Linux Terminal app could be coming to Android, similar to ChromeOS

Although many tasks can be done in a web browser these days, some tasks still require the installation of apps that aren’t available on Chrome OS. That’s why Google lets you install Linux apps on Chromebooks. There are ways to run some Linux apps on Android devices, but they all have some limitations and are not officially supported by Google. But luckily, Google is finally working on an official way to run Linux apps on Android.

Google engineers started work on a new Terminal app for Android a few weeks ago. This terminal app is part of the Android Virtualization Framework (AVF) and includes a WebView that connects to your Linux virtual machine via its local IP address, allowing you to run Linux commands from your Android host. Initially, I had to manually enable this terminal app using shell commands and then configure the Linux VM myself. But in recent days, Google has started working to integrate the Terminal app into Android, turning it into an all-in-one app for running Linux distributions in VMs.

Set of patches under the “” tagferrochrome-dev-option” was recently submitted to AOSP with a new developer option. Linux terminal under Settings > System > Developer options. According to the proposed description, this new option enables “Linux terminal apps running inside a VM.” Toggling this option enables the Terminal app bundled with the AVF.

Currently, the Android Terminal app provides Debian images and vm_config.json file, but Google plans to upgrade the Terminal app to handle it. In one of the patches under “”ferrochrome-dev-option” tag, Google says that the existing “LinuxInstaller” app, which downloads and configures Debian to run on a VM via AVF, “will be merged into”. [the] Use the Terminal app right away. ” This suggests that the Terminal app will be an all-in-one app that downloads, configures, runs, and interfaces with instances of Debian running in VMs.

Google is working on improving the Terminal app and AVF before releasing this feature. AVF already supports graphics and some input options, but we are preparing to add snapshot backup and restore, nested virtualization, and support for x86_64 architecture devices. We’re also working on adding some settings pages to the Terminal app. This is pretty barebones at the moment, apart from menus to copy IP addresses and stop existing VM instances. The settings page allows you to resize your disk, configure port forwarding, and possibly recover partitions.

What’s particularly interesting about the patches that add these settings is that they were tested on the Pixel Tablet and Pixel 9 Pro XL codenames “tangorpro” and “komodo,” respectively. This suggests that the Terminal app won’t be limited to Chromebooks like the new desktop version of Chrome for Android. We don’t know when the Terminal app will arrive, but it could arrive in next year’s Android 16 update.

If you’re wondering why you’d want to run Linux apps on Android, this feature is probably not for you. Google has added Linux support to Chrome OS, allowing developers using Chromebooks to run useful Linux apps. For example, Linux support in Chrome OS allows developers to run the Linux version of Android Studio, the recommended IDE for Android app development, on Chromebooks. It also allows you to safely and reliably run Linux command line tools inside containers.

Most Chromebooks have x86-based processors, as opposed to most Android devices that have ARM-based processors, so many Linux apps (such as Android Studio) that run on most Chromebooks are mostly may not work on Android devices. Still, adding support for Linux apps greatly increases the utility of Android for developers, making Android more viable as a desktop-class platform in the future, especially as more apps add support for ARM. It will be. Additionally, Google needs to do this too, as Chrome OS is becoming more similar to Android. This means that we are increasingly adopting Android architecture and frameworks.