(obviously flip out phones have a lot of moving parts to get damaged)
I think the ideal form factor for a proper development phone would be the Astro Slide (https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/astro-slide-5g-transforme...) – I haven't personally used it but I can imagine it's the smallest size possible for proper two-handed typing. The F(x)tec was a two-thumber instead.
I also had a Gemini PDA, which is basically the Psion 5mx keyboard glued to a shitty Android smartphone. Such a nice keyboard, but such mediocre and unsupported CPU...
With Android 15 you even get a full blown Linux VM running on KVM.
I was actually tempted to switch when AAA games like AC got ported to iOS, but then I remembered I love programming more than gaming.
With Apple discontinuing the small iPhone se and Android being able to run on folding phones that unfold to have an 8" display... Spending money on an Android phone is interesting again.
Is this any closer to becoming reality with modern Android?
Not sure which model though. So yes, somewhere, somehow this is possible.
However, when I sit in front of a big screen it is just easier to connect a "real" PC to it. Syncing data between my desktop and phones are pretty fast anyway.
This phone exists: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5, and it's my daily driver.
Librem 5 has open schematics [0] and runs an FSF-endorsed distro [1]. What else do you need for the verification [2]? Otherwise Linux could also be a honeypot, right?
[0] https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/l5-schematic
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25504641
[2] https://puri.sm/posts/hidden-operating-systems-in-chips-vs-s...
[0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Trojan_Shield
The only problems were that the version of Android I was running did not have windowing, so every app was full screen, and it could only drive one monitor. I guess some of the apps were also goofy on a widescreen monitor, but that's not really Android's fault.
It felt like the dream was almost there, but as time went on it was also obvious that nobody was terribly interested in making that dream a reality.
I couple of years back, I really liked replit for having probably the best integrated IDE on a phone. Everything was so smooth and well thought out.
Also, using two thumbs can be more awkward if you have big hands.
Is there anything more than a proof of principle that people (aka anyone who owns an Android 15 device) can try out?
I didn't find any instructions for actually doing that.
https://deepakness.com/blog/android-linux-terminal/
Basically just go to developer options and enable Linux development environment. A Terminal app will be installed.
You just need a non-Snapdragon Android phone. Because Snapdragon uses a different hypervisor than other vendors.
> This is like rsync for your phone. In fact I would not be surprised if this is implemented using rsync. Once you configure an offline folder, it will two-way sync that folder while you use the app. The kicker is: on your phone you can now open that folder in another app (like an editor) and make changes. When you switch back to the shellfish app, the changes are uploaded almost instantly.
One can get this killer feature for free with Android and Syncthing. It’s definitely pretty nice!
And of course one can also run Emacs and other free (as in speech or beer) text editors on Android.
IIRC there are a couple of ways to get a full Linux command line environment as well.
I ended up moving away from it just because ‘typing’ with my thumb is painful.
The last part is kind of depressing really.
You do realize that not every minute you spend with a child is “quality time” right? Like most responsibilities in adulthood, child rearing has many periods where your child simply needs your presence. The child themselves cannot handle full time mental and emotional engagement either.
Relax.
Now that iOS and Android are Tier 3 platforms, we should be getting closer to the day that we can generate an IPA or APK from our Python project in a single click.
But you can compile an APK from Java/Kotlin source (both your own and 3rd party OSS apps) and install it on your device, the app to do so is called CodeAssist.
How do people that rawdog international flights do it? No phone, no books, no music, maybe just the flight screen with the little aeroplane over the map.
You could just let your thoughts wander. That's a form of meditation, letting the mind unravel on its own.
I wish I did it more, actually.
Of course, I'm sure I was often annoying as hell during long car rides when I was a kid. And the luxury of handing kids a magic-zone-out-device is a lifesaver. But I do wonder if I'm shortchanging my kids by not forcing them to be bored more often.
I know of it via a streamer who uses it to control OBS, but this is more its native use case haha
sometimes I'd like to keep my regular phone in my pocket, providing internet and cpu-assistance via bluetooth, but the UI be another device altoghether.
