{"slug": "termux", "name": "Termux", "category": "terminal", "category_name": "Terminal and shell", "description": "Android terminal emulator and Linux environment with its own package manager.", "recommenders": 18, "commenters": 42, "warners": 1, "score": 20.599, "rising": -1.91, "first": "2025-11-03", "latest": "2026-10-29", "why": "Loved for turning an Android phone or tablet into a portable Linux terminal for SSH into home machines, coding with familiar CLI tools, and running scripts and services like Syncthing and rsync.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 18, "neutral": 24, "compare": 1, "warn": 1}, "spark": [2, 2, 0, 7, 0, 0, 0, 1, 3, 2, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["SSH client", "Full Linux toolset"], "caveat": "Small-screen input", "short_quote": "Termux is incredible and single-handedly keeps me running Android.", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/abishekmuthian/apple-watch-with-android", "official_url": "https://termux.dev", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["Termux"], "verdict": [{"text": "Loved for turning an Android phone or tablet into a portable Linux terminal", "cites": [{"id": 749685552, "item_id": 46855347, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855347", "by": "cfiggers", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Termux is incredible and single-handedly keeps me running Android.", "excerpt": "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. Mos", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal and notes on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 791291536, "item_id": 49455721, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455721", "by": "matheusmoreira", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Android phone with termux and all the usual Linux tools.", "excerpt": "Android phone with termux and all the usual Linux tools. I use vim to write code, and I type with the touch screen. Not exactly peak ergonomics, but it works. For me, ability to code while lying down comfortably beats having a physical keyboard and bigger screen. Set up wireguard in my router and now I've got remote access into my LAN. My laptop has essentially become a Linux server. I just ssh in from the phone and ", "context": "codes from an Android phone", "use_case": "coding on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "New Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra"}, {"id": 789971153, "item_id": 49373197, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49373197", "by": "drunkonvinyl", "date": "2026-08-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "With Graphene and Termux, I use my Fold 10 as a cyberdeck", "excerpt": "With Graphene and Termux, I use my Fold 10 as a cyberdeck with a foldable BT keyboard. It\u2019s amazing how focused that experience can be. More portable than a MacBook Air. I didn\u2019t look at it as a phone getting bigger, but a laptop getting smaller.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pixel 11 Pro Fold feels like the end of an era"}]}, {"text": " for SSH into home machines, coding with familiar CLI tools, and running scripts and services like Syncthing and rsync.", "cites": [{"id": 732763458, "item_id": 45797716, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45797716", "by": "pawelduda", "date": "2025-11-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Install Termux, SSH into your PC, attach to the tmux session.", "excerpt": "1. Set up SSH access to your PC (I recommend tailscale) 2. Install and start tmux session on your PC so it stays synced and survives disconnects and what not. 3. Install Termux, SSH into your PC, attach to the tmux session. Bonus: tmux layout will scale nicely to your phone aspect ratio You can also setup mosh connection if you expect signal to be frequently lost due to poor network quality, etc.", "context": "", "use_case": "phone terminal client", "switched_from": "", "story": "What is the best way to use Claude Code from my phone?"}, {"id": 749685472, "item_id": 46855342, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855342", "by": "Fluorescence", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love termux.", "excerpt": "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 ", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal environment on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 749703377, "item_id": 46856461, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46856461", "by": "ratrocket", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the most useful lately for me is running Syncthing", "excerpt": "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 bre", "context": "", "use_case": "running CLI tools on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 749688288, "item_id": 46855518, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855518", "by": "nickjj", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The on demand nature of it is a major selling point to me.", "excerpt": "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.", "context": "", "use_case": "on-demand SSH and rsync", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}]}, {"text": " The most common caveat is cramped input on small phone screens,", "cites": [{"id": 780876834, "item_id": 48804802, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48804802", "by": "atharva-again", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Termux is nice, but not very good on small screens.", "excerpt": "I like the idea of being able to use agents from my phone. Termux is nice, but not very good on small screens. So I tried Hermes, it had first-class telegram support, but then I never use it for coding and was asking it to delegate to codex / pi. There wasn't much I was gaining from hermes, so I stopped using it. Then I started using Pi more and liked its extensability. Pi is the first software I have forked and deve", "context": "", "use_case": "agents from phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Built a Telegram Client for Pi"}, {"id": 785702624, "item_id": 49106414, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49106414", "by": "Twelveday", "date": "2026-07-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For now I didn't find anything that really works better than using termux on android or echo on ipad", "excerpt": "For now I didn't find anything that really works better than using termux on android or echo on ipad, ssh into my desktop with tailscale where I have a tmux session I can attach to. \"Input\" seems to be the biggest struggle for me versus a normal desktop+keyboard setup. On ipad I use a nuphy bluetooth keyboard which works pretty well and on android I use FUTO Keyboard with voice input. Overall I think I don't even wan", "context": "", "use_case": "remote coding from mobile", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mitchellh starts a new company: Superlogical"}, {"id": 791291536, "item_id": 49455721, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455721", "by": "matheusmoreira", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Android phone with termux and all the usual Linux tools.", "excerpt": "Android phone with termux and all the usual Linux tools. I use vim to write code, and I type with the touch screen. Not exactly peak ergonomics, but it works. For me, ability to code while lying down comfortably beats having a physical keyboard and bigger screen. Set up wireguard in my router and now I've got remote access into my LAN. My laptop has essentially become a Linux server. I just ssh in from the phone and ", "context": "codes from an Android phone", "use_case": "coding