Lubuntu 24.04 LTS, amd64 laptop.
Is it possible to run Android as an OS in a VM? A lot of connected devices only have mobile phone support these days, which sucks.
Anyone have done this before?
Thanks.
PS: I’ve seen the Waydroid project, but it still seems a bit immature.
I did briefly played with Android as a VM once, using the android-x86 project’s build of Android and some version of VirtualBox, but that was years ago.
What VM setup do you have (VirtualBox, VMware, libvirt/QEMU/KVM, VirtualBox-KVM,…)?
Do you need the Android VM’s virtual CPU to be a particular type of CPU architecture (amd64/x86_64, x86/32-bit, some version of ARM,…), or will any virtual CPU architecture work for what you need?
It’s possible… but it’s hard. I’ve never managed to get it running in full; always with problems.
You can try Waydroid, which is supposed to work on a Wayland-enabled distro (so Ubuntu. I don’t know if it would work on Lubuntu).
Another one is Anbox Cloud by Canonical, but this one mystifies me.
To run inside a VM such as VirtualBox, try Android-86. Read the instructions. When I last tried, it required UEFI, so turn it on in your VM.
There is OsBoxes, which I haven’t tried, and the website isn’t responding at the moment, but it is (or was?) a premade VirtualBox installation that you can just plug into VirtualBox.
Sorry that I can’t be of more help. As I say, I’ve never managed to run one without problems, and I eventually gave up.
I am using Waydroid to run my favourite application that is not available in Linux but is available as an Android app. This is on Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS.
Waydroid has improved in recent months. I would not describe it as immature. It installs Android version 13. Which is a much better version of Android than the version installed by Waydroid a few years ago. I give credit to the Waydroid developers. A good job is being well done.
I first used Anbox to run my favourite application. Then I heard that Anbox has ceased development. I then found Waydroid. I have no idea what Anbox Cloud is. I have no need of it. So I have not investigated it. And yes. I also tried Android-x86.
Regards
I have been using android running in a VM to access my smart home devices which normally only work on a mobile or tablet.
The really tricky part is getting the bluetooth connection to work on an Android VM.
It is also sort of weird using a mouse and keyboard on an 85" screen where you would normally be using your fingers on a screen a tenth the size.
Thanks All for you feedback, it’s been extremely helpful.
I’ll give Waydroid a try.
That will mean upgrading to Lubuntu 25.04 or 25.10, something I don’t like to do (I try to stay with the LTS versions). But I’ll make an exception here. “Aim for the stars, at worst you’ll land in the trees.” 
I’ll let you know how it works out.
Cheers.
That’s huge!
How specifically did you get it running? Which Android did you install, and which VM are you using? I’d love to be able to do the same, but I’ve not managed it.
It’s a while since I installed it, when something works I leave it alone in case I break it. From memory there is a website I went to after a Google search where I downloaded an Android image - then it was Android 8 or 9. As I said everything worked out of the box with very little tweaking using the linux built-in virtual machine environment KVM. The only issues I had/have are to do with getting bluetooth working, still struggling with that reliably.
The 85" screen is because I live in a grandad/granny flat and have limited space so all my computer stuff is in the loft with an HDMI and USB cables through to the lounge where I project it to my big tv. That also presented some interesting problems…
This topic was automatically closed after 30 days. New replies are no longer allowed.