How to detect Android OS from a Python script?

Question

I am running a python script in a termux environment on an Android device and I would like to be able to detect that the OS is Android.

The traditional approaches don't work:

>>> import platform
>>> import sys
>>> print(platform.system())
'Linux'
>>> print(sys.platform)
'linux'
>>> print(platform.release())
'4.14.117-perf+'
>>> print(platform.platform())
'Linux-4.14.117-perf+-aarch64-with-libc'

What other ootb options are available?

An apparently useful option is platform.machine() which returns armv8 — this is more than just 'Linux' yet it's just the architecture, and not the OS, and it might return a false positive for example on a raspberry pi or other arm-based systems.

Perhaps os.uname()?

John Gordon
– John Gordon

2020-06-01 14:40:55 +00:00
Commented Jun 1, 2020 at 14:40 — John Gordon
– John Gordon, Commented Jun 1, 2020 at 14:40
@JohnGordon os.uname() returns linux.

Ozgur Bagci
– Ozgur Bagci

2020-06-01 14:46:53 +00:00
Commented Jun 1, 2020 at 14:46 — Ozgur Bagci
– Ozgur Bagci, Commented Jun 1, 2020 at 14:46

Ozgur Bagci · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-01 14:48:58Z

3

I tried os.uname() without success. So I may suggest using subprocess since uname -o returns b'Android\n'.

Here is a simple check for Android:

import subprocess
subprocess.check_output(['uname', '-o']).strip() == b'Android'

answered Jun 1, 2020 at 14:48

Ozgur Bagci

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3 Comments

ccpizza Over a year ago

this could do, but this is not really a python-based solution, since it relies on an external utility and moreover spawns a new process

Ozgur Bagci Over a year ago

@ccpizza i searched web and tried different things, could not come-up with another solution. sorry for that.

ccpizza Over a year ago

thank you for taking the time to look into it! much appreciated!

Luka Mamukashvili · Accepted Answer · 2022-12-11 16:41:20Z

2

There is more simple way that doesn't depend using external utilities and just uses sys module. Here is code:

import sys
is_android: bool = hasattr(sys, 'getandroidapilevel')

Here are it's pros and cons:

@@Pros@@
 + Does not depend on environment values
 + Does not depend on third-party modules
 + Simple one-liner (2 technically)

@@Cons@@
 - Version restriction (Supports CPython 3.7+ or equivalent)
 - Implementation-dependent (while CPython implements this I don't know about others)

edited Dec 11, 2022 at 16:41

answered Aug 15, 2021 at 21:08

Luka Mamukashvili

3204 silver badges15 bronze badges

9 Comments

fuzzyTew Over a year ago

I've seen ANDROID_DATA used for this too. It would be good to make a list of the default environment contents of different terminal emulators and sdks like kivy or beeware.

Luka Mamukashvili Over a year ago

@fuzzyTew It's not always a good idea to use Environmental Variables for detection since it is easily removable. Better upgrade to CPython 3.7+ and use built-in function detection.

fuzzyTew Over a year ago

I was actually in a situation where I was handling kivy and/or termux in third party code only written for one or the other, so the ability to remove environment variables helped in ton.

fuzzyTew Over a year ago

I just meant that you're clearly in the right here about environment variables being a poor choice when there's another option. In my use-case, I'm tricking underlying libraries that made that poor choice. It's not actually safe unless I verify that every version of the library used engages the exact environment variables I'm using, document the behavior clearly for users to debug problems with, and file issue reports upstream. The version detection would be of any dependency packages whose unsafe behavior I'm relying on.

Luka Mamukashvili Over a year ago

@ccpizza what if I removed first answer and left only second?

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