Is there a way to run Python on Android?

Answer 1

Cross-Compilation & Ignifuga

My blog has instructions and a patch for cross compiling Python 2.7.2 for Android.

I've also open sourced Ignifuga, my 2D Game Engine. It's Python/SDL based, and it cross compiles for Android. Even if you don't use it for games, you might get useful ideas from the code or builder utility (named Schafer, after Tim... you know who).

Answer 2

As a Python lover and Android programmer, I'm sad to say this is not a good way to go. There are two problems:

One problem is that there is a lot more than just a programming language to the Android development tools. A lot of the Android graphics involve XML files to configure the display, similar to HTML. The built-in java objects are integrated with this XML layout, and it's a lot easier than writing your code to go from logic to bitmap.

The other problem is that the G1 (and probably other Android devices for the near future) are not that fast. 200 MHz processors and RAM is very limited. Even in Java, you have to do a decent amount of rewriting-to-avoid-more-object-creation if you want to make your app perfectly smooth. Python is going to be too slow for a while still on mobile devices.

Answer 3

One more option seems to be pyqtdeploy which citing the docs is:

a tool that, in conjunction with other tools provided with Qt, enables the deployment of PyQt4 and PyQt5 applications written with Python v2.7 or Python v3.3 or later. It supports deployment to desktop platforms (Linux, Windows and OS X) and to mobile platforms (iOS and Android).

According to Deploying PyQt5 application to Android via pyqtdeploy and Qt5 it is actively developed, although it is difficult to find examples of working Android apps or tutorial on how to cross-compile all the required libraries to Android. It is an interesting project to keep in mind though!

Answer 4

Here are some tools listed in official python website

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There is an app called QPython3 in playstore which can be used for both editing and running python script.

Playstore link

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Another app called Termux in which you can install python using command

pkg install python

Playstore Link

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If you want develop apps , there is Python Android Scripting Layer (SL4A) .

The Scripting Layer for Android, SL4A, is an open source application that allows programs written in a range of interpreted languages to run on Android. It also provides a high level API that allows these programs to interact with the Android device, making it easy to do stuff like accessing sensor data, sending an SMS, rendering user interfaces and so on.

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You can also check PySide for Android, which is actually Python bindings for the Qt 4.

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There's a platform called PyMob where apps can be written purely in Python and the compiler tool-flow (PyMob) converts them in native source codes for various platforms.

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Also check python-for-android

python-for-android is an open source build tool to let you package Python code into standalone android APKs. These can be passed around, installed, or uploaded to marketplaces such as the Play Store just like any other Android app. This tool was originally developed for the Kivy cross-platform graphical framework, but now supports multiple bootstraps and can be easily extended to package other types of Python apps for Android.

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Try Chaquopy A Python SDK for Android

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Anffffd... BeeWare

BeeWare allows you to write your app in Python and release it on multiple platforms. No need to rewrite the app in multiple programming languages. It means no issues with build tools, environments, compatibility, etc.

Answer 5

You can run your Python code using sl4a. sl4a supports Python, Perl, JRuby, Lua, BeanShell, JavaScript, Tcl, and shell script.

You can learn sl4a Python Examples.

Answer 6

Kivy

I wanted to add to what @JohnMudd has written about Kivy. It has been years since the situation he described, and Kivy has evolved substantially.

The biggest selling point of Kivy, in my opinion, is its cross-platform compatibility. You can code and test everything using any desktop environment (Windows/*nix etc.), then package your app for a range of different platforms, including Android, iOS, MacOS and Windows (though apps often lack the native look and feel).

With Kivy's own KV language, you can code and build the GUI interface easily (it's just like Java XML, but rather than TextView etc., KV has its own ui.widgets for a similar translation), which is in my opinion quite easy to adopt.

Currently Buildozer and python-for-android are the most recommended tools to build and package your apps. I have tried them both and can firmly say that they make building Android apps with Python a breeze. Their guides are well documented too.

iOS is another big selling point of Kivy. You can use the same code base with few changes required via kivy-ios Homebrew tools, although Xcode is required for the build, before running on their devices (AFAIK the iOS Simulator in Xcode currently doesn't work for the x86-architecture build). There are also some dependency issues which must be manually compiled and fiddled around with in Xcode to have a successful build, but they wouldn't be too difficult to resolve and people in Kivy Google Group are really helpful too.

With all that being said, users with good Python knowledge should have no problem picking up the basics quickly.

If you are using Kivy for more serious projects, you may find existing modules unsatisfactory. There are some workable solutions though. With the (work in progress) pyjnius for Android, and pyobjus, users can now access Java/Objective-C classes to control some of the native APIs.