7 ms·

Build APKs on Android devices with Termux

123 points by app4soft 7y ago

iameli 7y ago
*Android
- deleted 7y ago
giancarlostoro 7y ago
Termux is amazing. I have coded up Python and Go basic web services to test it out. Then opened localhost and they work. Heck I did it with Emacs and a bluetooth keyboard.
- smitty1e 7y ago
  The downcheck for my old eyes was the tiny font.
  - PostOnce 7y ago
    you can zoom in / out with pinch like other apps You can fit 5 fairly large-font lines or 4 huge-font lines with the phone sideways (for the big keyboard). I like hackin' on it with a bluetooth keyboard so the whole phone display is my terminal -- if I could just find my ideal folding keyboard, or perhaps one of those recent sliding-keyboard revival phones
    - bogle 7y ago
      I like the iClever Wireless Folding Keyboard - mini version. It's tiny and easy to carry with a phone. You need to be a little more careful with where some keys are.
    - smitty1e 7y ago
      Right! I tried SPC z x in Spacemacs and got nowhere. This was some years ago.
  - vanderZwan 7y ago
    Get a large Fresnel magnifier, stick it in a transparent document holder and recreate that Terry Gilliam Brazil aesthetic! https://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5ff7iGSyf1r4zoaco1_500.gif https://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5ff7iGSyf1r4zoaco1_500.g...
  - a3n 7y ago
    I run sshd on termux, and log in from my laptop.
zeandcode 7y ago
With termux I could run some useful commands in linux without need to open my laptop
bitwize 7y ago
Enjoy it while it lasts, folks. Google policies forbid running of binaries that did not come from the original app APK or a Google Play download, and these are enforced with SELinux policies. I think recent Termux releases get around this with ptrace-based chicanery, but Google can and probably will plug that hole in a later release.
- app4soft 7y ago
  > Enjoy it while it lasts, folks... I think recent Termux releases get around this with ptrace-based chicanery, but Google can and probably will plug that hole in a later release. FTR, Termux team announced the end of Android 5.x/6.x support on 2020-01-01.[0] [0] https://github.com/termux/termux-packages/issues/4658 https://github.com/termux/termux-packages/issues/4658
- jeroenhd 7y ago
  Honestly that doesn't sound like a terrible idea. It sucks for the tiny minority of people doing development on their phones but let's face it, most apps running binaries from the Internet really shouldn't. The only reason a "normal" app would do this is to work around the AV scanning that Google does. I don't think Google should add permissions or warnings for this either as that doesn't help because people are clicking through warnings already. Too bad termux will fall victim to this. Hopefully some of the Magisk / Xposed folk will find a workaround that will allow specific apps to execute binaries again so that Termux will work for those that rely on it.
  - realusername 7y ago
    > I don't think Google should add permissions or warnings for this either as that doesn't help because people are clicking through warnings already. There's nothing preventing them to add a developer mode enabled by typing a few lines of code in a terminal (hard for unknowledgeable users), that sounds like an excuse to remove user rights.
    - jeroenhd 7y ago
      If they do that, people will put those lines in guides on "how to get [pirated app name] working 2019 confirmed working" and people will disable their security regardless. There's a trick to bypass any certificate warning errors in Chrome: it involved typing "badidea" into the error screen. Google had to update the code word because large vendors started putting the phrase into their documentation instead of fixing their buggy applications. It's only a matter of time until the code phrase changes again. This proves to me that secret phrases and magic developer toggles will just be made invalid by guides aimed at less technical folk which tell people to ignore warnings.
jmiskovic 7y ago
Not applicable for general Android programming, but I had lots of fun with LÖVE for Android. It's a port of 2D gaming library for Lua language. The API is really well designed and simple to remember. The app can can open and interpret source files (and fonts, sprites, sounds...) from internal memory. You could build everything from scratch on the phone without PC. Text editing is a pain, so I used it mainly to tweak constants and fix bugs. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.love2d.android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.love2d.and...
- andai 7y ago
  Re: text editing is a pain on mobile I've briefly been without a usable computer (but with several usable phones) a couple times recently, and attempted to use Android or iOS for development. The result was that I learned to do everything on the command line, and I learned to use vim. Thankfully I have a working computer again, but I doubt if I ever would have put in the effort to learn things the hard (but better) way otherwise.
Sirikon 7y ago
Tired: Distribute on Google Play Wired: Distribute on F-Droid Enlightened: make && make install
zoobab 7y ago
Cross-compilation has been a nightmare since the beginning.
zoobab 7y ago
Termux does not support old versions of Android, which I don't understand, because at the end, it's about sending an armv7 binary in the processor.
- Angusscript 7y ago
  You're serious? Agreed about the armv7 thing..
panpanna 7y ago
Note that this has actually been used by people developing Android and web apps on Chromebook. See for example https://dev.to/petermbenjamin/a-minimal-chromebook-setup-for-development--hacking-5292 https://dev.to/petermbenjamin/a-minimal-chromebook-setup-for... (Nowadays chromeos has native support for it)
reneberlin 7y ago
Inception ;)
swiley 7y ago
I wish ish could make ipks. Heh I wish there was any decent way to make ipks without buying a Macintosh.
paride5745 7y ago
Countdown for AUR for Android?
frijoles 7y ago
Jajaja ya quiero ver cuantas semanas tardamos para encontrar un solución y conseguir las actualizaciones para android 5 y 6

