Scripting Layer for Android (SL4A) brings scripting languages to Android by allowing you to edit and execute scripts and interactive interpreters directly on the Android device. These scripts have access to many of the APIs available to full-fledged Android applications, but with a greatly simplified interface that makes it easy to get things done.

Scripts can be run interactively in a terminal, in the background, or via Locale. Python, Perl, JRuby, Lua, BeanShell, JavaScript, Tcl, and shell are currently supported, and we're planning to add more. See the SL4A Video Help playlist on YouTube for various demonstrations of SL4A's features.

SL4A is designed for developers and is alpha quality software. Please report bugs and feature requests on the issues list. You can download the current APK by scanning or clicking the following barcode:

To install SL4A, you will need to enable the "Unknown sources" option in your device's "Application" settings.

Still have questions? Check out the FAQ, discussion list, or join #sl4a on freenode.

Want to learn more?

Start by reading "Introducing SL4A: The Scripting Layer for Android" by Pieter Greyling and "Packaging and Distributing" by Paul Ferrill. These are the intellectual property of Apress and are excerpt from the books "Practical Android Projects" and "Pro Android Python with SL4A."

You can buy "Practical Android Projects" on Amazon or directly from Apress.

Apress is happy to provide 25% off the price of the "Practical Android Projects" eBook. Simply enter the special code "SL4APROJECTROCKSHLDD" upon checkout when purchasing the eBook here. Offer expires 12/30/11.

You can buy "Pro Android Python with SL4A" directly from Apress.

Apress is also happy to provide 25% off the price of the "Pro Android Python with SL4A" eBook. Simply enter the special code "THESL4APROJECTROCKS" upon checkout when purchasing the eBook here. Offer expires 12/30/11.

What's Powered by SL4A?

Want to see SL4A in action? Check out some of these cool SL4A powered projects:

Rockets

SL4A was used by the Nexus One payload for sensor logging. See the article in Make for more information about the project.

Cellbots

We are a collection of hobbyists who want to free your cell phone from your pocket and let it connect and move with the real world. How? As a robot of course!

Cellbots aren’t just about using your phone to control a robot (which is cool too), but we aim on making your phone be the robot. It already has touch, hearing, speech, vibration, and many more senses, but needs legs (or wheels) to finally be the free roaming robot it was born to be.

See the Cellbots blog or YouTube channel for more.

Oplop

Using a single master password and various account names, one can create an infinite number of unique account passwords. These unique account passwords are commonly called password hashes, domain-specific passwords, or per-site passwords.

See the Oplop project page for more information.

Broadcast

Broadcast is an embedded web application for remote Android device management. Broadcast has four goals:

• Remote monitoring: Make Android state and device data available over a network.
• Remote control: Allow remote control of an Android device over a network.
• Proof-of-concept: Demonstrate that complex ruby applications can run in an Android environment, even with constrained resources.
• Framework: Set the groundwork for a number of advanced applications.

See the project homepage, this presentation, and this screenshot for more information.

SMS Merger

SMS Merger is an excellent example of what can be done with Python and the WebView API. SMS Merger is designed to send a series of personalized SMS. For example, to let Antony, Bob and Claire know which seat number they have been allocated for their exams, SMS Merger can turn a CSV file into the following SMS messages:

Dear Antony, your seat is A1 Dear Bob, your seat is M4 Dear Claire, your seat is M2

See these screenshots and Frank's blog for more information.

Have a project you'd like to see listed here? Tell us about it on the mailing list.