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We are working on an S60 version and this platform has a nice Python API..
However, there is nothing official about Python on Android, but since Jython exists, is there a way to let the snake and the robot work together??
One way is to use Kivy:
Open source Python library for rapid development of applications
that make use of innovative user interfaces, such as multi-touch apps.
Kivy runs on Linux, Windows, OS X, Android and iOS. You can run the same [python] code on all supported platforms.
Kivy Showcase app
There is also the new Android Scripting Environment (ASE/SL4A) project. It looks awesome, and it has some integration with native Android components.
Note: no longer under "active development", but some forks may be.
Yes! : Android Scripting Environment
An example via Matt Cutts via SL4A -- "here’s a barcode scanner written in six lines of Python code:
import android
droid = android.Android()
code = droid.scanBarcode()
isbn = int(code['result']['SCAN_RESULT'])
url = "http://books.google.com?q=%d" % isbn
droid.startActivity('android.intent.action.VIEW', url)
Pygame Subset for Android
Pygame is a 2D game engine for Python (on desktop) that is popular with new programmers. The Pygame Subset for Android describes itself as...
...a port of a subset of Pygame functionality to the Android platform. The goal of the project is to allow the creation of Android-specific games, and to ease the porting of games from PC-like platforms to Android.
The examples include a complete game packaged as an APK, which is pretty interesting.
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.
Scripting Layer for Android
SL4A does what you want. You can easily install it directly onto your device from their site, and do not need root.
It supports a range of languages. Python is the most mature. By default, it uses Python 2.6, but there is a 3.2 port you can use instead. I have used that port for all kinds of things on a Galaxy S2 and it worked fine.
API
SL4A provides a port of their android library for each supported language. The library provides an interface to the underlying Android API through a single Android object.
from android import Android
droid = Android()
droid.ttsSpeak('hello world') # example using the text to speech facade
Each language has pretty much the same API. You can even use the JavaScript API inside webviews.
let droid = new Android();
droid.ttsSpeak("hello from js");
User Interfaces
For user interfaces, you have three options:
You can easily use the generic, native dialogues and menus through the
API. This is good for confirmation dialogues and other basic user inputs.
You can also open a webview from inside a Python script, then use HTML5
for the user interface. When you use webviews from Python, you can pass
messages back and forth, between the webview and the Python process that
spawned it. The UI will not be native, but it is still a good option to
have.
There is some support for native Android user interfaces, but I am not
sure how well it works; I just haven't ever used it.
You can mix options, so you can have a webview for the main interface, and still use native dialogues.
QPython
There is a third party project named QPython. It builds on SL4A, and throws in some other useful stuff.
QPython gives you a nicer UI to manage your installation, and includes a little, touchscreen code editor, a Python shell, and a PIP shell for package management. They also have a Python 3 port. Both versions are available from the Play Store, free of charge. QPython also bundles libraries from a bunch of Python on Android projects, including Kivy, so it is not just SL4A.
Note that QPython still develop their fork of SL4A (though, not much to be honest). The main SL4A project itself is pretty much dead.
Useful Links
SL4A Project (now on GitHub): https://github.com/damonkohler/sl4a
SL4A Python 3 Port: https://code.google.com/p/python-for-android/wiki/Python3
QPython Project: http://qpython.com
Learn SL4A (Tutorialspoint): https://www.tutorialspoint.com/sl4a/index.htm
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).
Termux
You can use the Termux app, which provides a POSIX environment for Android, to install Python.
Note that apt install python will install Python3 on Termux. For Python2, you need to use apt install python2.
Some demos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqqsl72mASE
The GitHub project: https://github.com/termux
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.
Using SL4A (which has already been mentioned by itself in other answers) you can run a full-blown web2py instance (other python web frameworks are likely candidates as well). SL4A doesn't allow you to do native UI components (buttons, scroll bars, and the like), but it does support WebViews. A WebView is basically nothing more than a striped down web browser pointed at a fixed address. I believe the native Gmail app uses a WebView instead of going the regular widget route.
This route would have some interesting features:
In the case of most python web frameworks, you could actually develop and test without using an android device or android emulator.
Whatever Python code you end up writing for the phone could also be put on a public webserver with very little (if any) modification.
You could take advantage of all of the crazy web stuff out there: query, HTML5, CSS3, etc.