on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "New Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra"}]}, {"text": " and some found setup and package upgrades painful.", "cites": [{"id": 742762529, "item_id": 46422658, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46422658", "by": "ferguess_k", "date": "2025-12-29", "stance": "warn", "quote": "After a few weeks of trials with Termux, I finally gave up", "excerpt": "After a few weeks of trials with Termux, I finally gave up and switched to Terminator. Much easier! AFAIK Termux can work in non-GUI systems so maybe that's its advantage?", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal", "switched_from": "", "story": "Share Your Best Use Cases for Termux (2024)"}, {"id": 781209650, "item_id": 48825603, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48825603", "by": "constantius", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "in a proot distro[1] in termux: while I appreciated the symbolism of recurrence, it was a pain to set up.", "excerpt": "Just yesterday I needed this and resorted to running the harness in a sprite[0] in a proot distro[1] in termux: while I appreciated the symbolism of recurrence, it was a pain to set up. Will have a look. [0]: https://sprites.dev/ [1]: https://github.com/termux/proot-distro", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Shellular \u2013 run Claude Code, Codex, Pi from your phone"}, {"id": 749754848, "item_id": 46859678, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46859678", "by": "javier_e06", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Termux and I have a love-hate relationship.", "excerpt": "Termux and I have a love-hate relationship. Is my go-to app in my ARM based chromebook. Yet I am forced to upgrade the package manager to install git and other tools and once the package manager upgrades.. SSL library breaks. So you get ONE CHANCE to install your packages before SSL gets upgraded and bam! No more installations for you. I go to the usual places to look for fixes and it's like yeah yeah yeah. Try this.", "context": "ARM Chromebook user", "use_case": "terminal on ARM Chromebook", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "SSH client", "summary": "Commenters use it to SSH into desktops and home servers, often with tmux to keep sessions alive.", "quotes": [{"id": 732763458, "item_id": 45797716, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45797716", "by": "pawelduda", "date": "2025-11-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Install Termux, SSH into your PC, attach to the tmux session.", "excerpt": "1. Set up SSH access to your PC (I recommend tailscale) 2. Install and start tmux session on your PC so it stays synced and survives disconnects and what not. 3. Install Termux, SSH into your PC, attach to the tmux session. Bonus: tmux layout will scale nicely to your phone aspect ratio You can also setup mosh connection if you expect signal to be frequently lost due to poor network quality, etc.", "context": "", "use_case": "phone terminal client", "switched_from": "", "story": "What is the best way to use Claude Code from my phone?"}, {"id": 749685552, "item_id": 46855347, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855347", "by": "cfiggers", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Termux is incredible and single-handedly keeps me running Android.", "excerpt": "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. Mos", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal and notes on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 798380801, "item_id": 49898800, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49898800", "by": "simlevesque", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Termux on my phone to continue working from everywhere", "excerpt": "I have a big beefy desktop at home which I ssh (using EternalTerminal instead of raw port 22) into. I built it last summer right before the prices got very expensive. It's headless so I use a cheap Macbook Air to connect to it at home and I use Termux on my phone to continue working from everywhere.", "context": "", "use_case": "remote work from phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "GPT 6.1 Sol: Near-Astra intelligence for a fifth of the price"}]}, {"label": "Full Linux toolset", "summary": "Runs familiar terminal tools and can build software, so people code directly on the phone.", "quotes": [{"id": 749685472, "item_id": 46855342, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855342", "by": "Fluorescence", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love termux.", "excerpt": "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 ", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal environment on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 749685552, "item_id": 46855347, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855347", "by": "cfiggers", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Termux is incredible and single-handedly keeps me running Android.", "excerpt": "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. Mos", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal and notes on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 749694720, "item_id": 46855920, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855920", "by": "kqr", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I can use Termux to write applications for my phone in Perl (!).", "excerpt": "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.", "context": "", "use_case": "SSH and phone scripting", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}]}, {"label": "Scripts and services", "summary": "Used to run Syncthing, rsync, SSH tunnels and custom automation scripts on the device.", "quotes": [{"id": 749703377, "item_id": 46856461, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46856461", "by": "ratrocket", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the most useful lately for me is running Syncthing", "excerpt": "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 bre", "context": "", "use_case": "running CLI tools on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 749695376, "item_id": 46855961, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855961", "by": "ce4", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use it for lots of stuff, remote scanning from an old Canon flatbed scanner attached to my NAS", "excerpt": "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 a", "context": "", "use_case": "scripting, ssh tunnels, downloads", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 749688288, "item_id": 46855518, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855518", "by": "nickjj", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The on demand nature of it is a major selling point to me.", "excerpt": "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.", "context": "", "use_case": "on-demand SSH and rsync", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}]}, {"label": "Portable workstation", "summary": "Paired with a Bluetooth keyboard or a foldable screen, it works as a compact laptop replacement.", "quotes": [{"id": 789971153, "item_id": 49373197, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49373197", "by": "drunkonvinyl", "date": "2026-08-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "With Graphene and Termux, I use my Fold 10 as a cyberdeck", "excerpt": "With Graphene and Termux, I use my Fold 10 as a cyberdeck with a foldable BT keyboard. It\u2019s amazing how focused that experience can be. More portable than a MacBook Air. I didn\u2019t look at it as a phone getting bigger, but a laptop getting smaller.