diff --git a/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml b/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
index ff328bb6..91cce47c 100644
--- a/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
+++ b/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
@@ -106,6 +106,11 @@
         <service
             android:name=".SchedulerJobService"
             android:permission="android.permission.BIND_JOB_SERVICE" />
+        <service
+            android:name=".KeepAliveService"
+            android:description="@string/keep_alive_service"
+            android:enabled="true"
+            android:exported="false" />
     </application>
 
 </manifest>
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/termux/api/App.java b/app/src/main/java/com/termux/api/App.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d51b7e85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/termux/api/App.java
@@ -0,0 +1,217 @@
+package com.termux.api;
+
+import android.app.Application;
+import android.content.Intent;
+import android.net.LocalServerSocket;
+import android.net.LocalSocket;
+
+import com.termux.api.util.TermuxApiLogger;
+
+import java.io.BufferedWriter;
+import java.io.DataInputStream;
+import java.io.OutputStreamWriter;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Objects;
+import java.util.regex.Matcher;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+
+public class App extends Application
+{
+    public static final String LISTEN_ADDRESS = "com.termux.api://listen";
+    private static final Pattern EXTRA_STRING = Pattern.compile("(-e|--es|--esa) +([^ ]+) +\"(.*?)(?<!\\\\)\"", Pattern.DOTALL);
+    private static final Pattern EXTRA_BOOLEAN = Pattern.compile("--ez +([^ ]+) +([^ ]+)");
+    private static final Pattern EXTRA_INT = Pattern.compile("--ei +([^ ]+) +(-?[0-9]+)");
+    private static final Pattern EXTRA_FLOAT = Pattern.compile("--ef +([^ ]+) +(-?[0-9]+(?:\\.[0-9]+))");
+    private static final Pattern EXTRA_INT_LIST = Pattern.compile("--eia +([^ ]+) +(-?[0-9]+(?:,-?[0-9]+)*)");
+    private static final Pattern EXTRA_LONG_LIST = Pattern.compile("--ela +([^ ]+) +(-?[0-9]+(?:,-?[0-9]+)*)");
+    private static final Pattern EXTRA_UNSUPPORTED = Pattern.compile("--e[^izs ] +[^ ]+ +[^ ]+");
+
+
+    @Override
+    public void onCreate() {
+        super.onCreate();
+        new Thread(() -> {
+            try (LocalServerSocket listen = new LocalServerSocket(LISTEN_ADDRESS)) {
+                while (true) {
+                    try (LocalSocket con = listen.accept();
+                         DataInputStream in = new DataInputStream(con.getInputStream());
+                         BufferedWriter out = new BufferedWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(con.getOutputStream()))) {
+                        // only accept connections from Termux programs
+                        if (con.getPeerCredentials().getUid() != getApplicationInfo().uid) {
+                            continue;
+                        }
+                        try {
+                            //System.out.println("connection");
+                            int length = in.readUnsignedShort();
+                            byte[] b = new byte[length];
+                            in.readFully(b);
+                            String cmdline = new String(b, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+
+                            //System.out.println(cmdline.replaceAll("--es socket_input \".*?\"","").replaceAll("--es socket_output \".*?\"",""));
+                            HashMap<String, String> stringExtras = new HashMap<>();
+                            HashMap<String, String[]> stringArrayExtras = new HashMap<>();
+                            HashMap<String, Boolean> booleanExtras = new HashMap<>();
+                            HashMap<String, Integer> intExtras = new HashMap<>();
+                            HashMap<String, Float> floatExtras = new HashMap<>();
+                            HashMap<String, int[]> intArrayExtras = new HashMap<>();
+                            HashMap<String, long[]> longArrayExtras = new HashMap<>();
+                            boolean err = false;
+
+                            // extract and remove the string extras first, so another argument embedded in a string isn't counted as an argument
+                            Matcher m = EXTRA_STRING.matcher(cmdline);
+                            while (m.find()) {
+                                String option = m.group(1);
+                                if ("-e".equals(option) || "--es".equals(option)) {
+                                    // unescape "
+                                    stringExtras.put(m.group(2), Objects.requireNonNull(m.group(3)).replaceAll("\\\\\"","\""));
+                                } else {
+                                    // split the list
+                                    String[] list = Objects.requireNonNull(m.group(3)).split("(?<!\\\\),");
+                                    for (int i = 0; i<list.length; i++) {
+                                        /// unescape the ","
+                                        list[i] = list[i].replaceFirst("\\\\,", ",");
+                                    }
+                                    stringArrayExtras.put(m.group(2), list);
+                                }
+
+                            }
+                            cmdline = m.replaceAll("");
+
+                            m = EXTRA_BOOLEAN.matcher(cmdline);
+                            while (m.find()) {
+                                booleanExtras.put(m.group(1), Boolean.parseBoolean(m.group(2)));
+                            }
+                            cmdline = m.replaceAll("");
+
+                            m = EXTRA_INT.matcher(cmdline);
+                            while (m.find()) {
+                                try {
+                                    intExtras.put(m.group(1), Integer.parseInt(Objects.requireNonNull(m.group(2))));
+                                } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
+                                    String msg = "Invalid integer extra: " + m.group(0) + "\n";
+                                    TermuxApiLogger.info(msg);
+                                    out.write(msg);
+                                    err = true;
+                                    break;
+                                }
+                            }
+                            cmdline = m.replaceAll("");
+
+                            m = EXTRA_FLOAT.matcher(cmdline);
+                            while (m.find()) {
+                                try {
+                                    floatExtras.put(m.group(1), Float.parseFloat(Objects.requireNonNull(m.group(2))));
+                                } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
+                                    String msg = "Invalid float extra: " + m.group(0) + "\n";
+                                    TermuxApiLogger.info(msg);
+                                    out.write(msg);
+                                    err = true;
+                                    break;
+                                }
