Welcome to my “Bowflex Console” documentation! (what Nautilus calls Vantron).

Vantron is the foundation of most of Nautilus Inc.’s “smart devices.” Basically, an Android tablet running proprietary software. Besides some hardware-related things that sparked my curiosity.

I relied heavily on a previous work I found on Reddit (thanks xasmx!) to achieve a deeper understanding of the machine’s software and hardware.

Compatible Devices (Android Jailbreak)

After playing with the decompiled applications, I can say with certainty that the following documentation could be extrapolated, one way or another, to the following Bowflex devices:

Treadmills

• Treadmill 22 / Treadmill 56 (same treadmill. The 56 has a 220v AC input, the 22 has a 120v AC input)
• Treadmill 10 / Treadmill 25 (same treadmill. The 25 has a 220v AC input, the 10 has a 120v AC input)

Bikes

• VeloCore

Max Trainer

• Max Total 16
• Max Trainer M9

I don’t have a Max Trainer or a VeloCore, but it should work as long as you have an available USB port based on the code findings.

Confirmed to work with NautilusLauncher versions:

• 5.0.0.350
• 5.0.0.382

The jailbreak has already been patched by Nautilus.

Documentation

General Information

• Android Jailbreak

• Backup Your Console’s Contents

• Decompiling

• Bowflex Quirks

• ROM Dump (updated 2024!)

Work in Progress

• Treadmill Motor Controller (updated 2025!)

Final Goal

Enable as many future updates as possible for my treadmill.

Nautilus, Inc. only offers a 1-year warranty on the electronics, and as soon as I saw that the mechanism to turn off the machine (and therefore, the Android tablet) was basically “cutting the AC power through the back switch,” it scared me. Every Linux-based device should be shut down safely to prevent operating system corruption, and this Android tablet is no exception. So while it’s running, why not have some more fun with it?

In the end, I want to intercept, understand, and recreate the communication going to the motor controller in my treadmill so that if the tablet dies, I still have a functioning device.