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pixel 11 Pro Fold feels like the end of an era"}, {"id": 749685552, "item_id": 46855347, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855347", "by": "cfiggers", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Termux is incredible and single-handedly keeps me running Android.", "excerpt": "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. Mos", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal and notes on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 804543617, "item_id": 50283976, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50283976", "by": "chrisco255", "date": "2026-10-29", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "big enough to comfortably use a terminal app like Termux as well", "excerpt": "For me, I'm reading more books because my e-reader is with me everywhere I go. The unfolded mode is fantastic for reading. It's obviously great for video too, a nearly 8 inch screen in your pocket is a big upgrade. Honestly it's big enough to comfortably use a terminal app like Termux as well. It's excellent for any note taking app you use. I use Obsidian, having more real estate is really important for long, detaile", "context": "uses a foldable phone", "use_case": "terminal on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and Touch"}]}, {"label": "Distros and emulators", "summary": "Can host other environments such as Ubuntu, NixOS or a SimH VAX emulator.", "quotes": [{"id": 777368864, "item_id": 48585554, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48585554", "by": "roserugco", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I recommend Termux which gives a Linux based terminal emulator", "excerpt": "I believe you are asking to use phone as backend? If its ios, its over because you cant. But if its Android, I recommend Termux which gives a Linux based terminal emulator and you can install Ubuntu in it for further support. You will also be needing a reverse tunnel to make it connect to your remote frontend application. i recommend to only learn only as running heavy resources already heats up phone, and yours old ", "context": "", "use_case": "running backend on Android phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Best resources for learning how to build a forum back end?"}, {"id": 801302737, "item_id": 50081421, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50081421", "by": "bigyabai", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I've got a Termux with NixOS installed on my Android handset.", "excerpt": "> I wish I could use Arch on mobile. You totally can. I've got a Termux with NixOS installed on my Android handset. There's also Phosh if you want a fully Arch-native install on your phone. Wouldn't be my choice for a mobile OS, but I don't see any roadblocks to using it.", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux environment on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Where has creativity in software gone?"}, {"id": 739391809, "item_id": 46211988, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46211988", "by": "mikewarot", "date": "2025-12-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've got a VAX/VMS 11/780 that I can run inside it thanks to SimH and Termux.", "excerpt": "I've got a Motorola Power G 2024, the cheapest unlocked phone I could get. You can root it, and I use it with Mint Mobile. I've got a VAX/VMS 11/780 that I can run inside it thanks to SimH and Termux. It's not a \"power user\" phone, per se, but it's amazing what $200 will get you these days.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Are there any viable Android phones for a power user to buy nowadays?"}]}, {"label": "Editor-friendly keys", "summary": "A configurable extra-keys bar makes Emacs and Vim usable without a special keyboard.", "quotes": [{"id": 737033153, "item_id": 46064572, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46064572", "by": "sasaf5", "date": "2025-11-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I just use termux's special key bar", "excerpt": "I have been using Emacs+git on termux on an Android phone for more than 5 years. I don't even use a third party software-keyboard, I just use termux's special key bar. To set it up, add the following to ~/.termux/termux.properties extra-keys = [['TAB','CTRL','ALT','ESC','HOME','END','LEFT','UP','DOWN','RIGHT']] This has been enough for using org mode in everyday life tasks, and I don't need to keep swapping keyboards", "context": "Android phone user", "use_case": "terminal on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Surprisingly, Emacs on Android is pretty good"}, {"id": 736869570, "item_id": 46054348, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46054348", "by": "rrix2", "date": "2025-11-25", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "so i use a termux build,,, well nix-on-droid+emacs-overlay... and it's fine, for capture and recall.", "excerpt": "Specifically for org, and specifically for org-roam, it's pretty good, but not good enough. It's not as good as desktop emacs, and it's also somehow not as good as a 1st class android app. the fdroid build of emacs doesn't really work very well with my org-roam, so i use a termux build,,, well nix-on-droid+emacs-overlay... and it's fine, for capture and recall. but i'm not authoring a lot of text with it. a custom ex", "context": "Emacs user", "use_case": "running Emacs on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Surprisingly, Emacs on Android is pretty good"}, {"id": 736871713, "item_id": 46054482, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46054482", "by": "krupan", "date": "2025-11-25", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "using emacs in terminal mode inside termux", "excerpt": "I've been using emacs in terminal mode inside termux for a few years and it's not bad. Full GUI emacs would be nice, I'll have to give this a try", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Surprisingly, Emacs on Android is pretty good"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Small-screen input", "summary": "Typing and screen space on a phone are a struggle compared with a desktop.", "quotes": [{"id": 780876834, "item_id": 48804802, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48804802", "by": "atharva-again", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Termux is nice, but not very good on small screens.", "excerpt": "I like the idea of being able to use agents from my phone. Termux is nice, but not very good on small screens. So I tried Hermes, it had first-class telegram support, but then I never use it for coding and was asking it to delegate to codex / pi. There wasn't much I was gaining from hermes, so I stopped using it. Then I started using Pi more and liked its extensability. Pi is the first software I have forked and deve", "context": "", "use_case": "agents from phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Built a Telegram Client for Pi"}, {"id": 785702624, "item_id": 49106414, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49106414", "by": "Twelveday", "date": "2026-07-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For now I didn't find anything that really works better than using termux on android or echo on ipad", "excerpt": "For now I didn't find anything that really works better than using termux on android or echo on ipad, ssh into my desktop with tailscale where I have a tmux session I can attach to. \"Input\" seems to be the biggest struggle for me versus a normal desktop+keyboard setup. On ipad I use a nuphy bluetooth keyboard which works pretty well and on android I use FUTO Keyboard with voice input. Overall I think I don't even wan", "context": "", "use_case": "remote coding from mobile", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mitchellh starts a