+                            }
+                            cmdline = m.replaceAll("");
+
+                            m = EXTRA_INT_LIST.matcher(cmdline);
+                            while (m.find()) {
+                                try {
+                                    String[] parts = Objects.requireNonNull(m.group(2)).split(",");
+                                    int[] ints = new int[parts.length];
+                                    for (int i = 0; i<parts.length; i++) {
+                                        ints[i] = Integer.parseInt(parts[i]);
+                                    }
+                                    intArrayExtras.put(m.group(1), ints);
+                                } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
+                                    String msg = "Invalid int array extra: " + m.group(0) + "\n";
+                                    TermuxApiLogger.info(msg);
+                                    out.write(msg);
+                                    err = true;
+                                    break;
+                                }
+                            }
+                            cmdline = m.replaceAll("");
+
+                            m = EXTRA_LONG_LIST.matcher(cmdline);
+                            while (m.find()) {
+                                try {
+                                    String[] parts = Objects.requireNonNull(m.group(2)).split(",");
+                                    long[] longs = new long[parts.length];
+                                    for (int i = 0; i<parts.length; i++) {
+                                        longs[i] = Long.parseLong(parts[i]);
+                                    }
+                                    longArrayExtras.put(m.group(1), longs);
+                                } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
+                                    String msg = "Invalid long array extra: " + m.group(0) + "\n";
+                                    TermuxApiLogger.info(msg);
+                                    out.write(msg);
+                                    err = true;
+                                    break;
+                                }
+                            }
+                            cmdline = m.replaceAll("");
+
+                            m = EXTRA_UNSUPPORTED.matcher(cmdline);
+                            if (m.find()) {
+                                String msg = "Unsupported argument type: " + m.group(0) + "\n";
+                                TermuxApiLogger.info(msg);
+                                out.write(msg);
+                                err = true;
+                            }
+                            cmdline = m.replaceAll("");
+
+                            // check if there are any non-whitespace characters left after parsing all the options
+                            cmdline = cmdline.replaceAll("\\s", "");
+                            if (! "".equals(cmdline)) {
+                                String msg = "Unsupported options: " + cmdline + "\n";
+                                TermuxApiLogger.info(msg);
+                                out.write(msg);
+                                err = true;
+                            }
+
+                            if (err) {
+                                out.flush();
+                                continue;
+                            }
+
+                            // construct the intent with the extras
+                            Intent i = new Intent(getApplicationContext(), TermuxApiReceiver.class);
+                            for (Map.Entry<String, String> e : stringExtras.entrySet()) {
+                                i.putExtra(e.getKey(), e.getValue());
+                            }
+                            for (Map.Entry<String, String[]> e : stringArrayExtras.entrySet()) {
+                                i.putExtra(e.getKey(), e.getValue());
+                            }
+                            for (Map.Entry<String, Integer> e : intExtras.entrySet()) {
+                                i.putExtra(e.getKey(), e.getValue());
+                            }
+                            for (Map.Entry<String, Boolean> e : booleanExtras.entrySet()) {
+                                i.putExtra(e.getKey(), e.getValue());
+                            }
+                            for (Map.Entry<String, Float> e : floatExtras.entrySet()) {
+                                i.putExtra(e.getKey(), e.getValue());
+                            }
+                            for (Map.Entry<String, int[]> e : intArrayExtras.entrySet()) {
+                                i.putExtra(e.getKey(), e.getValue());
+                            }
+                            for (Map.Entry<String, long[]> e : longArrayExtras.entrySet()) {
+                                i.putExtra(e.getKey(), e.getValue());
+                            }
+                            getApplicationContext().sendOrderedBroadcast(i, null);
+                            // send a null byte as a sign that the arguments have been successfully received, parsed and the broadcast receiver is called
+                            con.getOutputStream().write(0);
+                            con.getOutputStream().flush();
+                        } catch (Exception e) {
+                            TermuxApiLogger.error("Error parsing arguments", e);
+                            out.write("Exception in the plugin\n");
+                            out.flush();
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                TermuxApiLogger.error("Error listening for connections", e);
+            }
+        }).start();
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/termux/api/KeepAliveService.java b/app/src/main/java/com/termux/api/KeepAliveService.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..666ca27a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/termux/api/KeepAliveService.java
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+package com.termux.api;
+
+import android.app.Service;
+import android.content.Intent;
+import android.os.IBinder;
+
+import androidx.annotation.Nullable;
+
+public class KeepAliveService extends Service
+{
+    @Override
+    public int onStartCommand(Intent intent, int flags, int startId) {
+        return Service.START_STICKY;
+    }
+
+    @Nullable
+    @Override
+    public IBinder onBind(Intent intent) {
+        return null;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml b/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
index 3c789642..682868c7 100644
--- a/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
+++ b/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
@@ -11,6 +11,6 @@
     <string name="app_name">&TERMUX_API_APP_NAME;</string>
     <string name="share_file_chooser_title">Share with</string>
     <string name="grant_permission">Grant permission</string>
-
+    <string name="keep_alive_service">This service keeps Termux:API running in the background for faster startup of termux-* commands.</string>
     <string name="permission_description">This app needs the following permission(s):\n</string>
 </resources>