Running a Node with your Mobile Phone. Possible or Nay?

[Achalugo BTC]

I’m happy to announce that I just recently concluded @NotATether ‘s 14 days Bitcoin Node challenge and I must say it was an exciting experience because I happen to have learned and added that knowledge to my knowledge shelve (one of the advantages of joining this forum) Yeah, I got rewarded with 14 merits and that pretty helpful.
Anyways, I didn’t create this thread to be explain how I ran the node challenge and received some merit rewards, I’m here for a completely different reason.

Now to the purpose of this thread. I recently had some technical issues with my laptop, but I was determined to run do the challenge and acquire that knowledge so I had to borrow my friend’s laptop for the duration of the challenge and so I had to return the laptop after the challenge but I still want to continue running the node to help strengthen the network more, which isn’t possible without a laptop, which raised my curiosity about the possibilities of running a node with my mobile phone, whether a full or pruned. Yeah that sounds crazy, but I’m the kind of person that believes anything is possible.

So a few days ago, I started doing my digging and researching, and here I am to share my findings so I could also get some suggestions or contributions from the techies in the house.

1. First thing is to prepare the phone you’ll be needing. Although running a full node with your phone can be pretty challenging and kinda complex, which is why we’ll be focusing on running a pruned node and for this we’ll be needing.

a. A phone with at least 2+GB RAM that you can always leave plugged in to power because running a node consumes battery so your battery can’t be low.

b. Running a node requires lots of memory space, so just like on the computer, you’re advised to use an external SSD, which you can use with the help of an OTG, but if you can equally get a phone with at least 1TB, then I don’t think you’ll be needing an external SSD.

2. Secondly, you download/install the Termux and Linux userland.

a. Install Termux app, you can do that from F-Droid (highly recommended) or you can download from your play store and then grant the app storage location.

b. To run a bitcoin node, you need to have a Linux environment and to achieve this, you need to install proot distro (Ubuntu/Debian) inside the Termux app (tool: proot-distro or you can use Andronix.

3. Get Bitcoin Core binaries.

a. Download prebuilt ARM aarch64 Linux binaries for Bitcoin Core, and please make sure you’re downloading from a trusted build and be sure to verify PGP/signature.  But if there are no available prebuilt binaries for your CPU, then look for a PC to compile, and copy the binaries to your phone.

4. Now, install and configure.
 
a. Inside the proot Linux

Code:

# example (adjust for your distro and downloaded tarball)
sudo apt update && sudo apt install wget tar ca-certificates
wget <bitcoin-core-aarch64-tar.gz>
tar -xzf bitcoin-*.tar.gz
sudo cp bitcoin-*/bin/* /usr/local/bin/

b. Create your bitcoin data dir and bitcoin.conf (~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf) with minimal entries:

Code:

 prune=20000         # amount in MiB (set to suit device: min 550, higher = more recent blocks kept)
rpcuser=youruser
rpcpassword=strongpassword
txindex=0           # disabled for pruning
listen=1 

5. Now attach your external storage and point bitcoins to it (very recommended)

a. Mount your external SSD and set -datadir=/path/to/external/ssd or symlink ~/.bitcoin to a directory on the SSD.

6. Initial sync

a. Now it’s time to start the daemon: bitcoind -daemon (or with -prune=<MiB> on command line).

b. The initial chain sync is CPU/IO intensive and it can take way more time to sync on phone. So to avoid a full initial sync on your phone, you can simply copy a recent pruned blockchain snapshot from a device that’s already synced to your SSD and start the bitcoind. This is also another way to reduce unusual phone load.

7. Time to Monitor and connect a wallet.

a. Track your progress via Use bitcoin-cli getblockchaininfo.

b. When you’re done syncing, connect a wallet that supports your node.

8. Lastly, keep your node healthy.

a. One way to do this is to always keep the phone plugged to power, so what you can to prevent the phone from overheating and make sure you’re always connected to a stable wifi.

b. Always remember to backup your wallet, (not the blockchain) and secure your rpcuser/rpcpassword. You can equally enable Tor if you want privacy for RPC connection.

Unfortunately, I can’t do this with my current mobile phone, I’ll need to get another phone to try this out, since I’ll have to always leave the phone plugged in. But I just felt like bringing this up here so I can hear your thoughts about this.

