All Current Google Pixel Smartphones Can Now Run Linux Apps

At the end of last year, it became known that Google was preparing to release the Linux Terminal application, designed to run desktop Linux applications on a smartphone. With the release of the March Android 15 update for the current Pixel, this application became available to everyone, Android Authority noted.

Image source: androidauthority.com

The Linux terminal app icon appears automatically when you enable the Linux development environment in your smartphone settings. When you first try to launch it, the device prompts you to download the necessary data — in one case, it was 576 MB. When launched, Terminal performs all the traditional operations in the command line interface. The Linux environment in the Android app is based on Debian, one of the most well-known distributions. Linux terminal runs on a virtual machine via the Android Virtualization Framework (AVF).

However, some important features are still missing from Linux terminal. The biggest drawback is probably the lack of support for GUI apps, but this will appear in Android 16. For most users, the release of Linux terminal for Android will go unnoticed, but it is a huge step forward for developers and experienced users who want to run desktop software for Linux on their devices for one purpose or another.