Mobile Apps on Ivon's Blog

Running Scrcpy client on an Android phone with Termux to remotely control another Android phone

infoivonblog.nkfjt@aleeas.com (Ivon Huang) — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 21:00:00 +0800

Scrcpy is a software that mirror the screen of an Android phone to your PC, and you can control the phone from your PC. Currently, Scrcpy is only available on Linux/Windows/macOS. Can we run Scrcpy client directly on an Android phone to control another Android phone?

Yes, but I’m not happy with the current solutions, there is no working open source app for Scrcpy for Android (the ones I found on Github are all abandoned), but there are third-party apps that integrate Scrcpy, for example: Duplila, 甲壳虫ADB助手, 魇·无界投屏

Update: Finally we got real open-source Scrcpy for Android! Check out this: https://github.com/zwc456baby/ScrcpyForAndroid

Although they are free to use, they are all proprietary software, and Duplila’s advanced features charge a monthly fee for $2? 甲壳虫ADB助手 only costs $1.

So I decided to use my open source solution: Using Termux X11 to run Scrcpy. There are ADB and Scrcpy packages in Termux’s official repository, so there’s no need to install a proot-distro to run Scrcpy.

Running Scrcpy in Termux X11 on an Android phone to remotely control another Android phone.

Setup XFCE4 Desktop for Termux and install Termux X11.
Install the following packages

pkg install scrcpy android-tools

Pair with another Android phone via wireless ADB

# Enable wireless debugging in Developer Settings
adb pair <IP>

adb connect <IP>

Launch XFCE4 in Termux.
Start Scrcpy from Termux terminal:

GALLIUM_DRIVER=virpipe scrcpy -m 1080 -b 5M --audio-codec=aac --fullscreen

The Scrcpy window will now appear in Termux X11! For better touch control, go to Termux X11 settings and enable Direct Touch mode.

Using KDE Connect without Wifi. Control your computer and transfer files wirelessly from your mobile phone

infoivonblog.nkfjt@aleeas.com (Ivon Huang) — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 10:00:00 +0800

中文版

KDE Connect is a cross-platform file transfer software that allows you to control your computer in addition to transferring files. For more information on how to use KDE Connect, see my previous post.

By default, KDE Connect requires Wifi to connect to other devices, but what if Wifi doesn’t work?

For example, you want to use KDE Connect APP’s slidershow pointer to control your computer, but they are in different networks, the computer doesn’t have Wifi, and the hotspot of your mobile phone can’t be used, how to connect?

Or you want to transfer files between your phones and computer without connecting to Wifi.

This could be solved by using the virtual lan software. The KDE Wiki recommends OpenVPN, but I use a virtual lan as a solution.

Install TailScale or ZeroTier.

If the computer is yours, install TailScale to log in your account.

For public computers, you can install ZeroTier and anonymously add your device to the ZeroTier Network with Network id.

Connect your phone and computer to the virtual LAN.
Open the firewall on your computer to allow KDE Connect to pass through, following the instructions in the KDE Wiki.
Open KDE Connect APP, tap Add Device by IP.
Enter your computer’s virtual lan IP (assinged by ZeroTier or TailScale) to connect

TailScale or ZeroTier on the computer can always be connected to the VPN and it will not interfere with the computer’s external connection.

Since KDE Connect APP will always stay awake in the Android background, KDE Connect will automatically connect to the computer when you connect your phone to the VPN.

When transferring files using a virtual LAN, the speed of KDE Connect depends on the speed of the uploading network on the sending side.

I run Kdenlive on my phone because there is no FOSS video editing apps on Android

infoivonblog.nkfjt@aleeas.com (Ivon Huang) — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 16:00:00 +0800

中文版

The only open source, free, and multi-functional video editing APP for Android phones: Kdenlive in proot Linux in Termux. (What a exaggerated title)

I like to use the open source Kdenlive to edit videos on Linux PC. Although its functions are not as good as Adobe Premiere, it can compete with the computer version of PowerDirector, which is enough to replace some functions of commercial software.

Although KDE does not officially support it, it is feasible to run Kdenlive on Android without root permissions. It can directly import videos from Android and then output it.

It looks like this when running

This article introduces how to run Kdenlive on Android phones/tablets.

1. Why do I do this?
#

It’s an attempt to get rid of closed-source apps.

It seems silly to use a mobile device to edit videos, at least use a tablet instead. But when I was keen on making Minecraft PE modding videos 5 years ago, I often used mobile apps to edit videos, such as Xiaoying, KineMaster, Adobe Premiere, PowerDirector, etc. How convenient, after processing the video on your phone, you can upload it to YouTube channel.

However, most of them are paid closed-source apps. If you use the free version, either the video quality will be compressed, or a bunch of ads will pop up and annoy you to death.

When I wanted to get rid of the above closed source apps, I discovered a problem. Why is there no open source (FOSS) video editing APP? Even on Android?

This question is very complicated and has been asked by many people on Reddit. Look at the list of F-Droid open source apps I made, let alone video editing, open source photo editing APPs are only a few, not to mention the video editing apps which has high development cost. FOSS video editing apps are almost non-existent on Android.

At present, the closest thing to an open source editing APP is Video Transcoder, which simply adjusts the time. That is all we got.

What about web video editors? There are also not many open source ones, and I don’t want to be exploited by using close-sourced products from companies like Canva. I think we have to wait until ffmpeg.wasm matures before there is hope for web video editing!

In this case, we can only rely on the open source editing software on Linux. OpenShot is too basic. The video editors with lots of functions include Kdenlive, Blender, and Shotcut; those who master commandlines can use ffmpeg. Here I choose Kdenlive.

Eh? This is obviously running a computer program! Why did you tell me it was an APP? Come on, the abbreviation of Application is also APP.

By the way, those who need open source photo editing software can also use the method described in this article to run GIMP, Inkscape, and Krita on Android.

Tutorial on running full Visual Studio Code on Android phone (Termux)

infoivonblog.nkfjt@aleeas.com (Ivon Huang) — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 21:30:00 +0800

中文版

This article describes how to run the code editor Visual Studio Code (VSCode) on Android system without root permissions.

Developed by Microsoft, VSCode is a multifunctional code editor which supports a variety of programming languages through many extensions. This could turning it into a small IDE.

What we are gonna installed here is not the code-server, but the full code main program, which can install almost all extensions.

So you can manage git projects and develop web programs

Or creating a Anaconda envrinonment to write a Python program

Or even modify the Linux kernel source code of Android

We will install the ARM64 version of Ubuntu environment through Termux, and then install VSCode in it.

1. Set up Linux environment
#

It is recommended to use the phone or tablet that has RAM >= 8GB, storage space > 10 GB, and a processor of Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 or above. Ideally having an external keyboard and mouse connceted would be better.

Install Termux
Set up Termux X11

Then install a Linux distribution:

proot Ubuntu or proot Debian: No need for root permissions, relatively slow.
chroot Ubuntu: Requires root permissions, relatively fast.

2. Install Visual Studio Code
#

Go to Visual Studio Code official website to download the deb file of the ARM64 version.
Use the apt command to install the deb file, followed by the path to the deb file. If you download it using the browser on Android, the path will become /sdcard/Download/code*.deb

sudo apt install ~/Downloads/code*.deb

After that, use vim to edit the Desktop Entry of VSCode

vim /usr/share/applications/code.desktop

Add --no-sandbox after the Exec= line

Exec=/usr/bin/code --unity-launch %F --no-sandbox

Click VSCode in the application list and try to start the program.
If you want to see the error message, you can start it from the terminal:

code --verbose

3. Setting up the developing environment
#

I won’t go into details about the setup of developing environment here. There are many Ubuntu + VSCode tutorials on the Internet. Note that you should search for “Develop with VSCode on Ubuntu” rather than “Connect VSCode to remote Ubuntu for developing”

You could directly open terminal in the VSCode panel and execute commands there.

For example, if you want to compile C language programs, install GCC:

sudo apt install build-essential

If you want to have a Python Anaconda environment, you can refer to this article: Termux install Anaconda environment (miniforge)

Mobile Apps on Ivon's Blog

Running Scrcpy client on an Android phone with Termux to remotely control another Android phone

Using KDE Connect without Wifi. Control your computer and transfer files wirelessly from your mobile phone

I run Kdenlive on my phone because there is no FOSS video editing apps on Android

1. Why do I do this? #

Tutorial on running full Visual Studio Code on Android phone (Termux)

1. Set up Linux environment #

2. Install Visual Studio Code #

3. Setting up the developing environment #

1. Why do I do this?
#

1. Set up Linux environment
#

2. Install Visual Studio Code
#

3. Setting up the developing environment
#