be mobile-friendly. With autocomplete and a touch-friendly way to select parts of a SQL query, writing SQL statements with the query editor can - in some cases - be faster than typing the same query on a desktop.
The app supports the usual SQL client things:
- Browsing schemas, tables, and columns
- Running custom SQL statements
- Viewing results as a list, or as a table.
- Exporting results to CSV
- Saving queries (You can save one query in the free version)
The project is in very early stages, and is still missing a lot of features - notably the ability to insert, update, delete, or perform DDL via the query editor.
The app currently only supports Postgres, and is currently only available on Android.
Please give it a spin, and let me know if you have any feedback or feature requests.
Full honesty - I really have a hard time seeing the need for things like this on mobile.
This is a very fair point.
I'm not trying to replace desktops with mobile here. I think database administration is still going to be easier with a big monitor and a keyboard, and that's not going to change.
Rather I'm trying to open up database administration to people who don't have desktops, or who are more comfortable working on their phones.
Or sometimes a phone is what you have and you need access.
Looks like very nice UI model, it’s not an easy problem to solve. Also one of the few times a portrait YT video is wholly appropriate.
You might be a little ahead of the times, but I think you're keyed into something with this.
I suppose having quick access to a database in case of emergency without having to rush to a computer, similar to how some people treat having SSH clients on their phones.
I'm not sure I'll ever need this, but it looks really neat.
Really slick! Will try it out today.
I've had to quickly access a dB from through the Termius mobile app one time, and it wasn't an experience I'd like to repeat, unless it's a really dire situation.
Fancy seeing a full-blown mobile Postgres editor. I can definitely see a few use cases but I'm curious whether your average Db admin or data engineer will be interested in using a tool like this.
Interesting project, I could see a use case for emerging markets where people don't have laptops. Maybe also include a local PG like https://supabase.com/blog/postgres-wasm for being able to play around with PG educationally with no required remote server?
For professional use cases, maybe if you're on call and need to access the DB over your phone (though I hope I'm never in that spot). Having documentation around network model - do you relay queries through your own backend - and the security model for data and credentials. Do you support any secure connection methods, like SSH tunnel, or does the PG need to be facing the public internet?
> Maybe also include a local PG like https://supabase.com/blog/postgres-wasm for being able to play around with PG educationally with no required remote server?
I did not know about wasm-postgres, thanks!
> Having documentation around network model - do you relay queries through your own backend - and the security model for data and credentials. Do you support any secure connection methods, like SSH tunnel, or does the PG need to be facing the public internet?
There's no backend, the app opens a connection directly to the database. Credentials are stored on-device. No data will ever be shipped to a third-party without user consent, and I will never change this. (This is a large part of why I haven't put in any "AI" features yet.)
The app currently does not support SSH tunneling. This is something I will be working on soon.
Also fair point on the documentation. There's currently 0 docs around the app, and I'm not proud of that.
Postgres has secure connection methods, including client and server TLS cert authentication.
You could also hide it behind tailscale/nebula or some other VPN thing.
I’m curious how secure is TLS client authentication if the database is exposed to the internet?
This looks great. There have certainly been times in my life where all I had was my phone, and I needed to check on a few things. I could see having an app like this handy "just in case" (assuming secure connectivity, of course). Good luck!
Also, several Postgres providers now also provide a SQL editor / runner and table visualizer in their UI.
What do Postgres users here think is the biggest missing thing in current clients? Are they too heavyweight? Too generic and don't support advanced Postgres features? Don't look modern enough? Not mobile friendly? Or is it something else?
I think people just really like Postgres, and like building tooling for it. Postgres is particularly easy to work with, thanks to its extensive documentation and its code being open-source.
That's very neat. I don't get it from the preview, though: can I JUST TYPE the query, w/o all these silly menues?
One saved query is super restrictive though, basically means either pay, or don't even bother to install.
I was just thinking about how a mobile client for an RDB would be cool to try for tracking workouts. There are plenty of CRUD apps for this but there is always some feature missing, whereas here you could customize to your delight.
I wonder what other apps are just RDB wrappers that could almost be substituted with something like this.
Thanks for sharing!
It's always great to see new mobile apps that are text first/structured text interfaces/ide's on mobile, UI considerations in the space are still woefully underexplored.
If there are any Lisp/Emacs people reading this, I think structural editing can work really well on touch devices.
Not all things are meant to be done on a phone, right?
What connection methods does it currently support? Can it do SSH tunneling?
Not at the moment. SSH tunneling is on the roadmap
I've built Selectable - a freemium Postgres client for Android devices. It's currently available for open testing, links below.
