Termux

by tosh on 2/2/2026, 11:03:44 AM

Comments

by: haunter

One of my favorite piece of software was made by the guy with Termux on his phone [0], absolute insane <a href="https://github.com/9001/copyparty" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/9001/copyparty</a>0, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15_-hgsX2V0&t=885s" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15_-hgsX2V0&t=885s</a>

2/2/2026, 12:35:37 PM

by: cfiggers

Termux is the first app I install on every Android device I get my hands on. It's astonishingly capable.I have a Bluetooth keyboard case for my Android tablet. All the time, I use Termux to ssh into my Linux machine over my home network and code on it in Neovim from my couch.I don't bother with the default notes app on my phone. Termux + Neovim running vimwiki and syncing to a private GitHub repo is way better.Most stuff you want at the CLI is in the Termux package repository. On the occasions when it isn't, you can install clang, make, cmake, ninja, whatever libraries you need, and build it from source. At that point most stuff just works.Termux is incredible and single-handedly keeps me running Android.

2/2/2026, 12:43:54 PM

by: Rygian

My usecase for Termux: most pictures get backed up properly into the home NAS, but the sync process sometimes skips a few [1] (which is exasperating, but here we are still not migrated to Immich).So I have a python script in the NAS that calculates the MD5 checksum of every photo and video, and generates a shell script that, when executed on the phone, will calculate the MD5 on the local device, and delete if it is equal to the NAS.The generated shell script gets sent to the phone, then I execute it from within a Termux window, pointing at the DCIM folder.I can free up tens of GB of memories with reliability in the face of a misbehaving sync algorithm.[1] <a href="https://help.nextcloud.com/t/auto-upload-is-skipping-random-pics/222184" rel="nofollow">https://help.nextcloud.com/t/auto-upload-is-skipping-random-...</a>

2/2/2026, 1:29:57 PM

by: ratrocket

Adding to the many other great uses of termux already here, the most useful lately for me is running Syncthing. After the "drama" with the Syncthing android client (my understanding: official development stopped due to onerous requirements from the Google, then the most popular fork was transferred to a new owner in a less-than-fully-trustworthy manner), being able to just run syncthing from the command line is a breath of fresh air.I highly recommend using Unexpected Keyboard along with termux (a recommendation I myself almost certainly got from HN).

2/2/2026, 2:31:17 PM

by: mg

Is Termux still needed, now that new Android phones have a full Linux available?I keep reading on <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/androidterminal/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reddit.com/r/androidterminal/</a> about user experiences with it and it seems pretty great.

2/2/2026, 12:35:24 PM

by: bluebarbet

Honest question, as a heavy desktop TUI user who has had Termux installed for years. A terminal (emulator) is a keyboard-based environment. How on earth are all you fans making it work with a tiny touchscreen?

2/2/2026, 12:59:49 PM

by: anasrin

Best terminal emulator on Android, my day to day basis is note-taking (fzf, Neovim, Git) and SSH (when I'm too lazy to open up computer).Also you can build some CLI or TUI using Go and compile using Android NDK and run it on Termux.

2/2/2026, 1:06:27 PM

by: Fluorescence

I love termux. I can run my normal terminal environment - tmux, fish, just, git, zoxide, yazi etc. and build rust apps. With decent auto-complete/fuzzy-search, it's very ergonomic for only needing a couple of key presses to get things done. I'm impressed that TUI apps like yazi/nnn respond to touch. It's a very viable app platform for those inclined.Out of curiosity, is there an equivalent on ios with that level of support?

2/2/2026, 12:43:27 PM

by: twism

I've tried Termux but use the old irssiconnectbot (<a href="https://github.com/irssiconnectbot/irssiconnectbot" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/irssiconnectbot/irssiconnectbot</a>) but with slight modifications over the years since its open source... along with an also modified hackerkeyboard (<a href="https://github.com/klausw/hackerskeyboard" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/klausw/hackerskeyboard</a>) to support my workflow which is heavy on emacs and GNU Screen.The colors/graphics seem to be better on irssi and can also handle all the emacs and gnu screen keyboard chords and escape sequences.I try every android terminal but nobody is really thinking about running more than simple commands.

2/2/2026, 2:05:00 PM

by: mystifyingpoi

Termux is also an excellent solution for downloading videos from YouTube and similar sites, due to the fact that yt-dlp works really well (and using mobile data makes it easier to avoid IP bans, most of the time anyway).

2/2/2026, 12:39:57 PM

by: nickjj

I use Termux to run SSH on demand, it's quite nice for rsync'ing files between my phone and desktop.The on demand nature of it is a major selling point to me. When I open Termux and run SSH it's up, if I shut down Termux, SSH goes away with it. That and I can use rsync which is a tool I've been using for syncing files for a long time.There's no need to run always-on tools like LocalSend or SyncThing, at least not for my use case. I have a little "sync" shell script on my desktop I can run to easily sync files "desktop TO phone" or "phone TO desktop".

2/2/2026, 12:59:03 PM

by: alejoar

Termux has saved me countless times over the years.. One of the most powerful apps on my phone, that's come through whether I needed a quick SSH session to put out a fire or to get some real work done on the go.

