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'SPURV' Project Brings Windowed Android Apps To Desktop Linux (androidpolice.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the two-in-one dept.

mfilion shares a report from Android Police: A new "experimental containerized Android environment" from a company called Collabora allows Android apps to run in floating windows alongside native applications on desktop Linux. You can read all the technical details at the source link, but put simply, 'SPURV' creates a virtual Android device on your Linux computer, much like Bluestacks and other similar tools. There are various components of SPURV that allow the Android environment to play audio, connect to networks, and display hardware-accelerated graphics through the underlying Linux system.

The most interesting part is 'SPURV HWComposer,' which renders Android applications in windows, alongside the windows from native Linux applications. This is what sets SPURV apart from (most) other methods of running Android on a computer. For this to work, the Linux desktop has to be using the Wayland display server (some Linux-based OSes use X11). Pre-built binaries for SPURV are not currently available -- you have to build it yourself from the source code. Still, it's an interesting proof-of-concept, and hopefully someone turns it into a full-featured product.

7 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. Hmmm by markdavis · · Score: 4, Interesting

    >"A new "experimental containerized Android environment" from a company called Collabora allows Android apps to run in floating windows alongside native applications on desktop Linux."

    I have heard this kind of thing many times before and tried many of them with limited success. Something always seems to be wrong or broken or missing. AndroVM, Virtualbox, Archron, Android-X86, Genymotion, Anbox, I keep holding out hope.

    >"For this to work, the Linux desktop has to be using the Wayland display server"

    Yuck. Oh well, guess this one uninteresting.

    1. Re: Hmmm by ogl_codemonkey · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yuck from me since it doesn't work with nvidia binary drivers, which I need to get decent performance out of my GPU.

      Yuck, binary drivers.

    2. Re:Hmmm by TeknoHog · · Score: 2

      >"A new "experimental containerized Android environment" from a company called Collabora allows Android apps to run in floating windows alongside native applications on desktop Linux."

      I have heard this kind of thing many times before and tried many of them with limited success. Something always seems to be wrong or broken or missing. AndroVM, Virtualbox, Archron, Android-X86, Genymotion, Anbox, I keep holding out hope.

      I have used Android-x86 under QEMU to post videos on Instagram, though I now prefer Android-x86 natively. It's not perfect in either case but it does the job. I have no other need for a dedicated Android device.

      However, it all seems rather backwards. GNU/Linux has worked great as an all-around OS since the 1990s, ranging from supercomputers to phones. To me, Android seems like a closed toy system, an abomination that just takes advantage of Linux (so it's not unlike Andy Rubin himself). Why make an incompatible version of Linux and then run it on top of Linux proper? (Though I wouldn't trust any Android apps on my system natively, so I guess some virtualization is in order anyway.)

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
  2. Weston can host Wayland clients by tepples · · Score: 4, Informative

    Weston, the reference compositor for Wayland, has a special feature where you can use it to run Wayland clients under X.

  3. "some Linux-based OSes use X11" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    OK, right. Just like "some cars don't use Telsa chargers".
    Is there some agenda to inverting the tried-and-true and the new-but-woefully-incomplete-and-incompatible here?

  4. Re:But, really, why? by 91degrees · · Score: 2

    As an android developer, I can see this is potentially quicker for testing than an emulator or a connected phone.

    It's a bit of a niche use, but it's a use.

  5. Lies! by Shark · · Score: 2

    A windowed app in 2019? That's heresy! Everything must run full screen and tabbed to waste as many pixels as possible. Multi-tasking confuses users and windows? No... Those can move and then you become overwhelmed and lost. The ideal interface should be a large button in the middle of the screen labeled: "Do what you think I want, I'm the product, not the user."

    --
    Mind the frickin' laser...