The key feature is the SQL query editor. The query editor was designed to be mobile-friendly. With autocomplete and a touch-friendly way to select parts of a SQL query, writing SQL statements with the query editor can - in some cases - be faster than typing the same query on a desktop.
The app supports the usual SQL client things:
- Browsing schemas, tables, and columns
- Running custom SQL statements
- Viewing results as a list, or as a table.
- Exporting results to CSV
- Saving queries (You can save one query in the free version)
The project is in very early stages, and is still missing a lot of features - notably the ability to insert, update, delete, or perform DDL via the query editor.
The app currently only supports Postgres, and is currently only available on Android.
Please give it a spin, and let me know if you have any feedback or feature requests.
Website: https://getselectable.com/
Play store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.weiyen.sel...
Full honesty - I really have a hard time seeing the need for things like this on mobile.
This is a very fair point.
I'm not trying to replace desktops with mobile here. I think database administration is still going to be easier with a big monitor and a keyboard, and that's not going to change.
Rather I'm trying to open up database administration to people who don't have desktops, or who are more comfortable working on their phones.
Or sometimes a phone is what you have and you need access.
Looks like very nice UI model, it’s not an easy problem to solve. Also one of the few times a portrait YT video is wholly appropriate.
You might be a little ahead of the times, but I think you're keyed into something with this.
I suppose having quick access to a database in case of emergency without having to rush to a computer, similar to how some people treat having SSH clients on their phones.
I'm not sure I'll ever need this, but it looks really neat.
Really slick! Will try it out today.
I've had to quickly access a dB from through the Termius mobile app one time, and it wasn't an experience I'd like to repeat, unless it's a really dire situation.
Fancy seeing a full-blown mobile Postgres editor. I can definitely see a few use cases but I'm curious whether your average Db admin or data engineer will be interested in using a tool like this.
Interesting project, I could see a use case for emerging markets where people don't have laptops. Maybe also include a local PG like https://supabase.com/blog/postgres-wasm for being able to play around with PG educationally with no required remote server?
For professional use cases, maybe if you're on call and need to access the DB over your phone (though I hope I'm never in that spot). Having documentation around network model - do you relay queries through your own backend - and the security model for data and credentials. Do you support any secure connection methods, like SSH tunnel, or does the PG need to be facing the public internet?
> Maybe also include a local PG like https://supabase.com/blog/postgres-wasm for being able to play around with PG educationally with no required remote server?
I did not know about wasm-postgres, thanks!
> Having documentation around network model - do you relay queries through your own backend - and the security model for data and credentials. Do you support any secure connection methods, like SSH tunnel, or does the PG need to be facing the public internet?
There's no backend, the app opens a connection directly to the database. Credentials are stored on-device. No data will ever be shipped to a third-party without user consent, and I will never change this. (This is a large part of why I haven't put in any "AI" features yet.)
The app currently does not support SSH tunneling. This is something I will be working on soon.
Also fair point on the documentation. There's currently 0 docs around the app, and I'm not proud of that.
Postgres has secure connection methods, including client and server TLS cert authentication.
You could also hide it behind tailscale/nebula or some other VPN thing.
I’m curious how secure is TLS client authentication if the database is exposed to the internet?
This looks great. There have certainly been times in my life where all I had was my phone, and I needed to check on a few things. I could see having an app like this handy "just in case" (assuming secure connectivity, of course). Good luck!
I've seen a few Postgres clients pop-up on HN recently. A recent example is: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41563100
Also, several Postgres providers now also provide a SQL editor / runner and table visualizer in their UI.
What do Postgres users here think is the biggest missing thing in current clients? Are they too heavyweight? Too generic and don't support advanced Postgres features? Don't look modern enough? Not mobile friendly? Or is it something else?
I think people just really like Postgres, and like building tooling for it. Postgres is particularly easy to work with, thanks to its extensive documentation and its code being open-source.
That's very neat. I don't get it from the preview, though: can I JUST TYPE the query, w/o all these silly menues?
One saved query is super restrictive though, basically means either pay, or don't even bother to install.
I was just thinking about how a mobile client for an RDB would be cool to try for tracking workouts. There are plenty of CRUD apps for this but there is always some feature missing, whereas here you could customize to your delight.
I wonder what other apps are just RDB wrappers that could almost be substituted with something like this.
Thanks for sharing!
It's always great to see new mobile apps that are text first/structured text interfaces/ide's on mobile, UI considerations in the space are still woefully underexplored.
If there are any Lisp/Emacs people reading this, I think structural editing can work really well on touch devices.
Not all things are meant to be done on a phone, right?
What connection methods does it currently support? Can it do SSH tunneling?
Not at the moment. SSH tunneling is on the roadmap
The omnipresence of Postgres is impressive.
why do you need to query this on mobile?