[Emjay24]

I’m happy to announce that I just recently concluded @NotATether ‘s 14 days Bitcoin Node challenge and I must say it was an exciting experience because I happen to have learned and added that knowledge to my knowledge shelve (one of the advantages of joining this forum) Yeah, I got rewarded with 14 merits and that pretty helpful.

Congratulations to you, you've learned and practiced how to support the network by running your node.

Unfortunately, I can’t do this with my current mobile phone, I’ll need to get another phone to try this out, since I’ll have to always leave the phone plugged in. But I just felt like bringing this up here so I can hear your thoughts about this.

I wanted to ask you about the health of your phone after running it for hours and the ease of achieving all these and maintaining it for hours. Even if it's possible to achieve this on mobile device, it would be difficult to sustain for long. The mobile version would be limited in features unlike using a computer and very hard to sustain for long.

For me, just like writing source code is better done with a computer system and has a very bad experience on mobile, I believe it would be the same with running the node on your phone, I would really prefer using a computer instead of going through all these stress to run the node on mobile device.

[Joy- maker]

Unfortunately, I can’t do this with my current mobile phone, I’ll need to get another phone to try this out, since I’ll have to always leave the phone plugged in. But I just felt like bringing this up here so I can hear your thoughts about this.

Although when I first received the notification from my telegram bot, I was eager to take a look at thread immediately, because of the title of the thread, and after reading through the thread I was pleased with the informations you were  able to gather from your research, but the thing there is I don't know how possible it will be to run a Bitcoin node on a mobile phone and get a good result, although running a node doesn't require much energy, as mining Bitcoin according to the little knowledge I have gotten so far, but am not really sure if a mobile phone can be able run a Bitcoin node and give you good output, but that's by way, and it could have make more sense where by after this  research of yours, you then try it out to see the result before posting here, but it's fine people will still try it out for you using the informations you have provided above.

[Mia Chloe]

~snip

Are you sure of the things you mentioned here? I'm pretty sure an average 2gb RAM phone cannot run a pruned node. RAM type differs and it's why some phones with 4gb lag way more than some with 2gb. Storage type contributes alot and considering what you are gonna be running you need a decent processor to do that something like Snapdragon.

You obviously haven't tried it out and you should do you don't make misleading comments. Take note a normal android can't run Linux unless you root the device I'm sure you know how to do that?

Your codes too are not formatted properly plus you are not indicating flexible ones.

[Achalugo BTC]

~snip

Are you sure of the things you mentioned here? I'm pretty sure an average 2gb RAM phone cannot run a pruned node. RAM type differs and it's why some phones with 4gb lag way more than some with 2gb. Storage type contributes alot and considering what you are gonna be running you need a decent processor to do that something like Snapdragon.

You obviously haven't tried it out and you should do you don't make misleading comments. Take note a normal android can't run Linux unless you root the device I'm sure you know how to do that?

Your codes too are not formatted properly plus you are not indicating flexible ones.

Well I obviously haven’t tried it yet, so I can’t say for sure if the theories above are accurate, that’s why I brought it down here so I could get some information, contributions and thoughts on the subject. And I appreciate your thoughts about the recommended RAM, that means I’ll have to opt for a device with a higher ram and processor. My guess is a Samsung Mobile phone, I believe they have one of the best processors, perhaps one with a 4 GB worth of RAM, I’m believing that should do the trick.

About the codes, I’m sure I’ll have that figured out when I officially begin my experiments, but thanks for the observation though…

[Mia Chloe]

Well I obviously haven’t tried it yet, so I can’t say for sure if the theories above are accurate, that’s why I brought it down here so I could get some information, contributions and thoughts on the subject. And I appreciate your thoughts about the recommended RAM, that means I’ll have to opt for a device with a higher ram and processor. My guess is a Samsung Mobile phone, I believe they have one of the best processors, perhaps one with a 4 GB worth of RAM, I’m believing that should do the trick.

If you ever intend on running one keep at least 8GB of RAM in mind with a decent processor from a midrange device.  You mentioned that you already ran a node with your computer in the past and I'll suggest you don't discontinue the node because along the line you may need a snapshot.

Make sure you root the device because it's basically the only way to run any Linux finely and lastly keep it in mind you are invariably killing the device's processor.