new company: Superlogical"}, {"id": 791291536, "item_id": 49455721, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455721", "by": "matheusmoreira", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Android phone with termux and all the usual Linux tools.", "excerpt": "Android phone with termux and all the usual Linux tools. I use vim to write code, and I type with the touch screen. Not exactly peak ergonomics, but it works. For me, ability to code while lying down comfortably beats having a physical keyboard and bigger screen. Set up wireguard in my router and now I've got remote access into my LAN. My laptop has essentially become a Linux server. I just ssh in from the phone and ", "context": "codes from an Android phone", "use_case": "coding on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "New Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra"}]}, {"label": "Setup complexity", "summary": "Layering distros or tools inside Termux can be a pain to set up.", "quotes": [{"id": 781209650, "item_id": 48825603, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48825603", "by": "constantius", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "in a proot distro[1] in termux: while I appreciated the symbolism of recurrence, it was a pain to set up.", "excerpt": "Just yesterday I needed this and resorted to running the harness in a sprite[0] in a proot distro[1] in termux: while I appreciated the symbolism of recurrence, it was a pain to set up. Will have a look. [0]: https://sprites.dev/ [1]: https://github.com/termux/proot-distro", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Shellular \u2013 run Claude Code, Codex, Pi from your phone"}, {"id": 777511537, "item_id": 48594471, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48594471", "by": "roserugco", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Termux android terminal (pkg install package_name)", "excerpt": "Any terminal follows Unix Linux terminal commands. You can learn linux on freecodecamp. Fact is that it is actually hard to setup on this phone because we going OS into OS: > Android > Termux android terminal (pkg install package_name) > ubunutu (sudo apt install package) Tor (onion) is great to use internet without complexity and with security. You will need to have basic understanding of: 1. Linux commands 2. Tor (", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Best resources for learning how to build a forum back end?"}, {"id": 742762529, "item_id": 46422658, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46422658", "by": "ferguess_k", "date": "2025-12-29", "stance": "warn", "quote": "After a few weeks of trials with Termux, I finally gave up", "excerpt": "After a few weeks of trials with Termux, I finally gave up and switched to Terminator. Much easier! AFAIK Termux can work in non-GUI systems so maybe that's its advantage?", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal", "switched_from": "", "story": "Share Your Best Use Cases for Termux (2024)"}]}, {"label": "Package breakage", "summary": "Upgrades can break installs, especially on older 32-bit ARM devices.", "quotes": [{"id": 749754848, "item_id": 46859678, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46859678", "by": "javier_e06", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Termux and I have a love-hate relationship.", "excerpt": "Termux and I have a love-hate relationship. Is my go-to app in my ARM based chromebook. Yet I am forced to upgrade the package manager to install git and other tools and once the package manager upgrades.. SSL library breaks. So you get ONE CHANCE to install your packages before SSL gets upgraded and bam! No more installations for you. I go to the usual places to look for fixes and it's like yeah yeah yeah. Try this.", "context": "ARM Chromebook user", "use_case": "terminal on ARM Chromebook", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 786900484, "item_id": 49181280, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49181280", "by": "ljosifov", "date": "2026-08-05", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "recently Hermes stopped installing under Termux (v0.19 - no, v0.18 - yes)", "excerpt": "Love pi. It's good to have a minimal agent, always welcome. Even if only to bootstrap install other agents. E.g. recently Hermes stopped installing under Termux (v0.19 - no, v0.18 - yes). Agent pi to the rescue: installed it under Termux (Android), started it, pointed pi to the Hermes github, asked for v0.18 specifically - and it did it. Cherry on the top - asked it to install a plugin from github I use (unmerged PR)", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pi's Minimalism Is Its Advantage"}]}, {"label": "Device limits", "summary": "Older Android versions and unrooted phones limit speed and port binding.", "quotes": [{"id": 787638208, "item_id": 49227388, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49227388", "by": "alightsoul", "date": "2026-08-08", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "you could use termux but if termux runs on anything lower than android 8 termux will be significantly limited", "excerpt": "FYI you can't do this on phones with locked bootloaders as well as the author did. you could use termux but if termux runs on anything lower than android 8 termux will be significantly limited and you will need postmarketos and maybe fix support for it. with termux, at best things will be slow without root, as the author mentioned rooting resulted in a speed increase. without root, you also can't bind to ports on any", "context": "", "use_case": "running a server on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "My server is a phone now"}, {"id": 777368864, "item_id": 48585554, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48585554", "by": "roserugco", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I recommend Termux which gives a Linux based terminal emulator", "excerpt": "I believe you are asking to use phone as backend? If its ios, its over because you cant. But if its Android, I recommend Termux which gives a Linux based terminal emulator and you can install Ubuntu in it for further support. You will also be needing a reverse tunnel to make it connect to your remote frontend application. i recommend to only learn only as running heavy resources already heats up phone, and yours old ", "context": "", "use_case": "running backend on Android phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Best resources for learning how to build a forum back end?"}]}, {"label": "Play Store version", "summary": "One commenter advises getting it from F-Droid, calling the Play Store version watered down.", "quotes": [{"id": 777259490, "item_id": 48578718, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48578718", "by": "aussieguy1234", "date": "2026-06-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Termux is an example. Always get that from F-Droid, not the play store version.", "excerpt": "Its there. Before rethink I used DNS66 which is similar. Only available on F-Droid. Occasionally, these play store versions of apps are heavily watered down. Termux is an example. Always get that from F-Droid, not the play store version.