running android apps on linux?
 

well, since android is open source due to using a linux kernal... i have noticed some android ports for x86 that arent affiliated with google.... so since the systems open source, i was wondering if its at all possible to have an apk package manager and neccessary files needed to run android apps on a linux operating system?...

you can run an android emulator, but the apps run within an existing ecosystem that Android provides. Just like you can't magically run any windows open source software on Linux by virtue of a license, same for Android.

if i remember correctly, isnt the android system little more than a java app running on top of a linux kernal?

I've heard of Rigo on Sabayon Linux, haven't tried it myself though so no idea if it's accually usable.
http://sabayon.org/article/sabayon-r...-apps-natively

Well put crudely, yes, but you don't have that java app to run them inside. that's the point. As pointed out by rizzy, it is possible to run that JVM, apparently called Dalvik, on Linux, but AFAIK, that basically is the emulator I mentioned originally.

You can also run Android-x86 within a virtual machine. The only problems are that you need to patch Android to fix Ethernet support on the current ICS builds (virtual machines don't bridge wifi connections for the most part), & for (many) apps you need ARM emulation, as there are ARM specific binaries contained in their *.apk files...

And,... They are typically building for specific hardware targets, which means that if you try to run certain images in a virtual machine, they may fail,... However, there are some groups making builds that are generic, plus patched for both Ethernet and ARM emulation. Those builds tend to lack accelerated 3D support, at least currently.

PS: I've done both running the build for a specific machine, natively,... and run Android-X86 in a Virtual Machine. Performance is ... OK, I guess.

the device i have that i would try to run android apps natively on does use an ARM processor... android is fairly common, however, after just a couple weeks of using the android system ive noticed some very good things i like about it, and then just some glaring flaws

i do like the self contained packages, the app market place with countless apps to take advantage of the hardware inside a modern tablet... but as for its glaring flaws, most apps are scaled back, geared towards mobile use on slower systems... my ARM powered tablet is nearly as powerful as my desktop PC, with 1920x1200 resolution... so android itself on this kind of hardware seems like its holding itself back

so if it was possible to run android apps natively such as mentioned before on the sabayon system i was kind of curious what would happen if someone eliminated the android system entirely, installed linux (i have 32gb on board, and will add another 64gb soon via microsd for a total of 96gb of storage, plenty for a full on desktop) and be able to run linux as the operated system rather than android, while still retaining the ability to use the packages that take advantage of the mobile hardware i have, but free me to use all the open source software linux has to offer (such as openoffice for a quick example)

i think in my mind a linux distro that retained the ability to natively run android apps from the android market place would be the most awesome tablet operating system, giving you more control, more software, without losing anything android has to offer either... essentially the best of both

also, ARM-based processors, especially the nvidia tegra processors are really starting to catch up to the x86 processors on the market now... as stated before, the desktop im on is fairly new, and my tegra-3 tablet is nearly as powerful with almost as much RAM, better graphics too.. so... it wouldnt suprise me to see more linux distros offering ARM versions... heck, even windows is adding support for ARM processors now so... i think the ability to run android apps on an arm-based linux distro will be going up in demand... yeah, android is based on linux, but it still doesnt compete in my opinion with a real linux operating system

For what it's worth, I've managed to setup a virtual android device, which I didn't find very easy. I've discovered that it doesn't come with Google Play, so unless you're writing your own apps or have apks it's useless.

I've three apps which I'd like to run from Play, does anyone know how I might be able to get the apks so I can run them? :(

Thanks

The ARM Cortex-A9 CPUs found on Tegra 3s will just beat N450 intel atoms that are 2 years old now, if you drop the clock speeds to the same rate (1.0GHz int his test)-

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag..._arm_x32&num=1

Given that the atom is crippled more than the ARM CPUs are (N450 stock speed is 1.67Ghz, Cortex-A9 in that test was 1.2Ghz), test results whould probably be more even, or possibly moved to the favour of the atom without downclocking. Atoms are also low power use, low power CPUs.

Compared to current x86 CPUs which arent in the 'low power' segment, arm is still very slow.

Its a frantic effort to catch apple and android in the mobile (phone/tablet) market, and to keep in the emerging 'low cost and ultra low powered PCs' market. From everything I've seen, windows phones/tablets are doomed to failure. But what do I know? I dont use smartphones......

I haven't run into that problem lately. Most Android-X86 builds I've seen in the last several versions have had Play Store access. Then again, I don't always use the stock Android-X86 builds...

Check out AndroVM.org...
http://androvm.org/blog/

They can steer you to some builds that might interest you. As always, use at your own risk...

I wish I knew more about Android. The original question was a good question to ask. I may have to study on this to see if it can be done more transparently. The architecture is maybe the biggest issue.

Part of the problem is that Android doesn't work the way that a traditional Linux distribution works,... no multi-user (yet), no X-server (uses a framebuffer system for video), memory handling issues, system calls, etc. It really is a different system from what a traditional Linux distribution is. There have been some attempts at getting Dalvik ported over to run on a Linux distro (Myriad's Alien Dalvik), but they go back to circa 2009 and I've seen no meaningful progress.

Oh, & the Sabayon Rigo Android thing... pretty sure it's an April fools joke...

Well spotted! :D

I could kiss you. I spent so long fumbling my way round the Android SDK and installing Eclipse etc, this is *so* much simpler and just like Linux should be! It just works! :hattip: