How to run SillyTavern on Android

There are three routes, and they are not variations of one another. You can build SillyTavern inside Termux, keep the server on another machine and open it from the phone, or install an Android app that carries a compatible server inside it. This page describes all three and what each one costs.

1.What does running SillyTavern on a phone involve?

SillyTavern is a Node.js server with a web frontend on top. Any phone setup has to put that server somewhere: on the phone through Termux, on another machine you reach over the network, or inside an Android app that hosts it for you. The interface then opens in a browser or a WebView.

That single decision settles everything else. It determines whether the phone works with no signal, whether something has to stay powered on at home, and how much you redo after a reboot.

2.Option A: install SillyTavern in Termux

This is the upstream project running unmodified on your phone, and it is the route the SillyTavern team documents. It is also the one with the most steps. The official Termux guide goes roughly like this:

1. Install Termux from F-Droid or its GitHub releases. The guide warns that the Play Store build is no longer maintained.
2. Run termux-change-repo and pick a nearby mirror.
3. Run pkg update && pkg upgrade.
4. Run pkg install git nodejs-lts nano. On 32-bit Android, add pkg install esbuild.
5. Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/SillyTavern/SillyTavern -b release.
6. Start it with cd ~/SillyTavern then bash start.sh, and open the printed address in your browser.

What you get is the genuine article: the newest release the day it ships, server plugins, every extension, and git pull --rebase --autostash to update. What you pay is that the server lives in a Termux session. Close it, or let Android reclaim the process for memory, and the server stops. After a reboot you start it again by hand. The official guide ends at bash start.sh and refers you elsewhere for keeping it alive.

Pick this if you are comfortable in a terminal and want upstream exactly as the project ships it.

3.Option B: keep the server on another machine

Here the phone runs only the interface. SillyTavern stays on a desktop or a small server, and you open its address in the phone's browser or in a client app that wraps it in a WebView. Nothing is installed on the phone beyond that client.

The cost is the other machine. It has to be awake and reachable whenever you want to chat, and reaching it from outside your home network means a VPN or a tunnel plus some authentication, since an exposed SillyTavern is an open door to your API keys. With no network there is nothing to talk to.

Pick this if you already run SillyTavern on a desktop and want the same chat history on the phone without keeping two installs in sync.

4.Option C: an Android app with the server inside it

PokiTavern is this route. It embeds a server implementing the SillyTavern 1.18 API and serves that project's official frontend on top, so you install one APK and the server is already listening when the app opens. There is no terminal, no Node.js install and no second machine.

It also carries an inference engine, so the phone can generate replies itself. The model is not in the package. On first run you pick one inside the app and download it once: Qwen3 0.6B at about 614 MB, Gemma 4 E2B at about 2.59 GB or Gemma 4 E4B at about 3.66 GB, all free and from public Hugging Face mirrors. You can also paste the URL of any public .litertlm file. After that download, replies work in airplane mode.

Larger models are still an option: point the app at OpenAI-, Claude-, Gemini- or OpenRouter-compatible endpoints, or at a local one such as Ollama. You bring the key, it stays on the phone, and you pay the provider directly. Chats, cards and settings live in a SQLite database on the device. LAN mode turns the phone into the server for any browser on the same Wi-Fi, which is how you read the same chats on a tablet or laptop.

The honest costs: the APK is 202 MB in version 1.1.2, it needs Android 7.0 or newer, it is not on Google Play yet, and the iOS build has not shipped. Some of desktop SillyTavern is deliberately absent, covered in running SillyTavern without Termux. PokiTavern is free, with no subscription, no message quota, no account and no telemetry.

5.Which option should you pick?

None of these is wrong. Termux gives you upstream and full control, a remote server gives you one chat history across devices, and an app gives you the shortest path from download to first reply.

6.Do character cards and world books move between them?

Yes, because all three speak the same formats. A PNG character card carries its JSON in the image's tEXt chunk: V2 under the chara keyword, V3 under ccv3, and V3 wins when a file has both. PokiTavern reads both, as SillyTavern 1.18 does, and world books import the same way.

So a card you made on a desktop install works on the phone unchanged, and one you found on a card site works everywhere. Nothing is converted or locked in.

7.Questions people ask

Do I need a PC to run SillyTavern on Android?

Only for the remote-server route. A Termux install runs entirely on the phone, and so does PokiTavern. The phone is doing the work in both cases; what differs is whether you assemble the server yourself in a terminal or install an app that already contains one.

Is PokiTavern on Google Play?

No. It is distributed as a signed APK from the download page, which is why Android asks you to allow installs from your browser the first time. It needs Android 7.0 or newer. The iOS build is not on the App Store yet and the home page has the waitlist.

Does the 202 MB download include a language model?

No. That size is the LiteRT inference engine, its NPU backends, the runtime for three CPU architectures, the bundled SillyTavern frontend and the seed content. Models are downloaded inside the app on first run, from public Hugging Face mirrors, free of charge.

Can I still use my own API key?

Yes, on any of the three routes. PokiTavern connects to OpenAI-, Claude-, Gemini- and OpenRouter-compatible endpoints, and to local ones such as Ollama. The key stays on your phone and you pay that provider directly, at their prices.

Is PokiTavern made by the SillyTavern team?

No, and there is no affiliation. PokiTavern embeds a server that implements the SillyTavern 1.18 API and serves that project's official frontend on top of it. SillyTavern is a separate open-source project and has not endorsed this app.