My thought for this was not for a mobile IDE, but a navigation device. iwatch is ok, but still not there.
By the way, the dev also works on a Git client for iOS, Working Copy. I used that together with Shortcuts to make my Obsidian vault sync via git in the background.
iPadOS and iPhoneOS will remain useless for actual dev work until they unlock hardware virtualization in Virtualization.framework.
Apps on the iPhone and iPad will remain sandboxed, and root isn't possible, so being able to run a VM that _can_ run as root is the next best thing.
I believe this framework on mobile uses software emulation, which is horribly slow and guzzles battery.
Well, this and third-party browser engine support. Mobile Safari is absolutely horrible. This doesn't become apparent until you're using your iPad full time. Death by a trillion cuts. It also burns battery when you start using it with desktop websites.
Until then, the experience is basically you using your iDevice as a dumb terminal (don't mean that as a dig against Termius; great app given its limitations) to some server somewhere where actual work is done. Rendering issues galore if you use vim with color schemes.
Dev site: https://getutm.app/
I know the full-blown Linux terminal is "released", but only for Pixel phones by what I've been able to find. Definitely can't install it on my OnePlus 13 yet.
I've been using JuiceSSH for years, but it's getting a bit long in the tooth and doesn't receive updates for years anymore either.
hnlmorg•6h ago
I actually preferred those devices for development work because the stylus is a much better input device than fat fingers when it comes to precision input. However you then lose the one-handed feature that the author is keen on.
These days, MacBook Pros have such long battery lives that I couldn’t imagine wanting to use a phone-form-factor for any serious work. But maybe the new style phones bendable screens that flip open like a book, might tempt me back to using a phone for development work again. Unfortunately such devices are currently Android-only at present.
teekert•5h ago
That does not rule out having your phone as your primary development device of course. I was already pleasantly surprised that when I tried to charge my iPad with the USB-C dangling of my ultrawide, the screen came to life! Sadly with the iPad's own screen ratio. My screen-attached wireless keyboard and mouse did work though!
I still dream of having normal Linux (or GrapheneOS, or PostMarketOS) on something like a Fairphone and being able to plug it in USB-C and just work (I just need a terminal, perhaps an editor, and a browser of course). Ubuntu Phone came so close :'( Maybe it becomes workable on the FairPhone 6... (actually, it seems like it is working? Can it do the desktop thing? It does say "Wired External monitor :check:")
Or you know, at least a Padfone [0] (just kidding, I'm just always looking for an excuse to share this masterpiece of a video).
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2ANnpHnUrc
nehal3m•5h ago
In principle however, it worked.
hnlmorg•5h ago
I was pleasantly surprised with my Son relatively budget Samsung phones, when I plugged it into an external monitor. Instead of showing a the phone screen on the monitor (like an iPhone would), it loaded up a different desktop that looked more like Ubuntu than it did like Android.
I can’t remember the specifics but it was definitely designed to be used with a keyboard and mouse.
wisenull•5h ago
You can run the browser without any issues, use ssh with JuiceSSH and have the terminal. Running vim on there might be an option but another editor that is not a TUI might be more troublesome.
hnlmorg•1h ago
wisenull•50m ago
teekert•5h ago
I will keep dreaming and in the mean time keep my Linux Laptop close.
hnlmorg•1h ago
I think the best we can hope for is something that allows us to run a sandboxed vanilla Linux container. Which I think is already possible on Android?
danieldk•5h ago
Google Pixel is supposed to ship a more complete desktop in Android 16 QPR1. Also has a Linux VM.
Of course, Samsung has had a pretty complete desktop on phones that support DeX for a while now.
marci•2h ago
edit: You're right, an unfortunate downgrade https://forum.fairphone.com/t/fp6-discussion-about-usb-2-and...
pjmlp•5h ago
On Apple devices it is kind of ok, Android outside Samsung is still pretty much hit-and-miss.
Likewise I don't want AI chat boxes, I want to speak with my computer, in my native language, again still not there yet.
alwillis•4h ago
[1]: https://wisprflow.ai/use-cases
pjmlp•4h ago