Node-RED on Android, because it's Friday

2,449 views
Skip to first unread message

Dave C-J

unread,
Jul 29, 2016, 12:16:10 PM7/29/16
to Node-RED
No idea why I want to do this, but...
The Termux app in the android app store makes it easy to run Node-RED on android.
Install it, run it. Then
apt update
apt upgrade
apt install coreutils nano nodejs
npm install -g --unsafe-perm node-red
node-red

Then you can point a browser to localhost:1880 (typically)

As I said, no idea what to do with this but hey... It's Friday.

Walter Kraembring

unread,
Jul 29, 2016, 2:10:34 PM7/29/16
to Node-RED
As I said, no idea what to do with this but hey... It's Friday.

Cool, for a small home automation system you could have all-in-one including the dashboard if you run it in a tablet. Just glue it on the wall... 

Mike Blackstock

unread,
Jul 29, 2016, 2:29:22 PM7/29/16
to node...@googlegroups.com
very cool!  Runs nicely on my phone.  It's Friday AND a long weekend in BC, Canada :-)


--
http://nodered.org

Join us on Slack to continue the conversation: http://nodered.org/slack
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Node-RED" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to node-red+u...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send an email to node...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/node-red.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.



--
Mike Blackstock
Chief Technical Officer
Sense Tecnic Systems, Inc.
308 East 5th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5T1H4
www.sensetecnic.com

Luiey

unread,
Jul 29, 2016, 8:47:53 PM7/29/16
to Node-RED
Dave..where can I have it? Thanks

Dave C-J

unread,
Jul 30, 2016, 3:24:24 AM7/30/16
to node...@googlegroups.com

Sorry, not sure I understand. The instructions are in the original post.

Ben Rogers

unread,
Jul 30, 2016, 5:02:12 AM7/30/16
to Node-RED
Very cool! I'll try it this weekend. Then have to think what to do with it!

Peter Scargill

unread,
Jul 30, 2016, 3:36:36 PM7/30/16
to Node-RED
Walter beat me to it - I was just going to say... for a small system - assuming you could get an MQTT server on there as well, complete with Dashboard - and of course several hours of reliable battery backup!!!! It sounds like a good idea to me.

Anyway you DO know Dave that you've opened up a can of worms... I've installed node-red-contrib-admin, the dashboard, my node-red-contrib-bigtimer node... it's wonderful.

If you're bored...

How do you hit control-C in that thing - I can only get out of Node-Red by closing the terminal.

Is there a way you can think of to make it run - as a service - as in node-red-start.  I for one know less about operating Android at the command line than I do Debian...

This could be fun!!!

A decent MQTT broker might not be easy though.

Dave C-J

unread,
Jul 30, 2016, 4:22:23 PM7/30/16
to node...@googlegroups.com

Pete,
Well yes you can npm install whatever you want to try... Certainly dashboard also works (in the limited 5 minute test I gave it)
Ctrl -c. (well the manual says.... ;-)  Hold down volume-down and c)

No idea about auto start, it was just a Friday afternoon hack about. Maybe the author of Termux may help (or there may be more docs), all clues gratefully accepted , and I'll add more local docs.

Dave C-J

unread,
Jul 30, 2016, 4:25:11 PM7/30/16
to node...@googlegroups.com

Peter Scargill

unread,
Jul 31, 2016, 12:34:02 AM7/31/16
to Node-RED
Well I found the control-C solution - hold volume down and hit c.... marvelous.   one problem at a time.


On Saturday, 30 July 2016 22:25:11 UTC+2, Dave C-J wrote:

Pete, also see https://github.com/termux/termux-app/issues/14

Peter Scargill

unread,
Jul 31, 2016, 2:23:25 AM7/31/16
to node...@googlegroups.com

It’s GREAT fun – it even has NANO built in.

 

I think a potential issue with startup might be that this user is not that powerful… and in my case I cannot figure out how to successfully ROOT most of my Android devices hence no root hence little real control…. Yup – I had a go with dashboard – the gauge works a treat.  Magic for mobile demos – just start node-red up on the phone wherever you are and you can point a PC to it in any closed network you’re in - even if you don’t have external internet access – might be useful for demos.

 

Well done coming up with that one!

--

http://nodered.org
 
Join us on Slack to continue the conversation: http://nodered.org/slack
---

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "Node-RED" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/node-red/N551WLVSYb0/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to node-red+u...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to node...@googlegroups.com.

