Chromebooks have been capable of installing Linux apps for years, which isn’t all that surprising: ChromeOS is essentially a browser wrapped around a custom Linux distribution, after all. But according to a new report, you’ll soon have similar features for running Linux apps right on your Android phone.
This will take the form of a new Linux terminal integrated directly into Android’s Developer Options menu, which many of you are already familiar with. Android Authority spotted the updated commits of Android’s open source code in the AOSP repository. Although it is currently possible to run a Linux virtual machine on Android, and many newer phones have the computing power to do so, these new changes indicate that Google will offer it as a preconfigured system.
In an ideal scenario, you could tap a few items in the Developer Options menu and activate the Linux Terminal, which would then allow you to download and install the virtual machine to run compatible Linux applications. It wouldn’t be as simple as downloading Android apps from the Play Store, but it would be as simple as possible.
Android Authority spotted these tools being tested on a Pixel tablet and Pixel 9 Pro XL phone, indicating that they could be included in an upcoming version of Android for release hardware – likely Android version 16 for end of 2025, at the earliest. And this is where I have to play Debian Downer. It’s still possible that Google will delay these changes to extend this feature much further, or abandon it altogether.
Personally, I doubt Google is in a hurry to significantly expand Android’s software horizons. Part of the system’s appeal for most users is its ease of use and security, at least compared to something like Windows, macOS, or even ChromeOS. But power users will certainly appreciate the help in setting up a Linux virtual machine, provided it arrives in a timely manner.
