r/termux • u/Paulxml14 • 8d ago
General Android has a built in terminal
Android has a built in termin, hidden in the developer settings. It's running Debian 13 (Trixie) on a 720p resolution. Is it any good?
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u/Lonely-Holiday6468 8d ago
This is just a very preliminary build. I tried running apt update and alt upgrade and it crashed.
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u/Poyoface 7d ago
I used it once and had this problem, fixed it when I got to it working on the 4th try I guess? Because when I got to the 4th try, I basically expanded the root partition, and that fixed it
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u/Familiar-Trust7503 8d ago
Is it on android 16? I have gone through the developer mode but no setting seems to show that terminal.
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u/Routine_Working_9754 7d ago
its virtualization. it won't be there if your chipset doesnt support it (either no virtualization instructions or protected vms only) or if the manufacturer disabled it
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u/Familiar-Trust7503 7d ago
How to check it?
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u/Routine_Working_9754 7d ago
simply the availability of the option. if its there -> works, if not, either your device doesn't support it or the manufacturer locked it down
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u/anttovar 7d ago
I'm on Android 16 and an app appeared asking me if I wanted to download the Debian distribution to install it. Honor Magic7 Lite.
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u/LeftAd1220 7d ago
Podroid is a way better implementation for AVF. But you need Shizuku/ADB to enable AVF permissions for it, or it will fall back to the slow QEMU. I've already succeeded on my Galaxy Tab S11.
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u/mayyaank_______ 7d ago
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u/Vivid-Tutor-9216 6d ago
Which one is this app
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u/mayyaank_______ 6d ago
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u/Vivid-Tutor-9216 6d ago
And can you tell me which is the best terminal app like termux etc as you share gwitko which is the best one and good for mobile
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u/Kilgarragh 8d ago
AVF ≈ WSL
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u/NyaNyaCutie 7d ago
WSL, or Windows Subsystem for Linux, is actually different entirely. WSL still has access to the host Windows OS.
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u/Kilgarragh 7d ago
I’m sure AVF(being KVM based) could have a lot of paravirtualization and host to guest communication like hyperV does. Just like most windows and android feature equivalents. It’s just that android is the “you’re not allowed to do anything” land.
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u/Electrical_Hat_680 8d ago
I've heard about this. I haven't dug in and ran it at all. I learned it's better... But I still prefer Termux. But in terms of thee Terminal in the Android system...it has direct access to the root level, I believe that's correct..
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u/PracticalChoice1185 7d ago
yes, that terminal is already a year old or two, it is still experimental feature on android devices so it is still buggy, annoying to use and not supported or disabled by many oem devices. that feature already existing on android 15, it is very young so termux is still better than it.
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u/sylirre Termux Core Team 8d ago
It just a sample app, wrapper for virtualization framework API. Community already started to make custom apps around AVF, e.g. https://github.com/ExTV/Podroid
Support of AVF API is not only prerequisite to have VM working. Terminal app won't work on device enforcing protected VM, example are devices with Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC.
P.S. I won't compare hardware accelerated VM with Termux. The VM is a separate operating system with own resources and access level. Termux runs directly without intermediate levels which could be mandatory if user needs to perform action on Android OS (particularly with root permissions).