Python 3.14t for Termux (Free-Threading)

Python 3.14.0 with free-threading (GIL disabled) compiled for Termux on Android ARM64.

🎯 True parallel multi-threading on Android! ⚡ 1.5-2.5x speedup for CPU-bound tasks on multi-core devices 📱 Ready for Termux - no root required

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What is this?

This is a pre-built Python 3.14.0 interpreter with free-threading enabled (--disable-gil), specifically compiled for Termux on Android ARM64 devices.

Free-threading (PEP 703) removes the Global Interpreter Lock (GIL), allowing true parallel execution of Python code across multiple CPU cores.

Why use this?

• 🚀 Better performance: CPU-bound multi-threaded code runs 1.5-2.5x faster
• 🔬 Experiment: Test the latest Python 3.14 features on Android
• 🛠️ Development: Build apps that leverage multi-core mobile processors
• 📚 Learning: Understand free-threading without building from source

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Requirements

• Device: Android 7.0+ (API 24+)
• Architecture: ARM64 (aarch64) - check with uname -m
• Termux: Latest version from F-Droid
• Storage: ~100MB free space

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Quick Installation

Step 1: Download the package

# In Termux, download the latest release
wget https://github.com/fibogacci/python314t-for-termux/releases/download/v3.14.0/termux-python314t-3.14.0.tar.gz

Step 2: Extract and install

# Extract the archive
tar -xzf termux-python314t-3.14.0.tar.gz

# Navigate to the directory
cd termux-python314t-3.14.0

# Run the installer
bash install.sh

The installer will:

• Copy files to $HOME/.local/ (or custom PREFIX)
• Create symlinks: python3.14t, python3, python
• Set up the Python 3.14t environment

Step 3: Configure environment

Add to your ~/.bashrc:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$HOME/.local/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export SSL_CERT_FILE="/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/etc/tls/cert.pem"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Note: Make sure ca-certificates package is installed:

pkg install ca-certificates

Step 4: Verify installation

# Check version
python3.14t --version

# Expected output: Python 3.14.0 free-threading build ...

# Verify GIL is disabled
python3.14t -c "import sys; print(f'GIL enabled: {sys._is_gil_enabled()}')"

# Expected output: GIL enabled: False

✅ If you see False, free-threading is working!

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Verify SSL Support

Python 3.14t includes OpenSSL 3.3.2 for secure HTTPS connections:

python3.14t -c "import ssl; print(ssl.OPENSSL_VERSION)"
# Output: OpenSSL 3.3.2 3 Sep 2024

# Test HTTPS connection
python3.14t -c "import urllib.request; print(urllib.request.urlopen('https://www.python.org').status)"
# Output: 200

Note: SSL certificates are configured to use Termux CA bundle. Ensure ca-certificates is installed:

pkg install ca-certificates

✅ SSL/TLS fully supported!

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Package Management - Use pip

Install pip

# Download pip installer
wget https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py

# Install pip for Python 3.14t
python3.14t get-pip.py

# Verify installation
pip --version

Install packages

# Install pure Python packages
pip install requests httpx click

# Test requests
python3.14t -c "import requests; print(requests.get('https://httpbin.org/get').json())"

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Package Compatibility

✅ Tested and Working - Pure Python Packages

HTTP/Web Libraries:

• requests ✅ - HTTP library (HTTPS works - uses bundled certifi)
• httpx ✅ - Modern async HTTP client (HTTPS works - uses bundled certifi)
• urllib3 ✅ - HTTP library (requires SSL_CERT_FILE env var for HTTPS)
• beautifulsoup4 ✅ - HTML/XML parsing

CLI Frameworks:

• click ✅ - Command-line interface creation
• typer ✅ - Modern CLI framework (based on click)

Built-in Modules:

• asyncio ✅ - Async I/O
• threading ✅ - Multi-threading
• concurrent.futures ✅ - High-level threading/processing

❌ Known Issues

Packages with Rust dependencies:

• pydantic v2 ❌ - Requires Rust compilation (pydantic-core)

C extension packages (numpy, pandas, scipy):

• ⚠️ May NOT work - Termux uses Android Bionic libc (not glibc)
• PyPI wheels are built for standard Linux (manylinux - glibc-based)
• Platform mismatch: manylinux_aarch64 ≠ android_aarch64
• Require building from source with Android NDK

Recommendation: Stick to pure Python packages for best compatibility and reliability.

