Android platform provides a nice place to be employed in IoT domain especially its ease of sensors handling. As already highlighted in the referred link, termux not only provides a platform to do so (via underlying Linux), but also have a comprehensive nodes set. Although certainly a great effort but it becomes a bit of uneasy effort for novice as me for moving around from Android to Linux then to Node Red. The Node Red helps insulate the user from underlying JavaScript, which is why it is greatly liked by IoT developers having hardware base who have limited expertise on coding.
It is suggested, if an Android App may be introduced to broaden the Node Red users base. The paid App do provide a number of useful nodes but they have their node palette disabled and would not allow to install new nodes. I have seen a very vibrant, highly skilled and professional community steered by a caring, meticulous and responsive moderators, team and lead for whom this may not be a great deal.
Can you provide some example use cases for node red where Android would be a better platform than something like a Pi?
I have used it once but the reason was that I had an old phone that I could use so it saved the cost of a Pi zero and a display, technically a Pi would have been a better solution.
Surely, Pi provides a cost effective platform for majority of IoT requirements but imagine how much effort it would be required to tie up a position sensor to a Pi. On the other hand android phones not only provide a compact sensor platform but a have a set of well established APIs to handle these sensors. I agree that phones may not be a preferred option for final design but it can be very useful for quick prototyping and proof of concept. With decrease in price trends of android devices especially low end devices having everything from physical sensor stack to camera mic wireless connectivity in the form of BLE Wifi GSM do assume a place to be given a GO.
Currently having a project in which a mechanical arm is slaved to physical movement of human arm (although not an IoT stuff in its classical sense). The sensor here is a cell phone, compact having everything from display to battery, getting rid of all sort of wirings or additional devices or python coding etc. That's my take on on the issue, I may be wrong but still feel it may be considered if possible at least as a subsidiary effort.
@Colin Thanks for your valuable input. I greatly respect your point of view.
Yes, you are right about the built in sensors and comms, so there is a class of applications where having node-red on the device might be a good solution. Certainly if you can find an Android expert who would take on the task of building and maintaining something easier to use than installing node-red with Termux that could prove very useful to some.
@Colin Thanks, will try getting help of some expert
@mtoko Thanks, know about the app as already discussed. I do not understand why is the manage palettes option in RedMobile disabled, because you are stuck up if you need some additional functionality like connecting some legacy Bluetooth devices to the cell phone.
