Lindroids, run Linux apps on Android from any container application

Linux apps on Android, each one an app of its own.

Run Linux GUI programs from Termux, a proot distro or Flathub. lindroids export turns a program into a real Android app, with its name and icon in the app list and Recents, built on the phone in milliseconds. No root, no browser, nothing to download.

45 seconds on a Galaxy Tab (Android 16): lindroids run, then lindroids export builds Calculator its own app, which starts from its icon. mp4

curl -fsSL https://dixonsolutions.github.io/lindroids/install.sh | sh # in Termux lindroids run org.gnome.Calculator # a window of its own, now lindroids export org.gnome.Calculator # an app of its own: tap Install, then its icon

What you get

Every exported program is an Android app. lindroids export builds an APK for the program on the phone (its package, name, icon and start page; about 180 KB, in milliseconds) and hands it to Android's installer. Its icon starts the program, also when Termux is not running; its window is Android's own WebView, full screen; Recents shows its icon. How, and what was tested →

Single runs get a window of their own too. lindroids run opens the program in the Lindroids windows app (lindroids app install builds it on the phone, once): one window per run with the program's name, closed when the program ends or Termux stops. One UI draws the windows app's icon on those cards; only an exported program's own app shows its own.

Any Linux program with a window: Termux packages, programs in a proot distro, Flatpaks from Flathub (set up in Termux by install.sh, no root), X11 programs.

Android underneath: dark mode and accent colour, Android's file picker for Open… and Save As…, Open with from the Files app, notifications, the clipboard both ways, sound and the microphone, keeping the screen on, battery state, touch, pen and keyboards.

How it works

Termux / proot distro / Flatpak Android ┌────────────────────────────────────┐ ┌──────────────────────────────────┐ │ Linux programs │ │ the program's own app (WebView) │ │ │ Wayland │ PulseAudio │ X11 │◀═ WebSocket on ═▶│ canvas, touch, keys, sound │ │ lindroids server + desktop portals │ loopback, │ file pickers, clipboard │ │ app_process helper (as Termux) ────┼── P-256 keys ───▶│ installer, notifications, theme │ └────────────────────────────────────┘ └──────────────────────────────────┘

The program and its data stay in Termux (or the proot distro, or the Flatpak). The lindroids server is a Wayland compositor and a PulseAudio server in one Rust binary; it sends each window as a page on a loopback port, tile by tile, and takes back input.

The window is an app on Android. Android draws windows only for installed apps, so each exported program gets one: the window app's code (packaging/webview-app) under the program's identity, filled in and signed on the phone by crates/lindroids-apk (no Android SDK, aapt or Java there). Programs that are not exported open in a browser Custom Tab, or in the optional shared app (lindroids app install).

Android's side reaches programs through the desktop portals (Settings, FileChooser, OpenURI, Notification, Inhibit), so GTK and libadwaita programs follow it unchanged.

More: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md, docs/DISPLAY.md.

In Termux (from F-Droid, GitHub or Google Play):

curl -fsSL https://dixonsolutions.github.io/lindroids/install.sh | sh

install.sh adds the Lindroids repository to the package manager (Termux's APT or pacman; Debian/Ubuntu, Arch, Fedora, openSUSE, Alpine, Void in proot distros and on desktops), so the usual upgrade keeps it current, and offers to set up Flatpak. Details: docs/INSTALL.md.

The first lindroids export asks Android once to allow installs: from Termux (F-Droid/GitHub Termux), or from the file manager (Google Play Termux, which may not install apps itself). Google Play Protect may then ask to scan the new app; More details → Install without scanning keeps it on the phone.

lindroids run <command> [args] # a program in a window of its own lindroids run org.gnome.TextEditor # a Flatpak lindroids run --prootdistro=debian gedit # from a proot-distro distro lindroids export <command> [args] # an app of its own (again: updates it) lindroids list | launch <id> | remove <id> lindroids open --linux <file> # a file in a Linux program; open <file|URL> in Android lindroids notify <title> [body] # an Android notification lindroids status | doctor | stop | version

lindroids config browser chooses what an export becomes: app (the default, its own app), webapk (an app made by Chrome or Samsung Internet, docs/WEBAPK.md), home-screen (a Termux shortcut) or a browser.

Installing is always the user's tap in Android's installer, and new apps meet Google Play Protect. From 2027, Google's developer verification may require a one-time "advanced flow" for apps signed on the phone (BROWSER_AGNOSTIC_APK.md).

An app is signed with a key made on the phone: clearing Termux's data loses it, and the apps must then be uninstalled before they can be installed again.

Windows of programs that are not exported open in a browser: there full screen starts on the first tap, and Firefox shows its own icon in Recents.

Tested

On a Samsung Galaxy Tab Active5 (Android 16, Termux from Google Play): building, installing and updating VSCodium's app, starting it from its icon with Termux closed, one window in Recents with VSCodium's icon (docs/APPS.md). On Android 13 lab VMs: Calculator, Text Editor, Mousepad, foot, Xournal++, X11 programs, home screen icons after a reboot, Open with, the file picker, notifications, theme (docs/TESTING.md, lab/CHECKLIST.md).

cargo test --workspace scripts/build-release.sh # CLIs for 8 targets and every package → dist/ packaging/build-app-template.sh # after changing packaging/webview-app (needs the SDK)

Needs Rust with the Android and musl targets, cargo-ndk and NDK 27: docs/PACKAGING.md.

MIT or Apache-2.0, at your option. Packages also ship xwayland-satellite (MPL-2.0): third_party/README.md.