Dave C-J

unread,
Jul 31, 2016, 3:25:22 AM7/31/16
to node...@googlegroups.com

Line 3 of the instructions installed nano.... It's not there by default, but I find it useful as you're bound to want to edit something.

Peter Scargill

unread,
Jul 31, 2016, 4:04:30 AM7/31/16
to node...@googlegroups.com

Sorry – of course you are right. Yes, much as I don’t like i – I’m a notepad++ fan – it certainly is useful once you’re familiar with it.

--

Steampunk Prof

unread,
Jul 31, 2016, 4:52:23 AM7/31/16
to Node-RED
Thanks for this, it's great fun to play with it on the phone. Less hassle than remote development. Great for mobile node development too.

Dave C-J

unread,
Jul 31, 2016, 5:58:14 AM7/31/16
to node...@googlegroups.com
Oh dear.... this add-on looks like more fun too... 

Peter Scargill

unread,
Jul 31, 2016, 6:29:54 AM7/31/16
to node...@googlegroups.com

Oh dear that’s’ very dangerous – this could soon get addictive.

 

From: node...@googlegroups.com [mailto:node...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Dave C-J


Sent: 31 July 2016 11:58
To: node...@googlegroups.com

--

Peter Scargill

unread,
Jul 31, 2016, 9:18:53 AM7/31/16
to Node-RED
Ok so to complement this - coming up most likely the end of next week,  MQTT Broker Pro for Android - which currently does NOT have username and password - WILL.  And yes, it can be set to come on at boot time (I must stress this comes from entries in my blog and a conversation I just had with the author - I have no idea how reliable this is - but I will in a couple of weeks or so!!!

Less of a Friday whim, more of a new battery backed up home control centre? -  I can see it coming.... probably more powerful than a typical Pi given the power of some phones I should imagine.

Pete.


On Friday, 29 July 2016 18:16:10 UTC+2, Dave C-J wrote:

Walter Kraembring

unread,
Jul 31, 2016, 1:15:22 PM7/31/16
to Node-RED
I have some Lenovo 10" tablets running Android 4.4.2 (I think KitKat) with MT8121 Quad Core 1.3GHz processors (they are already two years old so not the most modern). They have really good performance for streaming live video and excellent Dolby sound. I wonder have well they will do. Today I only use them for the gui. Node-RED runs in an old RPi model B (and doing really fine).

Unfortunately I have devices in my home automation that requires a controller (RFXtrx, 1-wire and RazBerry) so I need to have another device anyway until I migrate or move to another house. If you are lucky having only wifi devices like ESP8266 based or similar, off you go

Luis Montes

unread,
Jul 31, 2016, 2:36:12 PM7/31/16
to node...@googlegroups.com

Some phones/tablets can do host mode USB.  Might be worth plugging an Arduino in and seeing if you get a serial device.


On Jul 31, 2016 10:15 AM, "Walter Kraembring" <walter.k...@gmail.com> wrote:
I have some Lenovo 10" tablets running Android 4.4.2 (I think KitKat) with MT8121 Quad Core 1.3GHz processors (they are already two years old so not the most modern). They have really good performance for streaming live video and excellent Dolby sound. I wonder have well they will do. Today I only use them for the gui. Node-RED runs in an old RPi model B (and doing really fine).

Unfortunately I have devices in my home automation that requires a controller (RFXtrx, 1-wire and RazBerry) so I need to have another device anyway until I migrate or move to another house. If you are lucky having only wifi devices like ESP8266 based or similar, off you go

--
http://nodered.org
 
Join us on Slack to continue the conversation: http://nodered.org/slack
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Node-RED" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to node-red+u...@googlegroups.com.

john macrae

unread,
Aug 4, 2016, 1:33:51 PM8/4/16
to Node-RED
Dave,

This is brilliant - all I need in addition is to be able to run the sqlite node as well. Any clues as to how to get it to install - have so far failed 

Thx

John


On Friday, 29 July 2016 18:16:10 UTC+2, Dave C-J wrote:

Peter Scargill

unread,
Aug 4, 2016, 2:27:39 PM8/4/16
to node...@googlegroups.com

The MQTT app in a couple of weeks should update to include username and password and it will also NOT stop when the phone sleeps – SQLITE is fine – like John I just so desperately J  need the SQLITE node to run – and it won’t. It fails to find a pre-built version then fails to compile a new one… so near yet so far as with SQLITE node – well, I could certainly make us of node-red+mqtt+sqlite… on an old phone – which I just happen to have – powerful one as well with lots of RAM (3GB).