123 points by app4soft 7y ago

iameli 7y ago

*Android

deleted 7y ago

giancarlostoro 7y ago

Termux is amazing. I have coded up Python and Go basic web services to test it out. Then opened localhost and they work. Heck I did it with Emacs and a bluetooth keyboard.

smitty1e 7y ago
The downcheck for my old eyes was the tiny font.
- PostOnce 7y ago
  you can zoom in / out with pinch like other apps You can fit 5 fairly large-font lines or 4 huge-font lines with the phone sideways (for the big keyboard). I like hackin' on it with a bluetooth keyboard so the whole phone display is my terminal -- if I could just find my ideal folding keyboard, or perhaps one of those recent sliding-keyboard revival phones
  - bogle 7y ago
    I like the iClever Wireless Folding Keyboard - mini version. It's tiny and easy to carry with a phone. You need to be a little more careful with where some keys are.
  - smitty1e 7y ago
    Right! I tried SPC z x in Spacemacs and got nowhere. This was some years ago.
- vanderZwan 7y ago
  Get a large Fresnel magnifier, stick it in a transparent document holder and recreate that Terry Gilliam Brazil aesthetic! https://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5ff7iGSyf1r4zoaco1_500.gif https://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5ff7iGSyf1r4zoaco1_500.g...
- a3n 7y ago
  I run sshd on termux, and log in from my laptop.

zeandcode 7y ago

With termux I could run some useful commands in linux without need to open my laptop

bitwize 7y ago

Enjoy it while it lasts, folks. Google policies forbid running of binaries that did not come from the original app APK or a Google Play download, and these are enforced with SELinux policies. I think recent Termux releases get around this with ptrace-based chicanery, but Google can and probably will plug that hole in a later release.

app4soft 7y ago
> Enjoy it while it lasts, folks... I think recent Termux releases get around this with ptrace-based chicanery, but Google can and probably will plug that hole in a later release. FTR, Termux team announced the end of Android 5.x/6.x support on 2020-01-01.[0] [0] https://github.com/termux/termux-packages/issues/4658 https://github.com/termux/termux-packages/issues/4658
jeroenhd 7y ago
Honestly that doesn't sound like a terrible idea. It sucks for the tiny minority of people doing development on their phones but let's face it, most apps running binaries from the Internet really shouldn't. The only reason a "normal" app would do this is to work around the AV scanning that Google does. I don't think Google should add permissions or warnings for this either as that doesn't help because people are clicking through warnings already. Too bad termux will fall victim to this. Hopefully some of the Magisk / Xposed folk will find a workaround that will allow specific apps to execute binaries again so that Termux will work for those that rely on it.
- realusername 7y ago
  > I don't think Google should add permissions or warnings for this either as that doesn't help because people are clicking through warnings already. There's nothing preventing them to add a developer mode enabled by typing a few lines of code in a terminal (hard for unknowledgeable users), that sounds like an excuse to remove user rights.
  - jeroenhd 7y ago
    If they do that, people will put those lines in guides on "how to get [pirated app name] working 2019 confirmed working" and people will disable their security regardless. There's a trick to bypass any certificate warning errors in Chrome: it involved typing "badidea" into the error screen. Google had to update the code word because large vendors started putting the phrase into their documentation instead of fixing their buggy applications. It's only a matter of time until the code phrase changes again. This proves to me that secret phrases and magic developer toggles will just be made invalid by guides aimed at less technical folk which tell people to ignore warnings.

jmiskovic 7y ago

Not applicable for general Android programming, but I had lots of fun with LÖVE for Android. It's a port of 2D gaming library for Lua language. The API is really well designed and simple to remember. The app can can open and interpret source files (and fonts, sprites, sounds...) from internal memory. You could build everything from scratch on the phone without PC. Text editing is a pain, so I used it mainly to tweak constants and fix bugs. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.love2d.android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.love2d.and...

andai 7y ago
Re: text editing is a pain on mobile I've briefly been without a usable computer (but with several usable phones) a couple times recently, and attempted to use Android or iOS for development. The result was that I learned to do everything on the command line, and I learned to use vim. Thankfully I have a working computer again, but I doubt if I ever would have put in the effort to learn things the hard (but better) way otherwise.

Sirikon 7y ago

Tired: Distribute on Google Play Wired: Distribute on F-Droid Enlightened: make && make install

zoobab 7y ago

Cross-compilation has been a nightmare since the beginning.

zoobab 7y ago

Termux does not support old versions of Android, which I don't understand, because at the end, it's about sending an armv7 binary in the processor.

Angusscript 7y ago
You're serious? Agreed about the armv7 thing..

panpanna 7y ago

Note that this has actually been used by people developing Android and web apps on Chromebook. See for example https://dev.to/petermbenjamin/a-minimal-chromebook-setup-for-development--hacking-5292 https://dev.to/petermbenjamin/a-minimal-chromebook-setup-for... (Nowadays chromeos has native support for it)

reneberlin 7y ago

Inception ;)

swiley 7y ago

I wish ish could make ipks. Heh I wish there was any decent way to make ipks without buying a Macintosh.

paride5745 7y ago

Countdown for AUR for Android?

frijoles 7y ago

Jajaja ya quiero ver cuantas semanas tardamos para encontrar un solución y conseguir las actualizaciones para android 5 y 6