2/2/2026, 12:38:51 PM

by: ce4

I use it for lots of stuff, remote scanning from an old Canon flatbed scanner attached to my NAS (powered by a really ugly phone-local bash script, nothing else), rsync, renames (or the like using one liners), ssh tunnels to different destinations (to circumvent IP blockages) and of course YT downloads (using the source git folder and running it using "python -m yt_dlp $OPTIONS $URL" - when it breaks, a git pull is all it needs most of the time, I also have local patches that are not upstreamed)

2/2/2026, 1:44:13 PM

by: dharmatech

An experiment of using Python Textual to implement a phone app intended to run in Termux:<a href="https://youtu.be/sTj1FalZMVw?si=oq7uXCofjTGZO1F4" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/sTj1FalZMVw?si=oq7uXCofjTGZO1F4</a>

2/2/2026, 12:25:17 PM

by: ramblin_ray

What's the difference between this and Termius, especially for those who are just ssh'ing into their home machines?

2/2/2026, 2:20:28 PM

by: bear330

I also really like Termux. When I was developing <a href="https://github.com/nuwainfo/ffl" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/nuwainfo/ffl</a> (a tool similar to croc, but the receiver uses a browser and doesn't need to install anything), it was because I wanted an easy way to get things off my phone. I actually packaged ffl—which is pure Python—into an APE just to make it compatible with Termux. Although many people here use ssh, rsync, or solutions like copyparty, I prefer my own minimalist solution: just one binary to transfer whatever I want. Anyway, Termux is cool.

2/2/2026, 1:20:08 PM

by: kqr

I have been using Termux to SSH to other machines for quite some time, but only relatively recently did I have a flash of insight: I can use Termux to write applications for my phone in Perl (!).A year ago I used it to solve Advent of Code problems on my phone during my work commute. It was lovely. I have also used it to get access to a resampling calculator and a mental logarithm trainer on my phone.

2/2/2026, 1:40:23 PM

by: r17n

Everyone posting seems to love this. Can folks provide some of their use-cases?

2/2/2026, 1:22:21 PM

by: OsamaJaber

Sooooo underrated Incredibly handy when you're away from your machine

2/2/2026, 12:23:49 PM

by: _sinelaw_

It even runs Fresh so you can have a mini VSCode-like experience on your phone (pkg update && pkg install fresh-editor)

2/2/2026, 2:05:56 PM

by: kjuulh

Use it all the time.I've got a wireguard setup from phone or tablet to my workstation. Using mosh with zellij and I can do all the development I want. Whether it is restarting a machine, or actually writing code, using claude code etc. It works really well

2/2/2026, 12:35:14 PM

by: timonoko

I have webserver in Termux which is viewed in a watch.Kinda difficult to explain. But Copilot says:Provide a single-line weather summary (temperature, wind direction name + degrees, wind speed, symbol text) for use elsewhere (repo name suggests it’s for a clock/display).<a href="https://github.com/timonoko/Supersaa_kelloon" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/timonoko/Supersaa_kelloon</a>

2/2/2026, 12:43:27 PM

by: meatjuice

Being able to use openclaw or github copilot remotely through ssh would be nice. I think there should be a dedicated interface though, typing into termux using on-screen keyboard is a real pain.

2/2/2026, 2:04:44 PM

by: mimasama

I use Termux for my OTP implemented in a bash script, I trust oathtool more than an app.

2/2/2026, 1:45:57 PM

by: alance

Fwiw termux + rsync for android phone backup (eg rsync /storage/emulated/0/) will grab most things.

2/2/2026, 1:21:38 PM

by:

2/2/2026, 12:41:51 PM

by: firecall

There’s an app called Termux in the iOS App Store, but I’m guessing it’s not the same thing?

2/2/2026, 1:19:22 PM

by: leephillips

I use it to run Julia on my phone: <a href="https://lee-phillips.org/juliaOnPhone.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://lee-phillips.org/juliaOnPhone.jpg</a>

2/2/2026, 2:25:30 PM

by: Ingon

Termux is great - one of the ways I use it is to install the golang toolchain and compile/run connet.

2/2/2026, 1:03:43 PM

by: 1vuio0pswjnm7

Imagine Termux with a "VPN mode" so that privileged ports could be forwarded

2/2/2026, 2:30:46 PM

by: tetris11

the only true way to experience Emacs on android

2/2/2026, 12:25:07 PM

by: boneitis

Another nifty utility to use in tandem is scrcpy[0].Inside or outside of Termux, it allows you to interact with your android device in general from the comfort of your main computer/laptop over ADB.It becomes a super multiplier for Termux when I don't want to deal with the hassle of connecting a separate keyboard to my android phone/tablet.(A heads up, I have to use the `--render-driver=software` switch in order for scrcpy to work at all on my laptop.)[0]: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrcpy" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrcpy</a>

2/2/2026, 1:48:38 PM

by: GlenTheMachine

“Extendible” —> extensible, I believe

2/2/2026, 12:49:57 PM

by: PlatoIsADisease

I forget about how many Android only Apps I've used through the years. Emulators, fdroid, pulse wave generator(not sure if iphone has it, but they don't have aux ports anymore), termux, probably more... I don't think about it.That all said, I've heard news about Android getting degraded by Google to be more like Apple. Hope its rumors, but at least I had a good decade+.

2/2/2026, 12:46:51 PM

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