--

http://nodered.org
 
Join us on Slack to continue the conversation: http://nodered.org/slack
---

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "Node-RED" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/node-red/N551WLVSYb0/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to node-red+u...@googlegroups.com.

Dave C-J

unread,
Aug 6, 2016, 4:05:24 AM8/6/16
to node...@googlegroups.com

Guess just keep digging... Not sure if this helps. https://plus.google.com/115564196584897214595/posts/94JrA2z4XnH

Julian Knight

unread,
Aug 9, 2016, 3:44:53 PM8/9/16
to Node-RED
Next stop a home room/resource booking system built on old android phones/tablets and NR! Mount them next to the bathroom/toilet to show when they are next free :-) Might be a way to "book" your family TV slots too. You could of course use this in an office too - much better than the disgustingly expensive Condeco room booking system that we use.

Use MQTT brokers on the devices and even NR as resilient backups to your Pi so everything keeps running no matter what, use the camera's for security and the audio/microphones for both security and voice control!

The possibilities are endless. 

I wonder what the minimum spec hardware is? I have an old Samsung Galaxy Fame lying around. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-GT-6810P-Galaxy-Fame-GT-S6810P-White/dp/B00HYL80UA

Peter Scargill

unread,
Aug 10, 2016, 5:34:24 AM8/10/16
to node...@googlegroups.com

Yup, just need to crack that SQLITE node issue…. SQLITE itself works a treat.

--

john macrae

unread,
Oct 7, 2016, 3:19:40 PM10/7/16
to Node-RED
Well Dave, 

One reason you did it was so I could use a simple 7in Android tablet as a propulsion system monitor for a hovercraft. ESP8266 does the data collection and the tablet is a screen in the cockpit.  It will be deployed to Madagascar in early November where it will be used to support flood and cyclone relief.  Simple, affordable and (hopefully) robust.  Thank you!

Julian Knight

unread,
Oct 7, 2016, 3:37:05 PM10/7/16
to Node-RED
Hey John, that sounds amazing and you are privileged to be able to do stuff like that.

I do hope you can do a blog post on it some time and share it with us!

john macrae

unread,
Oct 7, 2016, 3:47:20 PM10/7/16
to node...@googlegroups.com
Its  nothing special Julian but I surely will write about it eventually!  If it is successful, I can see it being expanded to a multi-screen installation on another, much larger, craft that is being rebuilt at the moment.  

Kind Regards
John

--
http://nodered.org
 
Join us on Slack to continue the conversation: http://nodered.org/slack
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "Node-RED" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/node-red/N551WLVSYb0/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to node-red+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

To post to this group, send email to node...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/node-red.

Dave C-J

unread,
Oct 7, 2016, 5:30:45 PM10/7/16
to node...@googlegroups.com
As Julian said, any write up, photos, would be really great !

john macrae

unread,
Oct 7, 2016, 5:43:25 PM10/7/16
to node...@googlegroups.com
Hi Dave,  Good to hear from you!  I will do a write-up in due course!  

I was wondering...  The 6 unit columns don't fit nicely on a 7in screen - is there anywhere I can change the default column width so I can squeeze 3 columns in to a landscape screenwidth??

Many thanks again.  I think you should be proud of what you've enabled here. :)

Kind Regards
John

On 7 October 2016 at 22:30, Dave C-J <dce...@gmail.com> wrote:
As Julian said, any write up, photos, would be really great !

--
http://nodered.org
 
Join us on Slack to continue the conversation: http://nodered.org/slack
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "Node-RED" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/node-red/N551WLVSYb0/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to node-red+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to node...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/node-red.

Peter Scargill

unread,
Oct 7, 2016, 5:47:36 PM10/7/16
to Node-RED
And so they should be - I've not had so much fun programming in years as I have since I started playing with Node-Red...


On Friday, 7 October 2016 23:43:25 UTC+2, john macrae wrote:
Hi Dave,  Good to hear from you!  I will do a write-up in due course!  