[promise444c5]

That’s a lot to get a full node running, PRoot->Linux env->mounting storage & pointing->running… Besides, even if it survives (very low chance ), how long do you intend to run it using Android, lol? The phone doesn’t work like a PC where swap (swapIn/swapOut, you can browse that) can take place. There’s nothing like that on mobile devices; all processes run on RAM, so you would probably end up killing Termux itself every time you try to start the IBD process. Although i don’t know how possible this could be on highend mobile(android )devices unless tested ..

Hence, you don’t need all that stress… there’re lots of people running it already (verify here). If you wish to join, just wait until you get the hardware and do it properly(not mainly directed to you).. don’t sweat it

[justinlamode]

I gave you 4 of my 5 sendable merits for this post because I see the post as something that will open up more learning opportunities for the community. There are many things that are not clear about your proposal regarding running a node on mobile, I don't want to fault that yet so that you will not feel discourage. I can see some meaningful contributions from some members already which is what the post is meant to achieve. It is always better to run node on PC and to get a mobile that will do that requires a lot of things.

[Fiatless]

From the comments of the people, wey get technical sense it's like this thing no dey possible. I also don do small check online, people dey talk say the thing no dey possible. I get interest for this experiment, so I go still dey wait for more people for here wey get ogbonge technical knowledge. With the way NEPA dey treat person, running node with phone for make sense die.   

[Cryptomultiplier]

It could be quite difficult as seen from the details OP has dropped here, to run a full node on an android device, but we can't rule out the possibility of it happening because innovation is expanding to meet future and present needs and with this knowledge, there are some external nodes that can be used with the simplified version and some specialized apps that have been created like the Nayuta core or NXT android full node which execute prune methods that can only be used by more technical and professional developers.

One must ensure though that their devices has good storage space possibly an external storage and have the willingness to make it through the challenges that may surface, in order to be successful at this endeavor.

 

[Bright0515]

If e go dey easy with android device e go good o, because many people way no get laptops or PC go won try do the node with their smart phones.

By the way I no really dey sure say to do node with android phone go dey easy as you talk am for here. But one thing I know be say 2GB RAM phone no fit process am because e go too slow to the extent e go frustrate the person way dey do am. Watin Mia Chole talk fit dey possible sha maybe from 8GB RAM with another 8GM RAM extension to make am 16GB RAM fit run am. But still you need to put your phone on developer mode.

[Ndabagi01]

I wanted to ask you about the health of your phone after running it for hours and the ease of achieving all these and maintaining it for hours. Even if it's possible to achieve this on mobile device, it would be difficult to sustain for long. The mobile version would be limited in features unlike using a computer and very hard to sustain for long.

For me, just like writing source code is better done with a computer system and has a very bad experience on mobile, I believe it would be the same with running the node on your phone, I would really prefer using a computer instead of going through all these stress to run the node on mobile device.

I also took part in the bitcoin node challenge, and it took me a long time past the 14 days to finish running the node on my laptop. Using a laptop has its own challenges and I just wonder how big of a challenge using a mobile will be running a node. I faced network problems during the process and that didn’t allow me to finish it within 14days from the first day I started. I also noticed that after completing the challenge, my battery health has dropped significantly as a result of the laptop being plugged into charge 24/7 days while running the node.

I just imagine what will be of the phone’s battery after completely running the challenge if this could affect that of laptop this well. It is good there is an alternative to using your computer to run the bitcoin node. Hopefully maybe a bigger phone with more space specifications as you’ve listed will run it better but I know that at the end of the day your battery health will reduce significantly.

[Achalugo BTC]

I gave you 4 of my 5 sendable merits for this post because I see the post as something that will open up more learning opportunities for the community. There are many things that are not clear about your proposal regarding running a node on mobile, I don't want to fault that yet so that you will not feel discourage. I can see some meaningful contributions from some members already which is what the post is meant to achieve. It is always better to run node on PC and to get a mobile that will do that requires a lot of things.

Appreciate that...
Well I already know that this experiment would definitely have it's lapses and potential complications, cos surely, it wouldn't be compared to running a node on a PC. For now, this is merely a theory, and I'm only curious to know how far I can go with it, but I hope I succeed though, but even if I don't then I may be equally learning a thing or two, you know what they say about no knowledge being a waste right?

[promise444c5]

One must ensure though that their devices has good storage space possibly an external storage and have the willingness to make it through the challenges that may surface, in order to be successful at this endeavor.

