Important to note that termux, while it was always great and indispensable, is getting increasingly interesting now because android is getting full desktop mode at the same time as XR glasses (xreal, viture etc.) are becoming mainstream. You can have a linux desktop in your pocket everywhere without rooting, hacking or tinkering, just install termux and x11 server. While not all packages work, llms are increasingly powerful, just an example porting deskflow from a debian package to termux took about 4 hours max, something i would not even have had an idea how to start just 4 months ago.

I would bet the popularity is due to coding agents. For the first time you can continue the work without typing much but just inspecting the output and provading further guidance with relatively short messages.

I use my Meta Quest 3 with Termux & Termux X11 to run full desktop apps, and it works like a charm. No emulation, too! Native ARM64!