What is Andronix

Andronix puts a full Linux distro, like Debian, Ubuntu or Fedora, on your Android phone or tablet. You get a real Linux command line with the distro's own packages, and a desktop (XFCE, LXQt, MATE or KDE Plasma) you can use on the phone or from another device. It doesn't need root and doesn't change anything on Android itself.

The piecesCopy Anchor Link

• The Andronix app is where you pick a distro and a desktop. It gives you one command to paste into Termux, and it sells Modded OS, our themed editions with apps already set up.
• Termux is a terminal app for Android. Your distro lives and runs inside it. See Install Termux.
• The andronix command runs in Termux. It downloads the distro, sets it up, installs your desktop, and starts it. See the andronix command.
• proot lets the distro run inside Termux as if it had its own root filesystem, without needing root on the phone. andronix installs it for you.
• Termux:X11 is an Android app that shows the distro's desktop full screen on the phone. (To reach the desktop from another device, there's also VNC.)
• PulseAudio in Termux plays the distro's sound through the phone's speakers. andronix sets it up for you.

What happens when you install a distroCopy Anchor Link

1. The app copies an install command for the distro and desktop you picked. You paste it into Termux.
2. The command sets up andronix in Termux and runs it.
3. andronix downloads a ready-made image of the distro from Andronix's servers (or the distro's official image, if ours isn't available), checks it, and unpacks it.
4. Inside the distro, it installs your desktop and Firefox with the distro's own package manager.
5. It writes a start script, like start-debian.sh, and asks you to create your user.

The whole distro lives in ~/.andronix/distros/ inside Termux. You can back it up, update it or remove it at any time.

What it can't doCopy Anchor Link

Andronix runs Linux in user space, on top of Android. So some things don't work: Snap, Flatpak and Docker, GPU acceleration, VPNs, and hardware like USB drives. See Limitations before you start if you have something specific in mind.

Some newer phones also have Android's own Linux Terminal, a Debian virtual machine. How it compares: Android's Linux Terminal vs Termux and Andronix.