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android terminal", "switched_from": "", "story": "GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon"}]}], "who": [{"by": "chrisco255", "context": "uses a foldable phone", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50283976", "date": "2026-10-29"}, {"by": "brokenmachine", "context": "Android user with home server", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49826456", "date": "2026-09-24"}, {"by": "vegnus", "context": "codes on phone", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49470296", "date": "2026-08-27"}, {"by": "matheusmoreira", "context": "codes from an Android phone", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455721", "date": "2026-08-26"}, {"by": "javier_e06", "context": "ARM Chromebook user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46859678", "date": "2026-02-02"}, {"by": "sasaf5", "context": "Android phone user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46064572", "date": "2025-11-26"}, {"by": "rrix2", "context": "Emacs user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46054348", "date": "2025-11-25"}], "tags": ["for Android users", "for coding on mobile", "for remote SSH access", "for Vim and Emacs users", "for home server owners"], "use_cases": ["terminal on android", "terminal on phone", "terminal", "linux environment on android", "phone voice assistant", "remote work from phone"], "compared": [{"slug": "syncthing", "name": "Syncthing", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "ntfy", "name": "ntfy", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "pi", "name": "Pi", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "terminator", "name": "Terminator", "co": 1, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "emacs", "name": "Emacs", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "tailscale", "name": "Tailscale", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "codex", "name": "Codex", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "tmux", "name": "tmux", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46854642", "title": "Termux", "mentions": 9}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46021577", "title": "Surprisingly, Emacs on Android is pretty good", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48585476", "title": "Ask HN: Best resources for learning how to build a forum back end?", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50276940", "title": "MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and Touch", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50081189", "title": "Ask HN: Where has creativity in software gone?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49985548", "title": "Ask HN: What do you run on a $5 VPS that's worth keeping online 24/7?", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 2, "neutral": 2}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 2, "neutral": 1, "warn": 1}, "2026-01": {"compare": 1, "neutral": 2}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 7, "neutral": 3}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 4, "recommend": 3}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 5, "recommend": 2}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 2, "recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {"neutral": 3}}, "quotes": [{"id": 804543617, "item_id": 50283976, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50283976", "by": "chrisco255", "date": "2026-10-29", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "big enough to comfortably use a terminal app like Termux as well", "excerpt": "For me, I'm reading more books because my e-reader is with me everywhere I go. The unfolded mode is fantastic for reading. It's obviously great for video too, a nearly 8 inch screen in your pocket is a big upgrade. Honestly it's big enough to comfortably use a terminal app like Termux as well. It's excellent for any note taking app you use. I use Obsidian, having more real estate is really important for long, detaile", "context": "uses a foldable phone", "use_case": "terminal on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and Touch"}, {"id": 801302737, "item_id": 50081421, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50081421", "by": "bigyabai", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I've got a Termux with NixOS installed on my Android handset.", "excerpt": "> I wish I could use Arch on mobile. You totally can. I've got a Termux with NixOS installed on my Android handset. There's also Phosh if you want a fully Arch-native install on your phone. Wouldn't be my choice for a mobile OS, but I don't see any roadblocks to using it.", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux environment on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Where has creativity in software gone?"}, {"id": 800824065, "item_id": 50051504, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50051504", "by": "chr15m", "date": "2026-10-12", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Termux based phone assistant.", "excerpt": "Things I use the private inference machine on my local network for: - Running queries on bank transaction data to figure out our home budget, savings and spending rates, etc. I don't want this data in the hands of AI companies. - Joplin note-taking app LLM integration for searching, creating, summarizing notes. This is my private notebook and I don't want it leaking. - Termux based phone assistant. I can use voice to", "context": "", "use_case": "phone voice assistant", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What do you run on a $5 VPS that's worth keeping online 24/7?"}, {"id": 798380801, "item_id": 49898800, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49898800", "by": "simlevesque", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Termux on my phone to continue working from everywhere", "excerpt": "I have a big beefy desktop at home which I ssh (using EternalTerminal instead of raw port 22) into. I built it last summer right before the prices got very expensive. It's headless so I use a cheap Macbook Air to connect to it at home and I use Termux on my phone to continue working from everywhere.", "context": "", "use_case": "remote work from phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "GPT 6.1 Sol: Near-Astra intelligence for a fifth of the price"}, {"id": 797223296, "item_id": 49826456, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49826456", "by": "brokenmachine", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use termux to ssh", "excerpt": "I use termux to ssh and RealVNC to connect to a remote vnc session, all over a wireguard VPN. Also Syncthing to automatically sync files between the phone and my home server. I download podcasts and audiobooks into a folder on the server and they're automatically on my phone ready to play. Immich to connect to my self-hosted media. And ntfy to get notifications from my home stuff. Tasker to automatically activate my ", "context": "Android user with home server", "use_case": "SSH from phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple iPhone 18 Pro Camera test"}, {"id": 794358752, "item_id": 49647422, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49647422", "by": "ActorNightly", "date": "2026-09-10", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Termux quite a bit", "excerpt": "Most commonly, media. Having a larger screen means you don't need a separate iPad. More niche use case is typing. Im on zfold 7 because I use Termux quite a bit.", "context": "", "use_case": "typing on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "iPhone Duo"}, {"id": 791524737, "item_id": 49470296, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49470296", "by": "vegnus", "date": "2026-08-27", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use this through Termux when coding on my phone.", "excerpt": "I use this through Termux when coding on my phone. Love it personally", "context": "codes on phone", "use_case": "terminal on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Micro Editor"}, {"id": 791291536, "item_id": 49455721, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455721", "by": "matheusmoreira", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Android