Dev workflow from android

Yes, it's a hack and yes the speed is much worse than using a laptop but for a few weeks now I have decided to sleep 17:00-1:00 and take care of my newborn baby 1:00-9:00, so that my wife can sleep. If I sleep let's say for 1 hour when my baby manages after Colic pain to sleep for a bit, then it would be hard for me to wake up, so here is how I avoid falling asleep.

I wanted something more than vim as the touch keyboard in my mobile phone doesn't really help and something faster than dcoder.

Terminal

Install the open source android app termux.

Open termux, run mkdir $HOME/projects to run commands there and run pkg install git nodejs

Code editor

Install the open source android app acode.

Open termux and run termux-setup-storage. You will then be prompted to "Allow Termux access photos, media and files on your device". The contents of the created $HOME/storage folder are kind of symlinks to different storage folders with the most important here being the root of the shared storage between all apps ~/storage/shared. In my case I have folder ~/storage/shared/Git to edit files.

Edit javascript and run it

As the storage folders emulate fat32 you need to copy your modified files to a folder under $HOME/projects that supports symlinks, so create the following run.sh and chmod +x run.sh

#!/bin/bash

# changeme
projectName=reduce

destDirectory=$HOME/projects/
originDirectory=$HOME/storage/shared/Git/$projectName
cp $originDirectory $destDirectory -Ru
cd $destDirectory/$projectName

# changeme
npm install
npm start

Adjust the script to your needs and whenever you are ready to test your site, run the script.

Markdown editor

Install the open source android app markor and note that /storage/emulated/0 points to $HOME/storage/shared of termux and /Internal storage/ of acode. Its syntax highlighting and preview are amazing.

What about gitlab?

I love gitlab but don't try firefox from android, cloudflare keeps reloading when loading login page. And in chrome, don't expect copy-paste to work from a mobile phone.

Enjoy

Have fun!

Tips to parents: Colic is common, just set your mobile phone to flight mode and in a few weeks time it will be gone. Trust me, it's my second one :)