How I Turned an Old Android into a 24/7 AI Employee? (OpenClaw)

Mar 01, 2026

Watch the above video and follow the steps below:

In this guide, you’ll learn how to run OpenClaw locally on your Android phone using Termux.

This lets you control the agent directly from your android device and chat with it without needing a PC or cloud server.

Requirements

Open Termux and run:

pkg update && pkg upgrade -y
pkg install proot-distro -y

Install and enter Ubuntu:

proot-distro install ubuntu
proot-distro login ubuntu

Inside the Ubuntu shell:

apt update && apt upgrade -y
apt install curl git build-essential -y

Install Node.js 22:

curl -fsSL <https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x> | bash -
apt install -y nodejs

Install OpenClaw:

npm install -g openclaw@latest

Create a hijack script:

cat <<EOF >/root/hijack.jsconst os = require('os');
os.networkInterfaces =() => ({});EOF

Make it permanent:

echo'export NODE_OPTIONS="-r /root/hijack.js"' >> ~/.bashrcsource ~/.bashrc

Start onboarding:

openclaw onboard

When asked for Gateway Bind, select (very important to run Openclaw on phone):

127.0.0.1 (Loopback)

Start the gateway:

openclaw gateway --verbose

/status   → Check agent health
/think high → Deep reasoning mode
/reset    → Clear session memory

Open in your browser:

<http://127.0.0.1:18789>

To get your gateway token:

openclaw config get gateway.auth.token

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