Not at the moment and you would be lucky to get Jython to work soon. If you're planning to start your development now you would be better off with just sticking to Java for now on.
QPython
I use the QPython app. It's free and includes a code editor, an interactive interpreter and a package manager, allowing you to create and execute Python programs directly on your device.
Here are some tools listed in official python website
There is an app called QPython3 in playstore which can be used for both editing and running python script.
Playstore link
Another app called Termux in which you can install python using command
pkg install python
Playstore Link
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.
You can also check PySide for Android, which is actually Python bindings for the Qt 4.
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.
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.
Try Chaquopy
A Python SDK for Android
Anddd... 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.
From the Python for android site:
Python for android is a project to create your own Python distribution including the modules you want, and create an apk including python, libs, and your application.
Chaquopy
Chaquopy is a plugin for Android Studio's Gradle-based build system. It focuses on close integration with the standard Android development tools.
It provides complete APIs to call Java from Python or Python from Java, allowing the developer to use whichever language is best for each component of their app.
It can automatically download PyPI packages and build them into an app, including selected native packages such as NumPy.
It enables full access to all Android APIs from Python, including the native user interface toolkit (example pure-Python activity).
This used to be a commercial product, but it's now free and open-source.
(I am the creator of this product.)
Yet another attempt: https://code.google.com/p/android-python27/
This one embed directly the Python interpretter in your app apk.
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.
You can use QPython:
It has a Python Console, Editor, as well as Package Management / Installers
http://qpython.com/
It's an open source project with both Python 2 and Python 3 implementations. You can download the source and the Android .apk files directly from github.
QPython 2: https://github.com/qpython-android/qpython/releases
QPython 3: https://github.com/qpython-android/qpython3/releases
Another option if you are looking for 3.4.2 or newer (3.9.6 as of this writing) is this archive on GitHub.
Python3-Android 3.4.2 or Python3-Android 3.9.6
I believe the original archive supports Python 3.4.2, the latest GRRedwings branch support 3.9.6 and the 22b version of the NDK. Older branches support other versions, but are not as easy to compile with docker.
The older version you simply clone the archive, run make and you get the .so or the .a
The newer versions follow the ReadMe, but it uses docker for consistent builds.
I currently use this to run raw Python on android devices. With a couple modifications to the build files you can also make x86 and armeabi 64 bit
Take a look at BeeWare. It has grown significantly. It is awarded with PSF (Python Software Foundation) Education Grant.
Beeware's aim is to be able to create native apps with Python for all supported operating systems, including Android.
Official Website: Beeware
Github Repo: https://github.com/beeware
Didn't see this posted here, but you can do it with Pyside and Qt now that Qt works on Android thanks to Necessitas.
It seems like quite a kludge at the moment but could be a viable route eventually...
http://qt-project.org/wiki/PySide_for_Android_guide
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!
Check out enaml-native which takes the react-native concept and applies it to python.
It lets users build apps with native Android widgets and provides APIs to use android and java libraries from python.
It also integrates with android-studio and shares a few of react's nice dev features like code reloading and remote debugging.
Quick question.
I'm using Linux and I want to try making a GUI with Python. I've heard about something like Qt, GTK+ and PyGTK but I don't know what they are exactly and what the difference between them is.
Is there any difference on how they work with different DEs like GNOME, KDE, XFCE etc.? Is there any IDE that allows you to create GUI like Microsoft Visual Studio does (for C#, C, Visual Basic etc.)?
Or should I maybe use another language other than Python to make GUI applications?
Your first step should be http://wiki.python.org/moin/GuiProgramming
Some tool-kits integrate better in one environment over the other. For example PyQt, PyKDE (and the brand new PySide) will play nicer in a KDE environment, while the GTK versions (including the WX-widgets) will blend better into a GNOME/XFCE desktops.
You should look at the environment you want to target. You can go for basic portable GUI kit, or you can to a deeper integration with tour DE, like use of integrated password manager, and configuration file parsers, that are integrated in a specific DE like KDE or GNOME.
You should also consider the dependency that your selection dictates, and what is come by default with a basic DE. For example, PyKDE in the KDE 3.X branch had a non trivial set of dependencies, while at the 4.X branch the plasma binding made the Python GUI programming dependency less of an issue.
There are several IDE tools, in different levels of completeness and maturity. The best thing is to try one ore more, and see what best fit your needs.
