Google says its new Linux Terminal feature isn’t a replacement for Android’s desktop mode

One of the most exciting new features that arrived in the latest Pixel Drop update is the new Linux Terminal app. The Linux Terminal app lets you boot up an instance of Debian in a virtual machine, opening the door to running many Linux apps that aren’t available on Android. The rollout of the Linux Terminal app in the latest Pixel update came as a surprise to many as Google hadn’t publicly mentioned it in the months leading to its release. In an effort to combat wild speculation, a Google employee has finally commented on why the company recently introduced the Terminal app, in turn revealing important information about the future of Linux apps on Android.

Since late last year, we’ve been tracking Google’s efforts to let you run Linux apps on Android. Google has been working in the open on improvements to the Android Virtualization Framework (AVF) since last year, culminating in the creation of the new Linux Terminal app that we first showcased in October. While the source code for Google’s virtualization efforts has been publicly available, the reasoning behind those efforts has never been disclosed. We speculated that Google was adding this Terminal feature to prepare for the future migration of Chrome OS over to an Android stack, as the feature enables an experience similar to how Linux apps operate on Chromebooks.

Although Google has yet to confirm its long-term goal with the Terminal app, an employee of the company has revealed what the app isn’t for. In a post on the Google Issue Tracker, a Google employee confirmed that the purpose of the Linux Terminal app is “NOT to bring yet another desktop environment.” Rather, the main purpose of the feature is to “bring more apps (Linux apps/tools/games) into Android.”

For a bit of context, the Terminal app only provides the Android host device with a text-based command line interface to the Debian VM. By default, it doesn’t launch a desktop environment interface where you can run graphical apps. However, there’s nothing stopping you from installing a Linux desktop environment like XFCE or GNOME so you can effectively turn your powerful Android phone into a portable Linux PC.

While that’s certainly something that some users will do, Google doesn’t intend to provide it as an out-of-box option, as it “think[s] it would in general be bad to present multiple options for the window management on a single device.” Instead, Google envisions Linux apps living side-by-side with native Android apps in Android’s desktop mode. There currently isn’t a way to launch Linux apps outside of the Terminal, but that might be something that Google is working on for the future. The Terminal app is under heavy development, with new features coming each release like tab support. Another new feature that’s coming to the Terminal app is GPU acceleration support, which the Google employee confirms is planned “for the next release.”

It sounds like Google doesn’t plan to place any restrictions on the installation of Linux desktop environments. Therefore, it’s plausible an OEM will ship a Linux desktop environment by default on one of their upcoming Android devices, a hypothetical that the Google employee “wouldn’t be surprised” occurs.

Here’s the full comment from the Google employee:

“We usually don’t share our feature plan, but I have seen some expectations that I feel like should be corrected before they go wild.

 

The main purpose of this Linux terminal feature is to bring more apps (Linux apps/tools/games) into Android, but NOT to bring yet another desktop environment. Android, as speculated by the public, will have better desktop-class windowing system. We think it would in general be bad to present multiple options for the window management on a single device. Ideally, when in the desktop window mode, Linux apps shall be rendered on windows just like with other native Android apps.

 

This however doesn’t mean that we prohibit the installation of any Linux desktop management system (xfce, gnome, etc.) in the VM. I just mean that those won’t be provided as the default experience as you would expect. But, because Android is an open-source project, I wouldn’t be surprised if there will be any device maker who ships such a Linux desktop management system by default.

 

And GPU acceleration is something we are preparing for the next release. Stay tuned! :)”