I was wondering...  The 6 unit columns don't fit nicely on a 7in screen - is there anywhere I can change the default column width so I can squeeze 3 columns in to a landscape screenwidth??

Many thanks again.  I think you should be proud of what you've enabled here. :)

Kind Regards
John

On 7 October 2016 at 22:30, Dave C-J <dce...@gmail.com> wrote:
As Julian said, any write up, photos, would be really great !

--
http://nodered.org
 
Join us on Slack to continue the conversation: http://nodered.org/slack
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "Node-RED" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/node-red/N551WLVSYb0/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to node-red+u...@googlegroups.com.

Dave C-J

unread,
Oct 7, 2016, 5:49:49 PM10/7/16
to node...@googlegroups.com
well the easy way would be just to set them to be 5 wide... Inline images 1

Dave C-J

unread,
Oct 7, 2016, 5:58:20 PM10/7/16
to node...@googlegroups.com
sssh Peter.... don't start telling people it's fun... they'll all want to play !

but seriously - thanks to you all also... it's finding out all the great stuff that you've all managed to create that makes it real for us. Just wish we had time to actually build some of them ourselves... though hovercraft is probably quite a few steps beyond my capability !

Julian Knight

unread,
Oct 8, 2016, 7:01:28 AM10/8/16
to Node-RED
With the uptick in people in the group recently, I reckon people HAVE discovered and come out to play! And rightly so.

As for building a hovercraft Dave, weren't you involved with the NR controlled drone?!

As for the hovercraft, John I think you are being far too modest if you've helped build something to help people recover from disasters! That is ultra-cool!! Rather a major step up from turning house lights on and off :-} Some people get the fun jobs ... and doubtless deserve them.

john macrae

unread,
Oct 9, 2016, 4:49:49 AM10/9/16
to Node-RED
@Dave, Julian 

https://kk4oyj.wordpress.com/

Keep up the good work!

Dave C-J

unread,
Oct 9, 2016, 5:20:45 AM10/9/16
to node...@googlegroups.com
Brilliant ! Brilliant ! Brilliant !

Mike Biddell

unread,
Oct 9, 2016, 5:31:30 AM10/9/16
to Node-RED
I genuinely believe that Dave and Nick deserve some sort of recognition for the creation and development of node-red. We fete actors and pop musicians, but we never recognise techies for contributions of excellence !!!! Techies of the world rise up and demand your recognition !!!! 

Colin Law

unread,
Oct 9, 2016, 5:44:48 AM10/9/16
to node...@googlegroups.com
+1

Colin

On 9 October 2016 at 10:31, 'Mike Biddell' via Node-RED
> --
> http://nodered.org
>
> Join us on Slack to continue the conversation: http://nodered.org/slack
> ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "Node-RED" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to node-red+u...@googlegroups.com.
> To post to this group, send email to node...@googlegroups.com.
> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/node-red.
> To view this discussion on the web, visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/node-red/edd8088a-5989-448a-98c2-baa1b3b15a8a%40googlegroups.com.

Peter Scargill

unread,
Oct 9, 2016, 6:19:28 AM10/9/16
to Node-RED
While I would personally agree, I can't see the BBC featuring Node-Red on Top of the Pops... standing back, most people worldwide haven't a clue what a microcontroller is never mind one of the very many ways to use it. IMHO the best way to reward these guys is to tell their bosses what a cracking job they are doing. I have. Have you?

Or as one of my Facebook pals said "I have to read your posts six times before I understand them" ;-)

Pete.

Mike Biddell

unread,
Oct 9, 2016, 6:29:04 AM10/9/16
to Node-RED
Pete

If I knew who their bosses were ?????? Dave and Nick work deep under cover....... I wonder who their bosses really are?????

Mike

Dave C-J

unread,
Oct 9, 2016, 8:01:45 AM10/9/16
to node...@googlegroups.com

Not sure we want to be on Top of the Pops given recent revelations... Think we'll stick to Robot Wars...

Julian Knight

unread,
Oct 9, 2016, 10:41:03 AM10/9/16
to Node-RED
I couldn't agree more. A Tweet went out - hopefully it will let a few more people know about the work of Hoveraid. Thanks for sharing John.

It would be fantastic to see more such success stories - helping people out. Love it. This is what technology is for.

Julian Knight

unread,
Oct 9, 2016, 10:44:11 AM10/9/16
to Node-RED
Ha, I get the same comments about my Facebook posts - of course all mine come via Twitter as I've no interest at all in living my life on Facebook :( And most of my tweets are about cyber, privacy or the calamities of copyright and patents. Not the most riveting of reading even for me ;-)


On Sunday, 9 October 2016 11:19:28 UTC+1, Peter Scargill wrote:

Jéan Roux

unread,
Oct 10, 2016, 10:03:53 AM10/10/16
to Node-RED
+1 ! And on Peter S's comment on having fun. As a non-tech, I completed a 4 legged sprinkling system with NR on Pi, with mqtt to esp8266.

Created a new interface for the wife on Dashboard- where she can override the automattic schedule. In South Africa we have water restrictions now, can only run sprinklers before 0600 or after 1800. I built an array with the def of which legs goes when, with a rest period for the borehole to build up water again, of which the time is also in the the def array.

Node Red, with the ease of using Javascript made this a gr8 project.

Love NR!

Julian Knight

unread,
Oct 11, 2016, 9:45:02 AM10/11/16
to Node-RED
And I've just ordered another couple of Wemos D1 Mini's, this time a clone D1 mini that has 4x the flash. Also 3 Sonoff's, one with the power measuring feature. The family hair straighteners will be getting the Node-RED treatment via the Sonoff's so that we can be sure that they are turned off when we leave the house & after a set period. I've also ordered some BME280's to play with to see how they match up to the DHT22's for their temp & humidity readings.

I'm still jealous of someone who gets to play with that great British invention, the hovercraft though :-)

Mike Bell

unread,
Sep 8, 2017, 5:12:15 PM9/8/17
to Node-RED
In the spirit of Dave's original post (because it's Friday), I can report preliminary success in running NR on a couple of Amazon Fire devices, the Fire TV Stick and the Fire 7 tablet. Never one to pass up a cheap offer, I picked these up at prices comparable to a Raspberry Pi, just to play. These are the only Android devices I own, so excuse me if I say anything obvious or obviously wrong. I have tried to install NR following as closely as possible the directions at nodered.org/docs/platforms/android.

As delivered, these gadgets run Fire OS, an Android-based system enhanced (some would say crippled) with Amazon-specific features, but without access to the Google Play Store. There are work-arounds for this, but to avoid painting myself into a corner or bricking the device, I wanted to maintain the stock configuration. There may be a more direct way, but I followed these steps: install a web browser from Amazon, browse to termux.com and choose Get it on F-Droid, download F-Droid, and run F-Droid and install termux. (Note: a Bluetooth keyboard helps, especially on the Fire TV.)

Following Dave's directions works except that installing NR produces error messages on both devices that I was not able to capture. (Some refer to bcrypt; others went by too fast to read, and I could not make termux scroll back.) NR starts and seems to run ok, but I have not done much testing and am sure some core nodes will turn out to be broken. Also, the Fire TV Stick refuses to install node.js using apt. Instead, pkg install nodejs-current seems to do the job. When I've had more time to experiment and possibly do  real work with these installations, I'm sure I will have issues to report.


On Friday, July 29, 2016 at 12:16:10 PM UTC-4, Dave C-J wrote:
No idea why I want to do this, but...

Dave C-J

unread,
Sep 8, 2017, 5:18:58 PM9/8/17
to node...@googlegroups.com
bcrypt is an optional encryption library we try to compile and install - if it fails then it falls back to using a pure javascript version - which is a lot slower but still works. So hopefully you are good to go.

We  are happy to take pull requests to docs as well as code - so happy for you to add the extra notes about installing node.js if you want to contribute.

wku...@gmail.com

unread,
Sep 13, 2017, 9:02:08 PM9/13/17
to Node-RED
This stuff is just blowing me away!  

I just looked at node-red again after about a year or so, seeing potential initially, but no real usefulness back then.   But using the current version on Raspbian stretch and a PiZero-W  as a quick hack for debugging my Radius Dot beacons for presence detection and sending the status to an MQTT broker running on my Beaglebone IOT alarm system the progress in a year has been astronomical.

Learning about  this Termux stuff and node-red on Android could let me retire my Adafruit Fona and its ~$10/month Ting mobile charge and use my Freedom Pop "free" android for back up alarm texts should the scumbags cut the cable before breaking in.  Freedom Pop doesn't generally get good reviews, my particular phone is pretty unintelligible for voice, but I basically got if for Google Maps to check traffic when out and about, and the occasional text.  With my limited use, I easily stay within the free data and text limits.

Julian Knight

unread,
Sep 14, 2017, 12:25:36 PM9/14/17
to Node-RED
It is easy to use NR to send secure alerts and messages from NR to any mobile device. Personally I use Telegram for that as it is pretty easy to use in NR - even when setting up 2-way commands, it has clients for web, desktop, iOS, Android and even Windows Phone 8/10 and is secure end-to-end.

wku...@gmail.com

unread,
Sep 14, 2017, 3:31:29 PM9/14/17
to Node-RED
Is this the same "Telegram" service that has been heavily used by ISIS/ISIL terrorists?  The end to end security is suspect according to Wikipdia: "Telegram's security model is undermined by its use of a custom-designed encryption protocol that has not been proven reliable and secure,"  so if that is a real requirement I'd be leary, YMMV.

My messaging need is for if my network connection outside my home has been cut, if ping google don't answer I send an  SMS message!  So far I find cellular SMS messages to be more reliable than cellular data and usually much cheaper too -- meaning when out in the boondocks I can send/receive SMS when data services are uselessly slow.  My messages would be short, and reliability paramount as they'd trigger an emergency response from me.  I carry an "antique" flip-phone specifically to get any SMS texts my alarm sends out. -- battery life in my usage profile is about a month on a charge.

I'm looking for Android & Termux to replace my Adafruit Fona which is 2G and as far as I know T-Mobile is the only carrier that has not yet turned off their 2G service (I use Ting, a T-Mobile reseller).  

Termux and Termux:API make it seem almost trivial to use node-red to receive an MQTT message over the local WiFi network and relay it as SMS over cellular.  The Fona looked a lot harder going in, and it ended up being harder than it looked, but its worked well with my periodic test messages, fortunately it has never seen an actual alarm condition.

Bummer to find out Termux needs android 5 as its minimum, my cheapo phone is 4.4.  I've been looking for an excuse to upgrade, I may try it on my wife's phone and if it works out I'll have my reason for a new phone.  I doubt anyone who is aware of Android has less actual use for a smart phone than I do -- I only have mine for checking traffic with Google Maps and sending the occasional text to one of exactly two people :) 

Dave C-J

unread,
Sep 14, 2017, 3:38:19 PM9/14/17
to node...@googlegroups.com
Depends how cheapo your phone is. You may be able to reflash it with a newer rom like Lineage
--
Sent from phone.

wku...@gmail.com

unread,
Sep 14, 2017, 3:55:56 PM9/14/17
to Node-RED
Its too lame, LG Volt I believe,  It also has some "Freedom POP" specific software that may or may not work with Lineage, the service has been completely free for me for almost three years now, I gave like $50 for the phone and then turned off all the "extras" that cost options you get "free"  trials of -- enough that if you actually used the phone like my wife does her's, Cricket, Ting, etc. would be a much better deal, But for me a few hundred texts and 400MB of data a month is way more than enough and can't beat the price!  They'll sell me a Nexus 5 for like $130, I've inquired about which Android version it comes with and if upgrading to Linage would work, haven't heard back yet.

I have flashed my wife's Nook tablet with Lineage Android N (7.x I believe) as its 4.2 stopped working with things like HBO, Starz, etc. that she gets as part of the cable subscription.

Dave C-J

unread,
Sep 14, 2017, 5:04:48 PM9/14/17
to node...@googlegroups.com
The 5 should also be ok as I use ilineage on my Nexus 4 daily. 
--
Sent from phone.

Julian Knight

unread,
Sep 15, 2017, 3:34:22 AM9/15/17
to Node-RED
Well there are certainly tools that have stronger privacy but Telegram is more than enough for general use and a LOT easier to set up and maintain the security than fiddling with secure web connections and then having to fiddle with secure websocket connections.

The comment about use by despicable people is irrelevant. Lots of tools are used that way.

Regarding data vs SMS - this very much depends on your location and contract I suspect. If you are worried about privacy, SMS is certainly NOT the way to go as it is easy enough to intercept, one of the reasons that 2-factor authentication is rapidly moving away from it. But again, it will be plenty good enough for normal home use.


