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Waydroid – Run Android containers on Ubuntu

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Re: Waydroid – Run Android containers on Ubuntu

#34
post #22
post #4

I have tried Waydroid in Manjaro Linux, and to my surprise, it runs smoothly. I even able to install Aurora Store and install Telegram from there, which also run perfectly. RAM usage was minimal, maybe because of it is running on a container. The only thing I haven't figured out is keyboard input from my physical keyboard directly to the android.

> I even able to install Aurora Store and install Telegram from there, which also run perfectly Why Telegram specifically, when it already offers both a web client and a FOSS Linux client?

Mainly because I want to see if : - I can install something from Aurora Store - The app can run - The app can connect to the internet without changing any config - The app can operate normally It is just a coincidence that the first apps I installed was Telegram. AFAIK, Waydroid doesn't add ARM virtualization, and because I installed it on a X86_64 computer, I doubt something installed from a store (which mainly aimed for ARM device) can even run properly.

Re: Waydroid – Run Android containers on Ubuntu

#35

Doubts: - Is it better/faster/more compatible than anbox? - Runs on ARM? - Does it allows me to watch DRM streaming services on my linux box? - Can I install google play on it?

Waydroid has Android use your actual Linux kernel, so on an x86-64 host you’ll run x86-64 Android, and on an ARM host, ARM Android. This means that there will be some apps that won’t run on your Intel/AMD computer. I have no idea at all how common it is for Android apps to be tied to ARM, but I imagine that ARM64 will have helped with architecture-neutrality.

If the app doesn't use any native libraries, it should be able to run on any architecture. Otherwise, I don't think you'll find many developers shipping x86/x86_64 binaries nowadays considering there are no real devices that use it.

I think Intel has (or had?) a tool/library for translating ARM to x86 called Houdini. Can't seem to find it though, and it might require a license anyways.

Re: Waydroid – Run Android containers on Ubuntu

#37

Idea: take the open source Beagle Bone Black, which has open source schematics, put into (probably chunkier) phone form factor, add 4g phone modem. Use containers to segregate any apps, e.g. web browser, maps, Signal/Telegram all in a separate container from each other. Would this allow for less privacy-invasion from Google etc.?

BBB requires non-free drivers for the GPU, which are a huge PITA even if you don't mind them being non-free. You would end up with more-or-less a Nokia N9 clone. It's better to use something like i.MX 8M Quad - you may want to take a look at the Librem 5; or if you want something lower-end than that then there's also the PinePhone which is based on A64.

i.MX still needs binary blobs. I think the only ARM SBC today that can run blob-free today is Radxa's Rock pi 4.

Re: Waydroid – Run Android containers on Ubuntu

#38

One of the major advantages of Waydroid that I've found is that it's lighter than Anbox. I know some here have compute to spare, but it makes a big difference on my Pinephone :) It's still early days for Waydroid, but it's also decidedly a step forwards.

Wait - you can run waydroid, and thus presumably Android apps, on Pinephone? This is huge! How well does it work?

Re: Waydroid – Run Android containers on Ubuntu

#39
post #38

One of the major advantages of Waydroid that I've found is that it's lighter than Anbox. I know some here have compute to spare, but it makes a big difference on my Pinephone :) It's still early days for Waydroid, but it's also decidedly a step forwards.

Wait - you can run waydroid, and thus presumably Android apps, on Pinephone? This is huge! How well does it work?

The PinePhone runs mainline Linux on a regular Arm64 SOC. Why shouldn’t it work? ;)
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