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Testing Free-Threading Performance

Create a benchmark script to test multi-threading:

cat > benchmark.py << 'EOF'
import sys
import time
from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor

def fibonacci(n):
    if n <= 1:
        return n
    return fibonacci(n-1) + fibonacci(n-2)

print(f"Python: {sys.version}")
print(f"GIL enabled: {sys._is_gil_enabled()}")
print()

# Single-threaded
n = 35
start = time.time()
result = fibonacci(n)
single_time = time.time() - start
print(f"Single-threaded Fib({n}): {single_time:.2f}s")

# Multi-threaded (4 workers)
start = time.time()
with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=4) as executor:
    futures = [executor.submit(fibonacci, n) for _ in range(4)]
    results = [f.result() for f in futures]
multi_time = time.time() - start

print(f"Multi-threaded (4x Fib({n})): {multi_time:.2f}s")
print(f"Speedup: {(single_time * 4) / multi_time:.2f}x")

if sys._is_gil_enabled():
    print("⚠️  GIL enabled - limited parallelism")
else:
    print("✅ Free-threading active - real parallelism!")
EOF

python3.14t benchmark.py

Expected results (4-core ARM device):

• Speedup: 1.5-2.5x
• Output: ✅ Free-threading active - real parallelism!

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Troubleshooting

Library not found error

# Error: libpython3.14t.so: cannot open shared object file

# Solution: Add library path
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$HOME/.local/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"

# Make permanent
echo 'export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$HOME/.local/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc

Wrong architecture

# Error: cannot execute binary file: Exec format error

# Check your architecture
uname -m

# This package requires: aarch64 (ARM64)
# If you have armv7l (32-bit), this package won't work

Python not found

# Error: python3.14t: command not found

# Add to PATH
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

# Make permanent
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Import errors (missing modules)

Some standard library modules were removed to reduce size:

• test/ - test suite (use pytest instead)
• idlelib/ - IDLE IDE (not useful on Termux)
• tkinter/ - Tk/Tcl GUI (not available on Android)

All other standard modules are included.

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Package Contents

• Binary: python3.14t (ARM aarch64 executable)
• Library: libpython3.14t.so (31MB shared library)
• Standard library: python3.14t/ (34MB, cleaned)
• Headers: include/python3.14t/ (C headers for extensions)
• Scripts: install.sh, README.md

Total size: 21MB compressed, 67MB uncompressed

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Building from Source

If you want to build Python 3.14t yourself:

# Install dependencies
pkg install build-essential clang openssl libffi zlib sqlite ncurses readline

# Download Python source
wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.14.0/Python-3.14.0.tar.xz
tar -xf Python-3.14.0.tar.xz
cd Python-3.14.0

# Configure with free-threading
./configure --prefix=$HOME/.local --disable-gil --enable-shared

# Build (takes 1-3 hours on mobile!)
make -j4

# Install
make install

Note: Cross-compilation from a Linux PC is much faster (~17 minutes). See build documentation for details.

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Compatibility

✅ Tested and Working - Pure Python Packages

HTTP/Web Libraries:

• requests ✅ - HTTP library (HTTPS works - uses bundled certifi)
• httpx ✅ - Modern async HTTP client (HTTPS works - uses bundled certifi)
• urllib3 ✅ - HTTP library (requires SSL_CERT_FILE env var for HTTPS)
• beautifulsoup4 ✅ - HTML/XML parsing

CLI Frameworks:

• click ✅ - Command-line interface creation
• typer ✅ - Modern CLI framework (based on click)

Built-in Modules:

• asyncio ✅ - Async I/O
• threading ✅ - Multi-threading
• concurrent.futures ✅ - High-level threading/processing

❌ Known Issues

Packages with Rust dependencies:

• pydantic v2 ❌ - Requires Rust compilation (pydantic-core)

C extension packages (numpy, pandas, scipy):

• ⚠️ May NOT work - Termux uses Android Bionic libc (not glibc)
• PyPI wheels are built for standard Linux (manylinux - glibc-based)
• Platform mismatch: manylinux_aarch64 ≠ android_aarch64
• Require building from source with Android NDK

Recommendation: Stick to pure Python packages for best compatibility and reliability.

Performance expectations

CPU-bound multi-threaded: 1.5-2.5x speedup (4 cores) I/O-bound: Similar to standard Python Single-threaded: ~5-10% slower (free-threading overhead)

Best for: Scripting, automation, web scraping, CLI tools, async I/O, HTTPS requests

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Resources

• Python 3.14 Release
• PEP 703: Free-Threading
• Free-Threading Guide
• Termux Wiki
• uv Package Manager

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License

Python 3.14 is licensed under the Python Software Foundation License.

This packaging and distribution is provided as-is for the Termux community.

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Credits

Built using the official CPython Android build system.

Free-threading enabled via --disable-gil flag (PEP 703).

Cross-compiled for Termux ARM64 with optimization and size reduction.

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Author

Fibogacci

• Website: Fibogacci.com
• Blog: AndroidPython.com - Python on Android tutorials and resources

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Enjoy free-threading Python on Android! 🚀🐍📱