XenForo Android App: Your Forum, Native on Google Play

A XenForo Android app puts your forum on Google Play under your own name and icon — a true native app built with Flutter, not a WebView wrapper. Your members get push notifications, offline reading and fingerprint login. You pay $199 once, not a monthly subscription, and the ad revenue stays yours.

That is the short version. Below is exactly what ships today, what launch really costs, and how Google Play publishing works — including the closed-testing requirement most vendors don’t mention.

  • One-time license. $199 via CodeCanyon: Android and iOS builds, installation included, 6 months of support, updates. No per-member fees, no subscription.
  • Live proof. Our demo app is published on Google Play right now. Install it before you spend anything.
  • Built on XenForo’s official REST API. Members sign in with their existing forum account via OAuth2 — no second password, no synced user database.

What your members get on Android

Members don’t download forum apps for the technology — they download them because the app feels better than the mobile browser. Here is what makes that true:

  • A real native interface. The app is compiled Flutter code, not a website in a shell. Long threads scroll smoothly, lists are cached, and navigation feels like every other native app on the phone. If you’re weighing wrappers against native builds, read native app vs web wrapper: which is right for your forum.
  • Push notifications that actually arrive. Replies, mentions, private conversations and chat messages come through Firebase Cloud Messaging. Each member controls their own notification toggles, so power users can subscribe to everything while casual members keep just mentions. Push is the single biggest reason members install a forum app — we covered why in push notifications for forums.
  • Offline reading. Threads members have opened stay readable without a connection — commutes, flights, dead zones.
  • Biometric unlock. Fingerprint or face unlock instead of typing a password on a phone keyboard.
  • Dark mode. Follows the system setting. At this point members treat its absence as a bug, not a missing feature.

Beyond that, the full forum feature set is in the app: posting with BBCode, attachments, polls, likes, bookmarks, advanced search and private conversations — plus real-time chat, stories and a marketplace layer that give members reasons to open the app between threads.

What you get as the forum owner

  • Your brand on Google Play. Your app name, your icon, your colors, your store listing — published under your own Google Play developer account. Your forum is not a tab inside someone else’s aggregator app.
  • A $25 one-time developer account. Google Play registration is a single $25 fee, ever. (Apple charges $99 per year on the other platform — details on the XenForo iOS app page.)
  • App Control remote management. Change a setting in your XenForo admin panel — colors, features, behavior — and every installed app reconfigures instantly through a silent push. No store update, no review queue, no waiting. As of July 2026, no competing XenForo app product offers anything comparable.
  • Your AdMob, your revenue. If you run ads in the app, they run through your own AdMob account and the revenue is yours. Prefer an ad-free app? Turn them off. Nothing is ever injected by us.
  • Your data stays on your server. The app talks directly to your forum’s API. There is no intermediary copy of your member database.
  • Moderation from your pocket. Delete, move and ban from the phone — useful when the spam wave hits at 2 a.m. and your desk is far away.

Publishing on Google Play, honestly

The process is straightforward, but one step is worth knowing up front:

  1. Register a Google Play developer account — $25, one-time.
  2. We build and install. Your branding goes into the app and the XenForo side gets configured. Installation is included in the license, so there is nothing for you to compile.
  3. Closed testing for new accounts. Under Google’s current policy, new personal developer accounts must run a closed test with at least 12 testers before they can publish to production. For a forum owner this is the easiest version of that requirement anywhere: post a “help us test the app” thread and recruit the testers from your own community.
  4. Promote to production. After the testing period you release publicly, and your forum has a real Google Play listing members can search, link and review.

The full walkthrough is in our guide to publishing your forum app on the App Store and Google Play.

Try the demo before you decide

The fastest way to evaluate the app is not this page — it’s your phone. Our demo app is live on Google Play: install it, browse the demo forum, trigger a push notification, open the chat, and judge the scrolling yourself. Real customer forums running the app are listed on our homepage under “Live in the wild”.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a WebView wrapper around my forum?

No. The app is built with Flutter and ships as a true native binary. It renders forum content natively through XenForo’s REST API rather than loading your website in an embedded browser. That is why smooth scrolling, caching, offline reading and biometric login work like a real app — because it is one.

What does it actually cost to launch on Android?

$199 once for the Regular license (single forum, both platform builds, installation, 6 months of support, updates) plus Google’s $25 one-time developer registration. There is no subscription and no per-member pricing. If you add iOS later, Apple’s developer program costs $99 per year.

Do I need a developer on my team?

No. Installation is included in the license — we set up the XenForo side and deliver the branded builds. You need a Google Play developer account in your own name and the patience to follow a guided checklist; the closed-testing step is covered by your own members.

What happens when Android or XenForo updates?

The license includes app updates, and App Control pushes many configuration changes to installed apps instantly, with no store release at all. When a full store update is needed, you publish the new build through your own Play account — the same process you learned at launch.

One license, your app on Google Play

The Regular license is $199 one-time: Android and iOS builds, installation, 6 months of support, updates. The Extended license is $499 and adds the full Flutter source code with rebrand and resell rights for agencies. Either way you buy once — there is no monthly bill for as long as your forum lives.

See pricing · Download the demo from the homepage · Building for iPhone too? Read the XenForo iOS app page.