Published Apr 30, 2026, 10:00 AM EDT
Yadullah Abidi is a Computer Science graduate from the University of Delhi and holds a postgraduate degree in Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. With over a decade of experience in Windows and Linux systems, programming, PC hardware, cybersecurity, malware analysis, and gaming, he combines deep technical knowledge with strong editorial instincts.
Yadullah currently writes for MakeUseOf as a Staff Writer, covering cybersecurity, gaming, and consumer tech. He formerly worked as Associate Editor at Candid.Technology and as News Editor at The Mac Observer, where he reported on everything from raging cyberattacks to the latest in Apple tech.
In addition to his journalism work, Yadullah is a full-stack developer with experience in JavaScript/TypeScript, Next.js, the MERN stack, Python, C/C++, and AI/ML. Whether he's analyzing malware, reviewing hardware, or building tools on GitHub, he brings a hands-on, developer’s perspective to tech journalism.
Android apps are, without a doubt, one of the best things to ever happen to smartphones. Each app has a specific function, and thanks to the sheer size of the Google Play Store, you've got tons of options to choose from. However, an app's biggest strength—its ability to do one job—can also become a limitation if you've got a complicated task at hand.
Android apps are sandboxed, GUI-first, and built for the median user. I am not the median user. So, considering my Android phone can run a full Linux desktop, I started using the terminal on my Android phone, and it has changed how I think about what a phone can actually do.
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Two apps dominate Linux on Android
The terminal tools that make all of this possible
There are two main ways of running a Linux terminal on Android. The first is Termux, a free and open-source terminal emulator that runs a minimal Linux environment on your phone using Android's own Bionic libc, requires no root access, and gives you access to a package manager based on Debian's apt.
The second is Google's own Linux terminal. The new Terminal app on Android is a full Debian Linux virtual machine running on your phone. It uses the Android Virtualization Framework (AVF), which in turn uses KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) technology to spin up a sandboxed Linux environment right alongside your regular Android apps. It's a tiny computer inside your phone, completely isolated from the rest of the system.
The primary difference between the two is compatibility and access to the full Debian repository. Termux will run on just about any Android phone, but its package manager, pkg, isn't as expansive as the Debian package library. With Android's built-in Linux terminal, you get access to apt, and hence, the entire range of Linux command-line utilities, but it may or may not be available for your particular phone.
Termux
OS Android
Price model Free, Open-source
Termux is an Android app that brings a full Linux terminal environment to your phone, letting you run command-line tools and packages natively.
Your phone can run its own SSH server
Remote access that turns your device into a mini machine
Sure, there are SSH apps available on the Play Store, but they're nowhere as useful as a proper SSH utility that the Linux terminal can run. But now that you have access to a full Linux terminal on your Android, you can run these tools too.
With Termux, you can install OpenSSH with a single command—pkg install openssh—run sshd, and your phone suddenly becomes an addressable node on your home network. I can rsync entire folders to and from the phone with timestamps and permissions preserved, something that no mainstream file transfer app on the Play Store handles correctly.
MTP can be disastrous. Wi-Fi transfer apps are inconsistent. Rsync over SSH just works, every time, with proper delta syncing so it only moves what changed. Once you've backed up a phone or copied over your entire photo library this way, you'd never want to go back to plugging in a cable.
You can actually script your phone
Remote access that turns your device into a mini machine
It's not that Android apps don't offer automation. They do, but it's mostly limited to their own data. A backup app might only be able to schedule its own backups, or a gallery app can only organize its own photos. What they usually can't do is talk to each other the way you want. The terminal gives you that power.
GUI apps are great until you need to do a repetitive task a hundred times. A command line, on the other hand, is built for scripting and automation. A Linux terminal will let you write shell scripts, chain commands with pipes and redirection, and turn multistep fiddly tasks into a single command you can run, schedule, or save in a dotfile.
A single script can rename hundreds of files, process logs, back up data, or transform text faster than a finger can swipe across the screen. On Android, this becomes especially powerful when you combine it with integration layers like Termux:API. This Termux companion app exposes parts of the Android system, things like sending SMS, using the camera, accessing the GPS sensor, or querying the battery life, through small command-line tools. There are tons of Bash script examples to help you get started online.
Keep in mind that if you're using Termux, you'll need the termux-api package for your shell scripts to interface directly to the phone's hardware and OS features, though. Android's native Linux terminal doesn't require anything extra.
This thing can act like a server
Hosting services straight from your pocket
Since you're running Linux on your Android, you can very well turn it into a server. Your old Android phone can host a better music server than you'd expect, and it'll behave exactly how you would expect a server running on desktop hardware to. You can also turn your Android into a Wi-Fi media server, a file-sharing server to replace Google Drive, and just about anything that can run on Linux and doesn't demand hefty hardware. Termux can also run Jellyfin for media streaming, serve a personal webpage, run a torrent client, or act as an always-on node for home automation. You get all this functionality without ever having to root your device, and you can always go back to using it as a regular phone at a moment's notice.
Yes, it can even become a desktop
GUIs, keyboards, and a surprisingly usable setup
If you're out and about, forgot to carry your laptop, and need a desktop for whatever reason, your Linux terminal can transform your phone into a fully functioning Linux desktop at a moment's notice. Installing Linux on my Pixel turned it into a workstation, and a rather useful one at that.
Termux can work with components like Termux-X11 to give you an X server on Android. Combine that with a PRooted Debian or Arch install, and suddenly you can launch a lightweight desktop environment such as XFCE, complete with panels, windows, and graphical apps.
I will recommend using a USB-C dock to plug in some peripherals like a keyboard, mouse, monitor, and even an Ethernet cable if you have access to one for the full desktop experience. This setup isn't for everyone, and it's not as smooth as a dedicated Linux machine, but it unlocks use cases that regular Android apps just can't offer. You can run traditional Linux GUI apps, work in real desktop browsers with extensions, and essentially have a mini Linux computer with you at all times.
This is where Android gets fun again
Linux unlocks a whole new layer of control
Linux on Android is more useful than you'd imagine, especially if your daily chores involve the terminal or a server. It's easy to install and set up, even easier to work with, and doesn't damage your phone in any way, shape, or form.
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There are limitations, though. The screen size can be a bit of a let-down if you're working with GUI programs. Android's touchscreen keyboard also isn't the greatest when it comes to terminal use. And then of course, there's the performance. Your Android can do a lot, but it can't crunch numbers like your desktop or laptop can, meaning there's a limit to the performance you can squeeze out of it.
Regardless, for basic computing tasks, scripting, remote access, file management, and automation, the terminal does more than enough. The best part? You don't have to scour the Play Store hoping to find the perfect app.