Guru
Joined: 16/09/2019
Location: United KingdomPosts: 4369
| Posted: 02:02pm 29 Jul 2025 |
Hi folks,
MMBasic running natively on an Android phone:
I've proved to myself (~90%) that it is do-able - though with a Bluetooth keyboard for input at the moment.
Nobody hold their breath for a download though, there is a very long way to go before I'm going to consider that.
Best wishes,
Tom
Guru
Joined: 07/11/2023
Location: United KingdomPosts: 1942
| Posted: 02:36pm 29 Jul 2025 |
Holy moly...great news
Well done, Tom
Guru
Joined: 18/11/2011
Location: United KingdomPosts: 4332
| Posted: 02:41pm 29 Jul 2025 |
Wow. Congrats!
John
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Joined: 13/02/2015
Location: United StatesPosts: 651
| Posted: 11:24pm 29 Jul 2025 |
Sweet! I can hardly wait for the first public beta.
Guru
Joined: 30/06/2020
Location: GermanyPosts: 757
| Posted: 12:30am 30 Jul 2025 |
This is so cool! Can't wait to test it!
Greetings
Daniel
Guru
Joined: 03/01/2018
Location: AustraliaPosts: 1126
| Posted: 12:44am 30 Jul 2025 |
What the posts above said
Regular Member
Joined: 13/01/2019
Location: GermanyPosts: 41
| Posted: 08:16am 30 Jul 2025 |
very coool !!!! 
Guru
Joined: 13/08/2020
Location: CanadaPosts: 629
| Posted: 09:16pm 05 Aug 2025 |
Very awesome!
Guru
Joined: 16/09/2019
Location: United KingdomPosts: 4369
| Posted: 10:56pm 05 Aug 2025 |
Sometimes the "simplest" things are the hardest.
I've got soft-keyboard integration, execution of immediate mode BASIC statements, sound and graphics but no useful file-system; modern Android does it's damnedest to sandbox apps and keep them away from the "Documents" folder ... I'm figuring it out but
.EDIT: it doesn't help that it can't all be done in C/C++ you have to call to and from Java (or Kotlin), what a ball-ache.
Best wishes,
Tom
Edited 2025-08-06 09:10 by thwill
Guru
Joined: 07/11/2023
Location: United KingdomPosts: 1942
| Posted: 03:43pm 06 Aug 2025 |
Might make more sense to use SD-Card for storage. Yeah, Google has been making life more and more difficult.
I notice that the industrial panel PCs can be had with earlier versions of Android which are much less restricted.
Same problem with SMS etc.
Guru
Joined: 13/08/2020
Location: CanadaPosts: 629
| Posted: 03:57pm 06 Aug 2025 |
You used to be able to grant "Permissions" to the app that were accepted by the user to access photos and documents.
The problem with both Android and iOS is that they keep changing the permissions models every couple of years to follow new legislation or technical threats (Bluetooth suddenly became "This app might be able to track your location").
In order to keep apps active in the stores, they do need annual maintenance (in my experience), to update these features and/or complete store compliance rules ("Does this product use AI to generate any content that might be offensive" just appeared as a rule on Apple store).
I get why both companies do this, but it does make it a pain for the small developer to constantly have to go back and jump through hoops.
Either way - my hat is off to you Tom! Another exceptional project that I will follow with great interest.
Guru
Joined: 15/06/2020
Location: AustraliaPosts: 370
| Posted: 03:50pm 07 Aug 2025 |
G'day Tom,
This is looking awesome, hopefully you'll get over the hurdles
Will this only work with current versions of Android? I think I have 3 older Android tablets here just waiting for MMBasic
Regards,
Lyle.
Guru
Joined: 16/09/2019
Location: United KingdomPosts: 4369
| Posted: 04:24pm 07 Aug 2025 |
G'day Lyle,
The initial target device is my personal phone (a Moto g32 running Android 13).
MMB4A v1.0 will be targeting two use-cases:
- Programmable calculator
- Game*Mite substitute
This means no Wireless, Bluetooth or kitchen sinks initially - sorry folks.
If I get that far then we will see what the future holds.
Best wishes,
Tom
Edited 2025-08-08 02:25 by thwill
Guru
Joined: 16/09/2019
Location: United KingdomPosts: 4369
| Posted: 08:17am 04 Sep 2025 |
Hi folks,
It's a bit flakey but I have a file-system and can RUN a program:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mSnW4Dxcmdc
Note that the "programmer's" soft-keyboard is a 3rd party app (https://github.com/Julow/Unexpected-Keyboard).
Next up, the EDITor.
Best wishes,
Tom
Edited 2025-09-04 18:19 by thwill
Guru
Joined: 07/11/2023
Location: United KingdomPosts: 1942
| Posted: 08:35am 04 Sep 2025 |
Exciting stuff
Please provide for a soft-keyboard-disable. I prefer to create my own.
Edited 2025-09-04 18:36 by PhenixRising
Guru
Joined: 13/08/2020
Location: CanadaPosts: 629
| Posted: 10:32pm 10 Sep 2025 |
Great job
Senior Member
Joined: 28/02/2023
Location: GermanyPosts: 110
| Posted: 07:30pm 11 Sep 2025 |
Hi Tom
I am the maintainer of OliBasic a fork of RFO-Basic created by the BASIC legend Paul Laughton.
This BASIC! based only on Android's Java engine, because no special compiling for different devices.
X11Basic might be similar to your concept. IMO a BASIC number cruncher on Android.
https://f-droid.org/repo/net.sourceforge.x11basic_165_src.tar.gz
But all C or C++ BASICs on Android have slower graphic performance against Google's customized graphic functions.
If you use a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 (4GB+) you can install an Android version from KonstaKang.com in a lot of versions. A pretty tool for testing different versions, because you can switch OS changes off and on, too.
Also a highlight is the direct support of I²C sensors like BME280.
Feel free to ask for special code.
Gregor
Guru
Joined: 16/09/2019
Location: United KingdomPosts: 4369
| Posted: 10:28pm 11 Sep 2025 |
Hi Gregor,
Thanks, but you are somewhat missing the point, I very specifically want *MM*Basic on Android and I want it built from the same code and thus with maximum compatibility with my MMBasic for Linux. I also want to do it myself (whilst still recognising that it is built upon the work of Geoff, Peter and others) because that is where 75% of the fun is.
Best wishes,
Tom
Guru
Joined: 13/08/2020
Location: CanadaPosts: 629
| Posted: 11:06pm 12 Sep 2025 |
I think you misspelled "pain".