Termux
7 min read
Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app that works directly with no rooting or setup required. A minimal base system is installed automatically - additional packages are available using the APT package manager.
Intents and Hooks
Termux is able to catch several intents and execute shell scripts to act upon them:
• Sharing single files with Termux.
Following handle will be executed:~/bin/termux-file-editor
• Opening in your popular editor by using a symbolic link:
ln -s $PREFIX/bin/nvim ~/bin/termux-file-editor
• Creating a handle by creating a file and changing the access rights:
1. nano ~/bin/termux-file-editor)
2. chmod +x ~/bin/termux-file-editor)
• URL sharing available in common apps (e.g. Youtube).
Following handle will be executed: ~/bin/termux-url-opener
• Sharing a URL to be downloaded.
You can handle incoming URL by editing the content.
yoursth-dl -f 'bestvideo[ext=mp4][height<=720]+bestaudio' --restrict-filenames -o '~/storage/downloads/%(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s' $1
SSHD
Since Termux does not use initialization system, services are started manually from command line. To start OpenSSH server, you need to execute this command:
shell
sshd
If you need to stop sshd, just kill it's process:
shell
pkill sshd
SSH daemon does logging to Android system log, you can view it by running logcat -s 'sshd:*'. You can do that either from Termux or ADB.
Files stored in the home directory in Termux is not accessible to other applications by default. This is a limitation of Android itself.
As a workaround, you can use termux-open available in termux-tools package to share files with read access.
$ termux-open -h
Usage: termux-open [options] path-or-url
Open a file or URL in an external app.
--send if the file should be shared for sending
--view if the file should be shared for viewing (default)
--chooser if an app chooser should always be shown
--content-type type specify the content type to use
$ termux-open hello.c
Termux:Boot
This addon will run scripts immediately after device was booted.
Installation
Download add-on from F-Droid
Usage
1. Install the Termux:Boot app.
2. Go to Android settings and turn off battery optimizations for Termux and Termux:Boot applications.
3. Start the Termux:Boot app once by clicking on its launcher icon. This allows the app to be run at boot.
4. Create the ~/.termux/boot/ directory: Put scripts you want to execute inside the ~/.termux/boot/ directory. If there are multiple files, they will be executed in a sorted order.
5. It is helpful to run termux-wake-lock as first thing to prevent the device from sleeping.
Example: to start an sshd server and prevent the device from sleeping at boot, create the following file at ~/.termux/boot/start-sshd:
#!/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/sh
termux-wake-lock
sshd
Termux:API
This addon exposes device functionality as API to command line programs in Termux.
Installation
Download the Termux:API add-on from F-Droid or the Google Play Store. It is required for the API implementations to function.
Installing termux-api package
To use Termux:API you also need to install the termux-api package.
shell
pkg install termux-api
APIs
termux-wake-lock
Use termux-wake-lock and termux-wake-unlock respectively to prevent the system from putting termux to sleep.
termux-battery-status
This command returns battery status information as JSON.
termux-brightness
Set the display brightness. Note that this may not work if automatic brightness control is enabled.
shell
termux-brightness [brightness]
Brightness value should be between 0 and 255 or auto.
termux-camera-info
Get information about device camera(s) in JSON format.
termux-camera-photo
Take a photo and save it to a file in JPEG format.
shell
termux-camera-photo [-c camera-id] output-file
termux-wallpaper
Change wallpaper on your device.
Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| -f <file> | set wallpaper from file |
| -u <url> | set wallpaper from url resource |
| -l | set wallpaper for lockscreen |
termux-volume
Change volume of specified audio stream.
shell
termux-volume [stream] [volume]
Valid audio streams are: alarm, music, notification, ring, system, call.
Call w/o arguments to show information about each audio stream (output format is json).
termux-vibrate
Vibrate the device.
Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| -d duration | the duration to vibrate in ms (default:1000) |
| -f | force vibration even in silent mode |
termux-torch
Toggle LED Torch on device.
shell
termux-torch [on | off]
termux-storage-get
Request a file from the system and write it to the specified file.
shell
termux-storage-get [output-file]
Share a specified file or text from standard input.
Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| -a action | which action to performed on the shared content: edit/send/view (default:view) |
| -c content-type | content-type to use (default: guessed from file extension, text/plain for stdin) |
| -d | share to the default receiver if one is selected instead of showing a chooser |
| -t title | title to use for shared content (default: shared file name) |
termux-sensor
Get information about types of sensors as well as live data.
Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| -a, all | Listen to all sensors (WARNING! may have battery impact) |
| -c, cleanup | Perform cleanup (release sensor resources) |
| -l, list | Show list of available sensors |
| -s, sensors [] | Sensors to listen to (can contain just partial name) |
| -d, delay [ms] | Delay time in milliseconds before receiving new sensor update |
| -n, limit [num] | Number of times to read sensor(s) (default: continuous) (min: 1) |
termux-fingerprint
Use fingerprint sensor on device to check for authentication. Output is JSON.
termux-media-player
Play specified file using Media Player API.
shell
termux-media-player info # Displays current playback information
termux-media-player play # Resumes playback if paused
termux-media-player play <file> # Plays specified media file
termux-media-player pause # Pauses playback
termux-media-player stop # Quits playback
termux-microphone-record
Record using microphone on your device.
Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| -d | Start recording with defaults |
| -f | Start recording to specific file |
| -l <limit> | Start recording w/ specified limit (in seconds, unlimited for 0) |
| -e <encoder> | Start recording w/ specified encoder (aac, amr_wb, amr_nb) |
| -b <bitrate> | Start recording w/ specified bitrate (in kbps) |
| -r <rate> | Start recording w/ specified sampling rate (in Hz) |
| -c <count> | Start recording w/ specified channel count (1, 2, ...) |
| -i | Get info about current recording |
| -q | Quits recording |
termux-notification
Display a system notification. Content text is specified using -c/--content or read from stdin.
Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| --action action | action to execute when pressing the notification |
| --button1 text | text to show on the first notification button |
| --button1-action action | action to execute on the first notification button |
| --button2 text | text to show on the second notification button |
| --button2-action action | action to execute on the second notification button |
| --button3 text | text to show on the third notification button |
| --button3-action action | action to execute on the third notification button |
| -c, --content content | content to show in the notification. Will take precedence over stdin. |
| --group group | notification group (notifications with the same group are shown together) |
| -i, --id id | notification id (will overwrite any previous notification with the same id) |
| --image-path path | absolute path to an image which will be shown in the notification |
| --on-delete action | action to execute when the the notification is cleared |
| --ongoing | pin the notification |
| --priority prio | notification priority (high/low/max/min/default) |
| --sound | play a sound with the notification |
| -t/--title title | notification title to show |
termux-notification-remove
Remove a notification previously shown with termux-notification --id.
shell
termux-notification-remove [id]
termux-dialog
Show dialog widget for user input.
shell
termux-dialog widget [options]
confirm - Show confirmation dialog
[-i hint] text hint (optional)
[-t title] set title of dialog (optional)
checkbox - Select multiple values using checkboxes
[-v ",,,"] comma delim values to use (required)
[-t title] set title of dialog (optional)
counter - Pick a number in specified range
[-r min,max,start] comma delim of (3) numbers to use (optional)
[-t title] set title of dialog (optional)
date - Pick a date
[-t title] set title of dialog (optional)
[-d "dd-MM-yyyy k:m:s"] SimpleDateFormat Pattern for date widget output (optional)
radio - Pick a single value from radio buttons
[-v ",,,"] comma delim values to use (required)
[-t title] set title of dialog (optional)
sheet - Pick a value from sliding bottom sheet
[-v ",,,"] comma delim values to use (required)
[-t title] set title of dialog (optional)
spinner - Pick a single value from a dropdown spinner
[-v ",,,"] comma delim values to use (required)
[-t title] set title of dialog (optional)
speech - Obtain speech using device microphone
[-i hint] text hint (optional)
[-t title] set title of dialog (optional)
text - Input text (default if no widget specified)
[-i hint] text hint (optional)
[-m] multiple lines instead of single (optional)*
[-n] enter input as numbers (optional)*
[-p] enter input as password (optional)
[-t title] set title of dialog (optional)
* cannot use [-m] with [-n]
time - Pick a time value
[-t title] set title of dialog (optional)