An external storage(SD Card ) will be slower  but that’s if the device supports it in the first place.. there should be other methods to plugin an ssd drive anyway but this must be done along with charging as the process it self will drain battery and you don’t want to have a corrupt chainstate because your phone shutdown unexpectedly.

Well I already know that this experiment would definitely have it's lapses and potential complications, cos surely, it wouldn't be compared to running a node on a PC. For now, this is merely a theory, and I'm only curious to know how far I can go with it, but I hope I succeed though, but even if I don't then I may be equally learning a thing or two, you know what they say about no knowledge being a waste right?

i found you this reddit post
you can check it out .. if it eventually works without terminating then it will still be slow because of RAM but anyways you can give it a try.
For the external storage you can watch this :  https://youtube.com/shorts/CfH_gK7MeEM?si=mgtnjwdWApQuMqBI
it’s a casing structure for the NVMe SSD (quite faster), if you can’t then you can still get a casing with a sata connection to the ssd storage device (the casing can handle that) but since you need charging then your device must support  both the input and charging through it.Else, you can give the internal storage device a shot but it could be slow depends on the type.

[Floczy]

Well I obviously haven’t tried it yet, so I can’t say for sure if the theories above are accurate, that’s why I brought it down here so I could get some information, contributions and thoughts on the subject. And I appreciate your thoughts about the recommended RAM, that means I’ll have to opt for a device with a higher ram and processor. My guess is a Samsung Mobile phone, I believe they have one of the best processors, perhaps one with a 4 GB worth of RAM, I’m believing that should do the trick.

About the codes, I’m sure I’ll have that figured out when I officially begin my experiments, but thanks for the observation though…

After giving false hope, that Bitcoin node can be run on a mobile device.
Did you know the stress you put me through trying to run the node on my device? I knew something was wrong all along. The first time I run a bitcoin node on my DELL, at the same time, I was making use of strong app for video editing. Everything was slow and bitcoin.conf file kept deleting some downloaded blocks, making the node start over again. The experience was terrible.

I strongly believe running a node on a mobile device, no matter the storage is a disaster.

[Pjcr7]

Maybe it will work using the Google Pixel phone, Hawaii or even the latest Samsung phones because these are not our regular phones and frankly,I haven't used any of them before, just maybe it might work but with our regular Infinix, Redmi, Techno or Itel it's a no no because it won't work. PC has a higher resolution and a bigger storage capacity. The SSD and HDD in a system also not to forget the GUI which a phone doesn't have. I think after passing through all the stress of downloading these in your phone and wasting your data that's if you are not where theirs WiFi, (we know how our country be na) it will not just be a waste of data but time and effort. But hey thanks for sharing.

[promise444c5]

~

You don’t need bigger storage if that your concern, you can always run a pruned node  to save space but that still doesn’t justify anything, because even if it works and you intend running continuously, it would wear off your internal storage  over time if not soon..your best option is external drives as OTG(On-The-Go)

After giving false hope, that Bitcoin node can be run on a mobile device.
Did you know the stress you put me through trying to run the node on my device? I knew something was wrong all along.

Did you read the comments? OP himself haven’t tried it and non of us  tried it but it’s not a good option either.
It will work if done precisely but not straightforward..
If you want to run it get a good PC that has a good processor , with an SSD storage, at least 8GB RAM(I’ve tried it on a 4gb RAM, it worked but slow).. that should work.

[0x000369]

You know I love that anything is possible mindset but seriously running a node especially the Initial Block Download IBD part is pure torture for even a decent laptop forget about a phone The hardware is just not built for that kind of sustained continuous load

It's not just the RAM or the SSD speed that external storage idea is smart btw but the CPU is going to be running full blast for days possibly a week even for a pruned node and that heat is going to fry your phone's battery life is gonna drop like a rock like Ndabagi01 mentioned about his laptop think about your phone's processor getting cooked twenty four seven

Plus setting up Termux and Proot with an OTG cable and constantly dealing with disconnects or background processes killing your node daemon sounds like a massive headache way too much stress for a daily driver phone or even a dedicated old phone

If you really want to keep a node running without a dedicated PC maybe look into a cheap Raspberry Pi setup or something else low power like that it's designed to run headless twenty four seven and is way safer than sacrificing a good mobile device

But hey if you do end up trying it you absolutely have to post your results here the initial sync time alone will be legendary even if it takes you a month good luck with the experiment man