I would avoid using another language to make a GUI for Python.
I've had every good luck with wxwidgets, which is the python binding for WX, a cross-platform development system. It's pretty easy to learn and quite powerful. The problem with wxwidgets is that it is not installed by default, so your users will need to install it on every platform that they wish to run your application. Find more information about it at http://wxwidgets.org/.
If you want people to be able to use your program without installing anything else, use Tkinter, the GUI system that comes with Python.
I would avoid the Python bindings for GTK or KDE unless you already know those systems. They also need to be downloaded, and they do not seem to have as much adoption as wxwidgets.
Each desktop environment uses a specific toolkit to build it's components. For example, KDE uses Qt and GNOME uses Gtk.
Your use of a toolkit will be dependent upon what type of desktop environment you're targeting at, and if you want to target a wide range of desktops then use a toolkit which will work on many desktop environments, like Wx widgets which will work on Linux, Mac OS and Windows. For building simple GUI applications, Tkinter will do.
Use the glade UI designer and pyGtk bindings... that was my first ever experience with python and there are lots of blog posts and tutorials to help you get started
Use PyGTK. As important as the toolkit is its underpinnings, with PyGTK you use GLib as well, with its filesystem abstractions (python module gio) that are very important for the Linux desktop, its high-level cross-desktop functions such as glib.get_user_data_dir() and its other application framework tools, and GObject and its property and signals model.
In .Net you have companies like DevEpxress, and Infragistics that offer a range of GUI widgets. Is there any market like that for Python GUI widgets? I'm thinking specifically about widgets like the DevExpress xtraGrid Suite.
Edit 01-16-09: For Example:
http://www.devexpress.com/Downloads/NET/OnlineDemos.xml
http://demos.devexpress.com/ASPxGridViewDemos/
http://www.infragistics.com/products/default.aspx
There are a number of GUI Toolkits available for Python. Obviously, the toolkit you choose will determine your selection of 3rd party widgets.
The Contenders
Python comes with Tkinter which is easy to use, but not great looking.
There are some very popular cross platform GUI toolkits borrowed from C/C++ that have a lot of external widgets: wxPython, pyQt, pyFLTK, pyGtk
I also know of, but have not used some of the other toolkits that are out there: PyGUI, Easygui, PythonCard
My Choice
I'm a fan of wxPython. They have a nice selection of widgets, some great examples that come with the install, good documentation, a book, and an active community.
WxWidgets has additional components offered by the community called wxCode.
Quote about wxPython from the creator of Python:
wxPython is the best and most mature cross-platform GUI toolkit,
given a number of constraints. The only reason wxPython isn't the
standard Python GUI toolkit is that Tkinter was there first.
-- Guido van Rossum
The popular Python GUI toolkits are usually wrappers around external (usually C, C++) libraries. So whatever 3rd party products those external libraries have, Python code can benefit (by minimal manual wrapping even in case the 3rd party solution does not provide Python wrappers by default).
wxPython is a wrapper around wxWidgets, LGPL (approximately) and very comprehensive
pyQT is a similair wrapper around QT, it's available as GPL or commercial
Although QT is now under the LGPL pyQT is a separate commercial product, it may be that they now release it under the LGPL or a community effort might now produce a LGPL alternative.
Both run on MS/Linux/Mac and are pretty comprehensive, there are excellent communities and books for both.
All Python GUI tools has nowhere close or comparable to C#.Net GUI like DevExpress, Infragistic, Telerik, ComponentOne. The quality of those GUI will never be able match the capabilities offered by .Net GUI. C# programming has superior set of WSIWYG programming tools to build multiplatform app like Visual Studio(for windows/mac), Unity3D (for games), Blend(for web), Xamarin(mobile app). However on the downside it doesn't have as much as Python package or library for computation. So to bridge the gap usually I'll build interface completely on C#.Net and if it requires extensive calculation i'll call Python script by using IronPython for .Net.
Heaps of GUI apis are available. PyQT, PtGTK, Tkinter...
-T
There's also wxPython, which is a wrapper around wxWidgets which is quite popular, works on many platforms and liberally licensed.
QT would probably be the other one I would look at, especially now that the next release will be licensed under the LGPL.
I don't see any commercial packages for GUI in Python but as I know Kivy is a good option for creating fast and beautiful GUI
https://github.com/kivy/kivy