phone with termux and all the usual Linux tools.", "excerpt": "Android phone with termux and all the usual Linux tools. I use vim to write code, and I type with the touch screen. Not exactly peak ergonomics, but it works. For me, ability to code while lying down comfortably beats having a physical keyboard and bigger screen. Set up wireguard in my router and now I've got remote access into my LAN. My laptop has essentially become a Linux server. I just ssh in from the phone and ", "context": "codes from an Android phone", "use_case": "coding on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "New Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra"}, {"id": 789971153, "item_id": 49373197, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49373197", "by": "drunkonvinyl", "date": "2026-08-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "With Graphene and Termux, I use my Fold 10 as a cyberdeck", "excerpt": "With Graphene and Termux, I use my Fold 10 as a cyberdeck with a foldable BT keyboard. It\u2019s amazing how focused that experience can be. More portable than a MacBook Air. I didn\u2019t look at it as a phone getting bigger, but a laptop getting smaller.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pixel 11 Pro Fold feels like the end of an era"}, {"id": 788873105, "item_id": 49304569, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49304569", "by": "raddan", "date": "2026-08-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I installed termux and I think it's fine.", "excerpt": "I've been using a Supernote Manta for the past month and I love it. It's not a full-on computer, and it has its own UI that discourages you from treating it like one, but it is in fact an Android device. I've installed Syncthing and a few other small niceties, and it is amazing to be able to carry a big collection of PDFs around with me that I've curated on my laptop, desktop, phone. One of the \"native\" apps is Amazo", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on e-ink device", "switched_from": "", "story": "I turned my RSS feeds into an e-ink newspaper to stop reading on my phone"}, {"id": 787638208, "item_id": 49227388, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49227388", "by": "alightsoul", "date": "2026-08-08", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "you could use termux but if termux runs on anything lower than android 8 termux will be significantly limited", "excerpt": "FYI you can't do this on phones with locked bootloaders as well as the author did. you could use termux but if termux runs on anything lower than android 8 termux will be significantly limited and you will need postmarketos and maybe fix support for it. with termux, at best things will be slow without root, as the author mentioned rooting resulted in a speed increase. without root, you also can't bind to ports on any", "context": "", "use_case": "running a server on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "My server is a phone now"}, {"id": 787036576, "item_id": 49189786, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49189786", "by": "tester457", "date": "2026-08-05", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use termux and tasker to get my automations done.", "excerpt": "There's a powerlessness to using Android. It's difficult to just do things. Even windows feels more \"free.\" Phone OSes are built like prisons. Ideally Android would let you drop into a real shell, without having to deal with android sandboxing. Regardless, I use termux and tasker to get my automations done.", "context": "", "use_case": "phone automation shell", "switched_from": "", "story": "I'm switching my phone from Android to Linux"}, {"id": 786900484, "item_id": 49181280, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49181280", "by": "ljosifov", "date": "2026-08-05", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "recently Hermes stopped installing under Termux (v0.19 - no, v0.18 - yes)", "excerpt": "Love pi. It's good to have a minimal agent, always welcome. Even if only to bootstrap install other agents. E.g. recently Hermes stopped installing under Termux (v0.19 - no, v0.18 - yes). Agent pi to the rescue: installed it under Termux (Android), started it, pointed pi to the Hermes github, asked for v0.18 specifically - and it did it. Cherry on the top - asked it to install a plugin from github I use (unmerged PR)", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pi's Minimalism Is Its Advantage"}, {"id": 785702624, "item_id": 49106414, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49106414", "by": "Twelveday", "date": "2026-07-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For now I didn't find anything that really works better than using termux on android or echo on ipad", "excerpt": "For now I didn't find anything that really works better than using termux on android or echo on ipad, ssh into my desktop with tailscale where I have a tmux session I can attach to. \"Input\" seems to be the biggest struggle for me versus a normal desktop+keyboard setup. On ipad I use a nuphy bluetooth keyboard which works pretty well and on android I use FUTO Keyboard with voice input. Overall I think I don't even wan", "context": "", "use_case": "remote coding from mobile", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mitchellh starts a new company: Superlogical"}, {"id": 782972416, "item_id": 48935776, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48935776", "by": "freedomben", "date": "2026-07-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "stuff like termux was so capable that I used it to run all kinds of stuff", "excerpt": "Yeah I remember buying a OnePlus 7 Pro with 12 GB (!) of RAM like 7 years ago. The processor was also bleeding edge and that sucker ripped. It combined with stuff like termux was so capable that I used it to run all kinds of stuff that makes little sense on a normal phone. The day that phone retired (from drop damage) was heartbreaking*. * It actually ran even longer after that as various utilities but not a daily dr", "context": "", "use_case": "running software on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "OnePlus halts operations in USA and Europe"}, {"id": 781777634, "item_id": 48861102, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48861102", "by": "bogwog", "date": "2026-07-10", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "or am using Termux on my phone", "excerpt": "I've been working with the command line for just under two decades. A couple of years of those were spent with vim as my primary editor, but eventually I moved to Sublime and never looked back. But I still use the command line heavily in all my work. I usually have a konsole window that I alt+tab into whenever I need to build or run tests, instead of using Sublime's \"build system\" support. The only time I use vim is ", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Good Tools Are Invisible"}, {"id": 781209650, "item_id": 48825603, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48825603", "by": "constantius", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "in a proot distro[1] in termux: while I appreciated the symbolism of recurrence, it was a pain to set up.", "excerpt": "Just yesterday I needed this and resorted to running the harness in a sprite[0] in a proot distro[1] in termux: while I appreciated the symbolism of recurrence, it was a pain to set up. Will have a look. [0]: https://sprites.dev/ [1]: https://github.com/termux/proot-distro", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Shellular \u2013 run Claude Code, Codex, Pi from your phone"}, {"id": 780876834, "item_id": 48804802, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48804802", "by": "atharva-again", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Termux is nice, but not very good on small screens.", "excerpt": "I like the idea of being able to use agents from my phone. Termux is nice, but not very good on small screens. So I tried Hermes, it had first-class telegram support, but then I never use it for coding and was asking it to delegate to codex / pi. There wasn't much I was gaining from hermes, so I stopped using it. Then I started using Pi more and liked its extensability. Pi is the first software I have forked and deve", "context": "", "use_case": "agents from phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Built a Telegram Client for Pi"}, {"id": 780800449, "item_id": 48800028, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48800028", "by": "mikewarot", "date": "2026-07-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love OpenSimH and Termux.", "excerpt": "Whenever the nostalgia kicks in hard, I fire up OpenVMS 7.2 on the virtual 11/780 in my cheap Motorola phone, then SSH in. I love OpenSimH and Termux.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Run Windows 2000 on a DEC Alpha with a new es40 fork"}, {"id": 780362482, "item_id": 48772655, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48772655", "by": "notahan", "date": "2026-07-03", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use pi via termux on android", "excerpt": "The tab model was a lot of fun, you felt like you're getting a speed boost while coding. I think vibe coding (or agentic engineering) is a different paradigm altogether. I have tried out some of the popular tools and I'm using opencode on desktop and I use pi via termux on android for when I'm on the go. I think the current direction of PRD -> review -> execute -> debug is in many cases the right mindset. Working wit", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Is anyone experimenting with different ways of using LLMs for coding?"}, {"id": 777511537, "item_id": 48594471, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48594471", "by": "roserugco", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Termux android terminal (pkg install package_name)", "excerpt": "Any terminal follows Unix Linux terminal commands. You can learn linux on freecodecamp. Fact is that it is actually hard to setup on this phone because we going OS into OS: > Android > Termux android terminal (pkg install package_name) > ubunutu (sudo apt install package) Tor (onion) is great to use internet without complexity and with security. You will need to have basic understanding of: 1. Linux commands 2. Tor (", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Best resources for learning how to build a forum back end?"}, {"id": 777368864, "item_id": 48585554, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48585554", "by": "roserugco", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I recommend Termux which gives a Linux based terminal emulator", "excerpt": "I believe you are asking to use phone as backend? If its ios, its over because you cant. But if its Android, I recommend Termux which gives a Linux based terminal emulator and you can install Ubuntu in it for further support. You will also be needing a reverse tunnel to make it connect to your remote frontend application. i recommend to only learn only as running heavy resources already heats up phone, and yours old ", "context": "", "use_case": "running backend on Android phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Best resources for learning how to build a forum back end?"}, {"id": 777259490, "item_id": 48578718, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48578718", "by": "aussieguy1234", "date": "2026-06-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Termux is an example. Always get that from F-Droid, not the play store version.", "excerpt": "Its there. Before rethink I used DNS66 which is similar. Only available on F-Droid. Occasionally, these play store versions of apps are heavily watered down. Termux is an example. Always get that from F-Droid, not the play store version.", "context": "", "use_case": "Android terminal", "switched_from": "", "story": "GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon"}, {"id": 763225793, "item_id": 47701612, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47701612", "by": "hagbard_c", "date": "2026-04-09", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Thus far I relied on a set of Termux scripts on these devices to keep a reverse ssh tunnel open", "excerpt": "I recently made a 'notification-driven RPC' app for Android to help me help others: Notifactor (Android App) A lightweight native Android app that intercepts notifications on the device and triggers actions based on configurable rules. The app uses Android's NotificationListenerService API. Once granted notification access it receives a callback for every notification posted on the device. It then checks each notific", "context": "", "use_case": "scripts on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are you building that's not AI related?"}, {"id": 752753014, "item_id": 47047063, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47047063", "by": "bramhaag", "date": "2026-02-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Terminal emulator", "excerpt": "Some other FOSS apps I use daily: Aegis - 2FA (https://github.com/beemdevelopment/Aegis) Breezy Weather - A very good looking weather app (https://github.com/breezy-weather/breezy-weather) OnlyOffice Documents - MS Office suite replacement (https://github.com/ONLYOFFICE/documents-app-android) Fossify Calendar (https://github.com/FossifyOrg/Calendar) Fossify Messages (https://github.com/FossifyOrg/Messages) Aves - Loc", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "GrapheneOS \u2013 Break Free from Google and Apple"}, {"id": 749754848, "item_id": 46859678, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46859678", "by": "javier_e06", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Termux and I have a love-hate relationship.", "excerpt": "Termux and I have a love-hate relationship. Is my go-to app in my ARM based chromebook. Yet I am forced to upgrade the package manager to install git and other tools and once the package manager upgrades.. SSL library breaks. So you get ONE CHANCE to install your packages before SSL gets upgraded and bam! No more installations for you. I go to the usual places to look for fixes and it's like yeah yeah yeah. Try this.", "context": "ARM Chromebook user", "use_case": "terminal on ARM Chromebook", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 749723488, "item_id": 46857718, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46857718", "by": "mikewarot", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Termux to host my 11/780 VAX/VMS system on my cheap ass Motorola phone", "excerpt": "I use Termux to host my 11/780 VAX/VMS system on my cheap ass Motorola phone, thanks to SimH. Beware of one thing, though... if you upgrade Termux, or remove/reinstall, you lose everything inside that \"linux\" system. I lost my first VAX setup that way. 8(", "context": "", "use_case": "hosting VAX/VMS emulation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 749703377, "item_id": 46856461, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46856461", "by": "ratrocket", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the most useful lately for me is running Syncthing", "excerpt": "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 bre", "context": "", "use_case": "running CLI tools on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 749702256, "item_id": 46856391, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46856391", "by": "leephillips", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use