A few days ago, Google took us by surprise by adding a Terminal app on Android as part of the March Pixel drop. While the app unlocks exciting possibilities, the purpose of its addition was unclear to users. Well, not anymore. A Google employee has revealed why the Terminal app exists on Android and what it will be used for.
In a feature request on Android’s IssueTracker where a user asked the developers for the exact purpose of the VM, a Google engineer replied:
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. We think it would in general be bad to present multiple options for the window management on a single device.
This more or less confirms that Google wants Android users to be able to run Desktop Linux apps, just like on ChromeOS. Adding to the statement, the engineer also said that Google’s not against users or manufacturers installing or shipping another Linux Desktop Environment like GNOME or KDE. Linux apps, for the most part, will use Android’s native desktop windowing system.
Adding to that, they also confirmed that GPU acceleration is being worked on and will be available in the next release. The Terminal app currently does not ship with a display manager. This lets you install apps using Flatpaks or APT repositories; so there’s no way to run Desktop apps fully, yet. This should also change with upcoming releases.
The recent Android 16 Beta 3 update brought the ability to have multipole tabs in the Linux Terminal. There have been vast improvements in Linux over the last decade, especially in gaming, thanks to the Proton Compatibility Layer. So, I can tell you there’s a lot to look forward to in future Android releases.
What are your thoughts on Google’s plans with Linux terminal on Android? What features would you like to see in the same? Let us know in the comments.
Source: Beebom