device-connectivity

Use when pairing a phone with Linux via KDE Connect.

Device Connectivity (Phone ↔ Desktop)

Pair your Android/iOS device with your Linux desktop for file sharing, notification sync, clipboard sync, media control, virtual touchpad, and more via the KDE Connect protocol.

Available Implementations

Implementation	Platform	Notes
KDE Connect (native)	Any distro with dnf/apt/pacman	sudo dnf install kdeconnectd
Valent (Flatpak)	All distros, incl. immutable	GTK4 implementation, nightly Flatpak. Best option on Fedora Atomic/bootc.
GSConnect	GNOME Shell	GNOME Shell extension implementing KDE Connect protocol

Valent (Recommended on Fedora Atomic / bootc)

KDE Connect is not available on Flathub. Homebrew has no Linux formula. Pip/PyPI has nothing. KDE's own Flatpak repo (distribute.kde.org) has been unreliable. Valent is the only straightforward path on immutable systems.

Installation

bash

flatpak install --user -y --from https://valent.andyholmes.ca/valent.flatpakref

Ports

Valent uses the KDE Connect protocol with a narrower port range than the original:

Port	Protocol	Purpose
1716	UDP	Device discovery (broadcasts)
1716	TCP	Main connection, pairing, commands
1739–1764	TCP	Auxiliary streams (file transfers, etc.)

Firewall

On Fedora, the default FedoraWorkstation zone opens ports 1025–65535, so no changes needed:

xml

<port protocol="udp" port="1025-65535"/>
<port protocol="tcp" port="1025-65535"/>

If the interface is on the public zone (more restrictive), allow the ports:

bash

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=1716/tcp --add-port=1716/udp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=1739-1764/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

To check which zone is active:

bash

sudo firewall-cmd --get-active-zones

Running

bash

flatpak run ca.andyholmes.Valent

Launches as a background daemon + pairing GUI. Works on any Wayland compositor (niri, sway, river, GNOME, KDE).

Pitfalls

• KDE Connect and Valent conflict — they cannot run simultaneously. Both claim port 1716. Stop one before launching the other.
• Valent is alpha (1.0.0.alpha.49 as of mid-2026). Some features may be missing vs. KDE Connect.
• No GNOME Shell extension needed on non-GNOME WMs — the Flatpak handles device discovery, pairing, and all protocol functions without it.
• Flatpak permissions include system D-Bus access to BlueZ (Bluetooth), Avahi (mDNS), ModemManager, UPower, and login1 — all necessary for protocol features.
• Phone app: pair with the official KDE Connect app (Android/F-Droid) or KDE Connect for iOS — Valent speaks the same protocol.