it to run Julia on my phone", "excerpt": "I use it to run Julia on my phone: https://lee-phillips.org/juliaOnPhone.jpg", "context": "", "use_case": "running Julia on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 749695376, "item_id": 46855961, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855961", "by": "ce4", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use it for lots of stuff, remote scanning from an old Canon flatbed scanner attached to my NAS", "excerpt": "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 a", "context": "", "use_case": "scripting, ssh tunnels, downloads", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 749694720, "item_id": 46855920, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855920", "by": "kqr", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I can use Termux to write applications for my phone in Perl (!).", "excerpt": "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.", "context": "", "use_case": "SSH and phone scripting", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 749688288, "item_id": 46855518, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855518", "by": "nickjj", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The on demand nature of it is a major selling point to me.", "excerpt": "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.", "context": "", "use_case": "on-demand SSH and rsync", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 749685552, "item_id": 46855347, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855347", "by": "cfiggers", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Termux is incredible and single-handedly keeps me running Android.", "excerpt": "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. Mos", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal and notes on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 749685472, "item_id": 46855342, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855342", "by": "Fluorescence", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love termux.", "excerpt": "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 ", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal environment on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Termux"}, {"id": 747572198, "item_id": 46723262, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46723262", "by": "reify", "date": "2026-01-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "termux", "excerpt": "I dumped smart phone shite with CyanogenMod back in 2010. I still have an old Oneplus 5T running lineage with android 15 A samsung S4 with android 11 as my kitchen timer. My family have Motorola edge 20 and Motorola edge 20 pro both with android 16. https://doc.e.foundation/devices https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/ I personaly prefer Lineage over E.OS. I use droid-ify app store, which saves messing about with addin", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What is your opinion on non-mainstream mobile OS options (e.g. /e/OS)?"}, {"id": 744137009, "item_id": 46508563, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46508563", "by": "Abishek_Muthian", "date": "2026-01-05", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "relay it to my iPhone using a Termux script[2]", "excerpt": "Congratulations on the launch OP. I'm currently using BuzzKill[1] for manging notifications on android. It's so good (and beautiful) that even though I use iPhone as primary device, I receive most of my notifications on android and relay it to my iPhone using a Termux script[2] after putting it through BuzzKill. I understand that your USP is logging which BuzzKill also provides with numerous actions and Tasker integr", "context": "", "use_case": "relaying notifications to iPhone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: DoNotNotify \u2013 log and intelligently block notifications on Android"}, {"id": 743932896, "item_id": 46495806, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46495806", "by": "utopiah", "date": "2026-01-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Been using Termux and iSH on my phones for years.", "excerpt": "Been using Termux and iSH on my phones for years. You can ssh to your server or just directly code for the phone itself. I also used Web based coding environment like Glitch (R.I.P.) for years. You can do that with your virtual keyboard, voice or a even a physical keyboard via BT, e.g. Corne-ish Zen. That's how I travel. That's really nothing AI specific or novel. It's cool though. FWIW I even coined a related term h", "context": "", "use_case": "coding and SSH on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Claude Code On-the-Go"}, {"id": 743709440, "item_id": 46481840, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46481840", "by": "utopiah", "date": "2026-01-03", "stance": "compare", "quote": "why not solely Termux with nginx?", "excerpt": "Can you please explain why not solely Termux with nginx? I don't understand why Andronix or proot are needed. Actually for a static Website why not just https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.basov.lws.fdroid/ or more modern https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.example.flutter_http_server/ ? Anyway glad you had fun.", "context": "", "use_case": "hosting static website on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Vibe Coding a static site on a $25 Walmart Phone"}, {"id": 743003506, "item_id": 46437719, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46437719", "by": "Imustaskforhelp", "date": "2025-12-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I think termux is pretty good and even better than UserLand in this context", "excerpt": "Alpine is really good for servers. Man I love alpine even though I don't use it so much but alpine does hold a special place in my heart for some reason (and i think the reasons are good) Tinycore is another one which holds a special place in my heart, partially because its the most no BS simple alpine-like os that I have seen which is rather focused on the consumer side, so you can get GUI systems super quickly and ", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux on phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "FediMeteo: A \u20ac4 FreeBSD VPS Became a Global Weather Service"}, {"id": 742762529, "item_id": 46422658, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46422658", "by": "ferguess_k", "date": "2025-12-29", "stance": "warn", "quote": "After a few weeks of trials with Termux, I finally gave up", "excerpt": "After a few weeks of trials with Termux, I finally gave up and switched to Terminator. Much easier! AFAIK Termux can work in non-GUI systems so maybe that's its advantage?", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal", "switched_from": "", "story": "Share Your Best Use Cases for Termux (2024)"}, {"id": 732763458, "item_id": 45797716, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45797716", "by": "pawelduda", "date": "2025-11-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Install Termux, SSH into your PC, attach to the tmux session.", "excerpt": "1. Set up SSH access to your PC (I recommend tailscale) 2. Install and start tmux session on your PC so it stays synced and survives disconnects and what not. 3. Install Termux, SSH into your PC, attach to the tmux session. Bonus: tmux layout will scale nicely to your phone aspect ratio You can also setup mosh connection if you expect signal to be frequently lost due to poor network quality, etc.", "context": "", "use_case": "phone terminal client", "switched_from": "", "story": "What is the best way to use Claude Code from my phone?"}]}