Shelter

Nov 27, 2025

Introduction

Bitcoin is an open source, transparent, decentralized project..

The deeper you go down the rabbit hole - the more interested you become in Bitcoin beyond the speculative aspect - the more you become a bitcoiner.

De facto, a natural desire emerges in you to discover, adopt and share with your peers projects that share these same values and are developing indispensable applications in our daily activities.

In this tutorial, let's discover a privacy management tool that limits permissions and access to your data to applications installed on your smartphone: Shelter.

Shelter is a free and open source (FOSS) mobile application that provides you with an isolated space where you can install or clone applications.

According to Shelter's GitHub repository, the main use cases are :

installation of applications in the "Work Profile" to isolate them;
freeze applications in the "Work Profile" to prevent them from running or reactivating when you're not actively using them;
installing two copies of the same application on the same phone (cloning).

Shelter uses the Work Profil feature of the Android mobile operating system. As a result, Shelter is not available to Apple IOS users.

But what is the Work Profile feature?

The Work Profile feature

In fact, it's a feature that lets you separate your business data and applications from your personal ones. This means you can use the same phone for both work and private life.

Your company can only delete the professional profile or certain applications from this profile, without affecting your personal data.

Important ❗️ Shelter depends entirely on the quality of Android's implementation of the Work Profile on your phone. If your system has bugs related to this feature, Shelter's operation will be affected.

Getting started with Shelter

Install Shelter

Visit the F-droid free and open source applications and tools store.

F-DroidThe catalog of free and open-source applications.

First, on F-droid's New Features interface, click on the search icon, and type Shelter in the search bar.

Then click on the logo when it appears in the search results list. You'll be redirected to an interface where you'll find a detailed description of the application, its different versions..

Finally, click on the Install button.

Then tap on Install again in the context menu that appears to authorize said installation.

You can also install Shelter from its [Git] repository (https://gitea.angry.im/PeterCxy/Shelter).

Your application is installed, press the Open button to access it.

When you first open the application, you'll be presented with a short guide. Take the time to read the information, it's a great help in understanding how to use Shelter. Press Next each time, to go through the entire guide.

Shelter reminds you to make sure your phone is not in Do not disturb mode, before starting the application configuration process.

Press the Accept and continue button, wait for your professional profile configuration to finalize, then press the Next button.

A quick tour of the interfaces

Once in the application, you have :

the Main Profile (personal space) interface, which contains a list of all your personal applications installed on your phone;

and the Shelter interface (professional profile space), which contains a number of applications by default, such as Android Switch, Google Assistant, etc.

In the top right-hand corner, you have :

the search bar icon to find a specific application, depending on the interface you're on (1) ;
the gel icon for all applications on the interface you are currently on (2)

and the three dots icon that lets you access settings, install an APK in Shelter..

Depending on the launcher you're using on your phone, the application menu may be divided into two clearly visible tabs (Personal and Professional) (1), or your professional applications may be grouped together in a folder called Android Work on the home screen (2).

However, wherever they are visible on your phone, Professional profile applications are distinguished by a small blue suitcase/briefcase icon in the bottom right-hand corner of their icon.

To use an application from within Shelter, simply click on the application and press Launch when the context menu appears.

Installing applications in the Work Profil

On the Shelter interface, click on the Google Play Store application icon for a moment. Then, on the contextual menu (information screen) that appears, tap on Launch.

Press the Connect button and add a business e-mail address to connect.

Then go to Play store and download the business applications you need.

As you can see, the Signal application, once downloaded, appears in the list of your professional applications on the Shelter interface.

Find out how to get started with Signal in the following tutorial:

SignalExpress yourself freely

You can also install an application downloaded in APK (Android Package Kit) format on your phone.

The APK file format is the standard format used by Android for distributing and installing mobile applications.

To do so, tap on the three dots icon and then on Install an APK in Shelter. You'll be redirected to your phone's internal storage, where you can choose the APK file to install by clicking on it.

Let's try installing the APK file for this GPS local application.

Give Shelter permission to install applications on your phone by activating the button.

Press the Install button to install the application.

Bingo! Our application is now visible in the list of professional applications and is working properly.

Application freeze in Work Profil

To freeze an application, go to Shelter. Go to the professional applications tab. From this tab, select the application you wish to freeze.

Press the application icon for a moment until the context menu appears. In this contextual menu, click on Freeze.

Once frozen, the application that was visible in the Android Work folder (1) becomes invisible (2). You can unfreeze it whenever you like in Shelter.

Cloning an application

In Shelter, you can clone an application you're already using directly into your personal space.

To do this, go to the Main Profile tab, then click on the application you wish to clone for a moment, until the small contextual menu appears.

Let's try cloning the Telegram application.

When the pop-up menu appears, tap on Cloner to Shelter (Professional Profile).

Accept the installation by clicking on Install.

Telegram is now installed and visible in the Shelter tab.

The reverse process is also possible, i.e. cloning an application available in the professional tab to the main (personal) tab.

To do this, from the Professional tab, tap on the application to be cloned to bring up the contextual menu. Then click on Cloner to Main Profile. Let's try cloning the GPS Local application.

Press Install to accept the installation.

The application is now available in your personal applications menu.

Uninstalling Shelter

There are many reasons why you might want to uninstall Shelter. Either because your new job no longer requires you to use it, or because you've just acquired a new phone dedicated exclusively to your work..

In any case, you must first delete the Professional Profile. In your phone's Settings, go to Passwords and Accounts* and delete the Professional profile.

Then go back to your applications menu and uninstall the Shelter application now.

Now you know how to use the Shelter application to create a work profile that's isolated and separate from your personal applications. If you found this tutorial useful, please leave me a green thumb below. Please feel free to share it.

Long live open source projects! Long live Bitcoin!

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Author

This tutorial has been written by Marshal

You can say thanks by tipping the professor.

Marshal

9Tutorials

Hello!! As a lawyer and audiovisual content producer, I am a curious mind who enjoys learning new things. Since 2020, I have been interested in finance, blockchain, and Bitcoin. Next step: now I want to share my knowledge.

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Credits

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