How to run Android applications on Linux without an emulator

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Before Microsoft could offer native support for Android apps in Windows 11, Linux ruined the party. WayDroid is a kind of compatibility layer that allows you to run Android applications on any Linux distribution. The best part about WayDroid is that you get much better performance, even better than an optimized Android emulator or virtual machine running Android x86 on Linux. It almost feels like you are running Android apps natively on your Linux machine. With that said, let’s not waste any more time and learn how to run Android apps on Linux without an emulator.

Run Android apps on Linux without an emulator (2021)

  1. First of all, you need to install Curlin case you haven’t installed it yet. Open Terminal and run the following command. Hit “y” and hit Enter when Terminal asks for your permission.

sudo apt install curl

  1. Next, run the following command based on your Linux distribution. If you are using Ubuntu, use focalfor distribution, and for latest version of Debian choose bullseye, and so on. If you get a “Permission Denied” error on the path, just run sudo suand then proceed with the commands.

export DISTRO = “focal”

  1. Once you’ve done that, run the following commandto download the WayDroid GPG key onto your Linux distribution.

curl https://repo.waydro.id/waydroid.gpg> /usr/share/keyrings/waydroid.gpg

  1. Then run the following command listed below and it will add WayDroid to the source list.

echo “deb [signed-by = / usr / share / keyrings / waydroid.gpg] https://repo.waydro.id/ $ DISTRO main”> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/waydroid.list

  1. Now run the basic Linux command “side apt update” to update the repository and packages.

sudo apt update

  1. Finally, you are ready to install WayDroidon your Linux machine. Enter the following command, hit “y” when prompted, and hit Enter to continue.

sudo apt install waydroid

  1. After the installation is complete, you need to run another command to download the Android image for WayDroid. Please note that it will take some time as the image size is approximately 600MB.

sudo waydroid init

  1. Now, you are almost done. You first need to start some WayDroid servicesbefore you can run Android apps on your Linux PC without an emulator. Run the following commands one by one.

sudo systemctl start waydroid-containerwaydroid session start

  1. Finally, run the following command and the WayDroid GUI will open on your Linux PC. Now you can go ahead and enjoy Android appson your Linux computer. By the way, you can also launch WayDroid from the app drawer.

waydroid show-full-ui

Install Android Apps on Linux and Enjoy a Near-Native Experience

This is how you can install and run Android applications on your Linux PC, regardless of whether you are using Ubuntu, Debian, or some other distribution. As we mentioned earlier, the performance of Android apps is really good. I regularly use Android apps on my Chromebook and I must say that the performance is almost identical. One thing’s for sure, it doesn’t seem like you’re using an Android emulator. Anyway, that’s it for us. If you are a Chromebook user and want to upgrade your container from Linux to Bullseye, please follow our linked article for detailed instructions. You can also learn how to install Minecraft or Albion Online on your Chromebook through the linked articles. And if you have any questions, let us know in the comment section below.

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