For me, data is often a lot more reliable than SMS since I spend a lot of time in places where Wi-Fi connections are a lot stronger than mobile ones. Not always the case when I'm travelling.

Peter Scargill

unread,
Sep 15, 2017, 9:50:46 AM9/15/17
to Node-RED
While this discussion on Telegram is going on - it revitalised my interest in the subject as I'd not received any messages for while..

The Node-Red Telegram sender fails and returns  "Error: EFATAL: Error: getaddrinfo EAI_AGAIN api.telegram.org:443"

So I looked at the underlying node module - and it seems others have this issues too - https://github.com/Naltox/telegram-node-bot/issues/101

Anyone wiser on this subject??

Julian Knight

unread,
Sep 18, 2017, 5:06:11 AM9/18/17
to Node-RED
Interesting. Appears to be an API issue related to intermittent network connectivity. Can you trap it with a catch? If so, you need a loop to resend I think.

Peter Scargill

unread,
Sep 18, 2017, 5:13:58 AM9/18/17
to Node-RED
Indeed you are right Julian - thanks for that - as it happens, the network connectivity was at my end  - as I tried to ping the BBC and discovered I could not.  Telegram is alive and well.  Interesting to note that having initially given up in despair, thinking Telegram was to blame, I went off on the web (on another machine) to look for alternatives - and there REALLY is nothing to compare with Telegram as many of the packages out there have no public API. Telegram absolutely works a treat.

Pete.

Julian Knight

unread,
Sep 20, 2017, 5:18:11 PM9/20/17
to Node-RED
Yup, I did quite a bit of research before settling on it. I like it because it is reasonably secure, very flexible, available on every platform (even Windows Mobile) and nearly the easiest API to write bots for. Oh, and free of course! Even free for large volumes of messages.

Matha Goram

unread,
Nov 26, 2017, 1:21:34 PM11/26/17
to Node-RED
Installed coreutils, nano and nodejs but "no can do" on the npm step shown below for node-red. Using Android 8.0.0. 

Ivan Tarozzi

unread,
Nov 27, 2017, 5:28:53 AM11/27/17
to Node-RED
Thankyou very much for this interesting thread to all.

I quote the use of a tablet for a home automation or similar app. NodeRED+mqtt is a great choice.

As alternative to MQTT Broker suggested by Pete, you can also install mosquitto inside Termux, using apt-get.  
Not tested yet, just installed and launched, and it seems to work. Next day I'll try more

Terry Thomas

unread,
Apr 24, 2018, 8:47:28 AM4/24/18
to Node-RED
NOOB trying to install Termux on a Samsung Android tablet. Am getting this error:
u0_a187@android:/ $ apt update
/system/bin/sh: apt: not found

What's wrong?
Thanks.

Colin Law

unread,
Apr 24, 2018, 8:55:53 AM4/24/18
to node...@googlegroups.com
I don't know anything about termux, but perhaps the command is apt-get.

Colin
> --
> http://nodered.org
>
> Join us on Slack to continue the conversation: http://nodered.org/slack
> ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "Node-RED" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to node-red+u...@googlegroups.com.
> To post to this group, send email to node...@googlegroups.com.
> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/node-red.
> To view this discussion on the web, visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/node-red/4e5a7b6d-bd05-488b-845e-0873b407304f%40googlegroups.com.

Nick O'Leary

unread,
Apr 24, 2018, 8:59:22 AM4/24/18
to Node-RED Mailing List
Terry,

we aren't really termux experts on this list - that post of Dave's is almost two years old. So unless there's someone here actively familiar with Termux, you may need to do 
cast your question to a wider audience... https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Termux+apt+not+found

Colin, a quick google search would show you that `apt` is the right command as per Dave's original instructions - https://termux.com/package-management.html

Nick


> To post to this group, send email to node...@googlegroups.com.
> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/node-red.
> To view this discussion on the web, visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/node-red/4e5a7b6d-bd05-488b-845e-0873b407304f%40googlegroups.com.
>
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
http://nodered.org

Join us on Slack to continue the conversation: http://nodered.org/slack
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Node-RED" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to node-red+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send an email to node...@googlegroups.com.

Steampunk Prof

unread,
Apr 24, 2018, 9:03:43 AM4/24/18
to Node-RED
Can you take us step by step through what you have done so far?

Thanks
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages