Running on Android

Using the Termux app in the app store makes it easy to run Node-RED on Android devices. You can get it from the Play Store.

Note : the Node-RED team have no connection with the Termux application nor its development. We cannot provide support for it in any way, other than to say that at this point in time it works.

Installing

Install it, and run it. Then at the prompt type

apt update
apt upgrade
apt install coreutils nano nodejs
npm i -g --unsafe-perm node-red
node-red

Then you can point a browser to http://localhost:1880

Notes

  • You can also npm install other node-red nodes such as node-red-dashboard in the standard way :

    cd ~/.node-red
    npm i node-red-dashboard
    
  • The volume-down key is the ctrl key - so vol-down-c can be used to “break” a running app.
  • The instructions above also install the nano editor, which is useful for editing files.

Autostarting

The recommended way of starting applications running in Termux is using the Termux:Boot application (available from F-droid or Play Store).

We have found this other app useful for autostarting Termux on boot - Autostart - No Root

Device Access

You can get direct access to various hardware on the device by using the extra Termux device plugins - which can then be accessed via Node-RED using the exec node.

Note: you need to install both the add-on app, and also the add-on api in Termux.

Install add-on app - Termux:API from Play store.

Install add-on access into Termux

apt install termux-api