5 ms·

Do you mean Termux? I can't find any other Terminal app with a similar name

by sunnyam 8mo ago

simlevesque 8mo ago
Enable Developper Options. It should be in the Developer menu. It's a toggle that'll enable this apk.
- seszett 8mo ago
  Honestly I don't find it more useful than Termux, especially for being so much heavier.
  - cogman10 8mo ago
    Just because I was curious. Termux is doing a container. The android terminal is doing a virtual machine. That's the difference. Termux would definitely be the light weight option, but you will be pinned to whatever version of the kernel your device is shipped with (may be a bit old.)
    - yjftsjthsd-h 8mo ago
      No, termux isn't a container, it's running directly in userspace on the host. The only weird thing is that because it's running directly on the host, it has to be built to use unusual paths, eg. /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/bash instead of /usr/bin/bash. If it used containers (which IIRC it can't because Android doesn't really support it) that would actually be easier because then it could use a chroot to make the paths look normal.
      - cogman10 8mo ago
        Ah, well that stinks a little. I guess it makes sense, if android doesn't mandate a few kernel settings then working with containers might not be an option.
      - skissane 8mo ago
        Couldn’t it implement a “fake chroot” by e.g. creating its own libc which wraps the real one but with path remapping, and then linking all its executables against that?
        yjftsjthsd-h 8mo ago
        That would only work for things that use libc (so eg. most Go programs are probably not going to work). The main way that you can do an unprivileged fake chroot is proot, which termux does offer - see https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/PRoot https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/PRoot - but that has a significant performance hit.
    - seszett 8mo ago
      > you will be pinned to whatever version of the kernel your device is shipped with That doesn't matter much for using SSH though. For running more complex Linux programs or scripts Termux is indeed less comfortable (but it can still work).
- ndom91 8mo ago
  Is this available outside of Pixels? I still can't find it on my OnePlus 13 running Android 16 with Jan security updates
  - cmehdy 8mo ago
    The option exists on Samsung phones but is greyed out and crashes if you force it via adb. It is also marked as experimental.
    - mixel 8mo ago
      I just tried it on my S25. I can enable the option an open the APK but can't download it because it fails to create the VM because the S25 does not support Non-protected VMs, so I may require a rooted device. I guess I will stick to Termux but interesting feature nonetheless
  - yonatan8070 8mo ago
    I believe it relies on some virtualization extensions Google's CPUs have, which most phone SoCs don't support.
  - prmoustache 8mo ago
    It is buggy as hell anyway.
saidinesh5 8mo ago
No Android started bundling a terminal app recently: https://itsfoss.com/news/google-android-linux-terminal-rollout/ https://itsfoss.com/news/google-android-linux-terminal-rollo...
- domh 8mo ago
  Huh, I did not know this. This is also present on GrapheneOS too! (I'm installing it now)
  - fmajid 8mo ago
    It is extremely flaky on GrapheneOS, at least on my Pixel 8 Pro. Just typing Ctrl-D to exit will corrupt it, requiring a full reinstallation of the Debian VM
    - gruez 8mo ago
      Control-D works fine for me. It just terminates the VM and you can restart.
      - fmajid 8mo ago
        It's not 100% reproducible, but at least 50% of the time for me: https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/files/115/633/300/469/913/230/original/0eed4d10e76fff20.mp4 https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/file...
    - Denatonium 8mo ago
      The built-in terminal app seems to be similarly flaky on my Pixel 8. Also, the kernel it boots into is really stripped down, and it lacks a ton of essential features. I was not able to install VirtualHere client to pass through USB devices, and there's no built-in functionality. There's also no way to open it full-screen on the Pixel 8's DP-over-USB-C desktop mode. Hopefully it continues to improve, but it seems like Google is more into extracting value than they are improving their products at this point.
    - 8mo ago

Do you mean Termux? I can't find any other Terminal app with a similar name

by sunnyam 8mo ago

Do you mean Termux? I can't find any other Terminal app with a similar name

simlevesque 8mo ago

Enable Developper Options. It should be in the Developer menu. It's a toggle that'll enable this apk.

seszett 8mo ago
Honestly I don't find it more useful than Termux, especially for being so much heavier.
- cogman10 8mo ago
  Just because I was curious. Termux is doing a container. The android terminal is doing a virtual machine. That's the difference. Termux would definitely be the light weight option, but you will be pinned to whatever version of the kernel your device is shipped with (may be a bit old.)
  - yjftsjthsd-h 8mo ago
    No, termux isn't a container, it's running directly in userspace on the host. The only weird thing is that because it's running directly on the host, it has to be built to use unusual paths, eg. /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/bash instead of /usr/bin/bash. If it used containers (which IIRC it can't because Android doesn't really support it) that would actually be easier because then it could use a chroot to make the paths look normal.
    - cogman10 8mo ago
      Ah, well that stinks a little. I guess it makes sense, if android doesn't mandate a few kernel settings then working with containers might not be an option.
    - skissane 8mo ago
      Couldn’t it implement a “fake chroot” by e.g. creating its own libc which wraps the real one but with path remapping, and then linking all its executables against that?
      - yjftsjthsd-h 8mo ago
        That would only work for things that use libc (so eg. most Go programs are probably not going to work). The main way that you can do an unprivileged fake chroot is proot, which termux does offer - see https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/PRoot https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/PRoot - but that has a significant performance hit.
  - seszett 8mo ago
    > you will be pinned to whatever version of the kernel your device is shipped with That doesn't matter much for using SSH though. For running more complex Linux programs or scripts Termux is indeed less comfortable (but it can still work).
ndom91 8mo ago
Is this available outside of Pixels? I still can't find it on my OnePlus 13 running Android 16 with Jan security updates
- cmehdy 8mo ago
  The option exists on Samsung phones but is greyed out and crashes if you force it via adb. It is also marked as experimental.
  - mixel 8mo ago
    I just tried it on my S25. I can enable the option an open the APK but can't download it because it fails to create the VM because the S25 does not support Non-protected VMs, so I may require a rooted device. I guess I will stick to Termux but interesting feature nonetheless
- yonatan8070 8mo ago
  I believe it relies on some virtualization extensions Google's CPUs have, which most phone SoCs don't support.
- prmoustache 8mo ago
  It is buggy as hell anyway.

saidinesh5 8mo ago

No Android started bundling a terminal app recently: https://itsfoss.com/news/google-android-linux-terminal-rollout/ https://itsfoss.com/news/google-android-linux-terminal-rollo...

domh 8mo ago
Huh, I did not know this. This is also present on GrapheneOS too! (I'm installing it now)
- fmajid 8mo ago
  It is extremely flaky on GrapheneOS, at least on my Pixel 8 Pro. Just typing Ctrl-D to exit will corrupt it, requiring a full reinstallation of the Debian VM
  - gruez 8mo ago
    Control-D works fine for me. It just terminates the VM and you can restart.
    - fmajid 8mo ago
      It's not 100% reproducible, but at least 50% of the time for me: https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/files/115/633/300/469/913/230/original/0eed4d10e76fff20.mp4 https://social-cdn.vivaldi.net/system/media_attachments/file...
  - Denatonium 8mo ago
    The built-in terminal app seems to be similarly flaky on my Pixel 8. Also, the kernel it boots into is really stripped down, and it lacks a ton of essential features. I was not able to install VirtualHere client to pass through USB devices, and there's no built-in functionality. There's also no way to open it full-screen on the Pixel 8's DP-over-USB-C desktop mode. Hopefully it continues to improve, but it seems like Google is more into extracting value than they are improving their products at this point.
  - 8mo ago