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Cloud Phone:What is Cloud Phone?

Last Updated:May 27, 2026

Alibaba Cloud Workspace Cloud Phone runs virtual Android phones on Arm-based cloud servers with SHENLONG virtualization. Users remotely control Android systems and apps in real time via streaming from computers, phones, or other clients.

Use cases

Cloud Phone supports mobile office, cloud gaming, and enterprise marketing scenarios.

Benefits

Unlimited scalability

Cloud Phone provides a range of specifications and supports on-demand procurement. Cloud Phone services are available in many parts of the world and can be purchased for immediate use.

Cutting-edge technologies

Cloud Phone utilizes the Adaptive Streaming Protocol (ASP) of Alibaba Cloud and is powered by Arm servers and SHENLONG virtualization components.

Ease of use

Users can centrally manage cloud phone instances in the Alibaba Cloud Management Console. This includes batch operations and centralized O&M.

High security and reliability

Data is stored in the cloud with top-notch security and protection measures, and has a 99.9999999% reliability rate.

On-demand development

Cloud Phone facilitates faster development of business applications by supporting secondary development based on APIs and SDKs.

Real machine simulation

Cloud phone instances have the same features as physical phones and operate on the Android 12 OS, allowing them to work with the newest applications.

Specifications and prices

Cloud Phone offers the following instance specifications. Select an instance type based on your workloads and a region based on your service requirements.

Instance

Specification

Chinese mainland regions

Regions outside Chinese mainland

Name

Instance type

CPU/memory/storage

Monthly subscription (USD/month)

Pay-as-you-go (USD/hour)

Monthly subscription (USD/month)

Pay-as-you-go (USD/hour)

Lightweight

acp.basic.small

2 vCPU/4 GiB/32 GiB

9.9057

0.0457

15.3538

0.0709

General

acp.std.small

4 vCPU/4 GiB/32 GiB

13.8679

0.0579

21.4953

0.0898

Balanced

acp.std.medium

3 vCPU/6 GiB/32 GiB

14.9347

0.0610

23.1488

0.0945

Standard

acp.std.large

4 vCPU/8 GiB/32 GiB

21.3353

0.0808

33.0697

0.1252

Performance

acp.perf.large

8 vCPU/16 GiB/32 GiB

36.4224

0.1524

56.4546

0.2362

Terms

The following table describes the terms related to Cloud Phone.

No.

Term

Description

References

administrator

The person in charge of creating, assigning, and managing cloud phone instances.

Example: Kevin, an O&M engineer at a new media company.

Administrator Guide

console

The administrator-facing management tool provided by Alibaba Cloud. Administrators can manage instance groups, instances, applications, and other O&M operations in the Cloud Phone console.

Administrator Guide

region

The physical location of a data center. Regions are independent of each other.

Specifications and prices

instance group

A logical group of cloud phones delivered to end users. Includes underlying resources and general configurations such as resource specifications, pre-installed applications, display resolutions, office networks, and billing methods.

Create and manage instance groups

instance

The smallest usable computing unit. Cloud phone instances run Android 12. Administrators assign instances to end users, who then connect from Alibaba Cloud Workspace clients.

Manage cloud phones

application

Pre-installed software on each cloud phone instance. Administrators can upload on-premises applications to the Cloud Phone console and install them on all instances within a specific instance group.

Create and manage apps

end user

Personnel who use cloud phone instances. After administrators assign instances, end users connect from Alibaba Cloud Workspace clients.

Example: Kevin, an anchor at a new media company.

Manage end user accounts

client

The channel used by end users to connect to cloud phone instances. Sample clients include Windows clients, macOS clients, Web clients, and Android clients of Alibaba Cloud Workspace.

End User Guide

developer

R&D personnel who develop cloud phone applications.

Example: Tom, an application developer of a new media company.

ADB

A versatile command-line tool for communicating with Android devices. You can install, debug, or manage cloud phones by using Android Debug Bridge (ADB).

Note

We recommend that end users connect to cloud phone instances over VPCs by using ADB from cloud computers. VPC-based connections provide better security and more reliable, faster transmission than Internet-based connections.

Connect to a Cloud Phone instance using ADB

Obtain a client

Connect to cloud phone instances from clients. Use Alibaba Cloud Workspace clients for trial or demonstration, or develop custom clients using the Cloud Phone SDK or API.

Open or download an Alibaba Cloud Workspace client to connect to cloud phone instances on this page, or go to the Download Alibaba Cloud Workspace Client page.

Important

If you want to download a client on the Download Alibaba Cloud Workspace Client page, note that different clients are tailored to different cloud phone types. Elastic Desktop Service (EDS) Android and iOS clients do not support Cloud Phone. Make sure that you download the Cloud Phone Android client.

Note

If you have questions or special requirements on the operating system versions of Alibaba Cloud Workspace mobile clients, submit a ticket.

  • Web

    Google Chrome/Firefox

    Open Now
  • Windows

    64-bit Windows 7 and later

    Download Now
  • macOS

    macOS 10.15 and later

    Download Now
  • Android

    Android 10 and later

    Download Now

Operation guides

Refer to the operation guide that corresponds to your role.

Admin Avatar

Purchase and assign cloud phones as enterprise users

Administrator guide

User Avatar

Use cloud phones as individuals

View User Guide

User Avatar

Use APIs or SDKs for secondary development

View Development References

FAQ

FAQs about cloud phones

How do I query the billing information of a cloud phone?

You can perform the following steps to view the billing information of a cloud phone:

  1. Go to the Expenses and Costs page.

  2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose .

    Note

    If your console's appearance differs from the example, you may be using an older version. Click Try New Version at the bottom of the left-side navigation pane to switch.

  3. On the Bill Details page, set the filter conditions as needed and click Search.

    You can use Statistic Item and Statistic Period to control the aggregation dimension and statistical period of the bill. The results that meet the filter conditions are displayed in a list.

Why am I still charged for my cloud phone after I release the cloud phone?

You can go to the Bill Details page of the Expenses console to check whether dependent resources still exist.

  • Log on to the NAT Gateway console to check whether the NAT network resources are released.

  • Log on to the EIP console to check whether the configured elastic IP address (EIP) exists.

  • Go to the Internet Shared Bandwidth page to check whether the corresponding Internet shared bandwidth instance is being charged.

Why am I unable to access the Internet from a cloud phone?

You must check the network type of the instance group to which your cloud phone belongs before you troubleshoot the issue.

  1. Log on to the Cloud Phone console.

  2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Manage Resource > Instance Group.

  3. On the Instance Group page, find the instance group to which your cloud phone belongs and click the value in the Network column.

  4. On the Network page, check the value of the Network Type parameter and troubleshoot the issue by using one of the following methods:

    Shared Network

    Cloud phones in shared-network instance groups have internet access enabled by default.

    VPC

    • Use the Enable Now button

      1. Log on to the Cloud Phone console.

      2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Network & Security > Network.

      3. In the upper-left corner of the Network page, select the region where the cloud phone for which you want to enable the Internet access feature resides.

      4. Find the network that you want to manage and click Enable Internet Access in the Actions column.

      5. In the Enable Internet Access message, click Enable Now.

        Important

        After you enable the Internet access feature, the system automatically purchases pay-as-you-go NAT gateways and EIPs. For information about the pricing of NAT gateways and EIPs, see NAT Gateway billing and Billing overview.

    • Manually enable the Internet access feature

      For more information, see How cloud phones access the Internet.