ANBOX- android on linux (no emulator)

http://anbox.io/
Very interesting project,installing programs apk without the Android emulator.
But does not support open Suse.There Install script that can be processed, revamped https://github.com/anbox/anbox-installer/blob/master/installer.sh
I guess there will be many people interestedlol!
Share your opinion, and possibilities

Well I just looked at it and it uses Snaps which when you look at its website does support Tumbleweed apparently.

Stuart

Well I have installed snapd as per the instructions on the snapcraft.io site.

Then I followed the instructions to install anbox. However, when I launch the installer I get this:

cris@PolariSuse ~]**$** /snap/bin/anbox-installer
Android in a Box - Installer


IMPORTANT: THIS IS ALPHA LEVEL SOFTWARE. EXPECT INSTABILITY AND
           BUGS !!!!!

IMPORTANT: ALSO PLEASE BE AWARE THAT WE DON'T PROVIDE FULL
           CONFINEMENT FOR THE SNAP YET !!!!


PLEASE NOTE: This script will require root access on your system
to install all necessary things. It will prompt you to enter your
password when required.


ERROR: You are running the installer on an unsupported distribution.
       At the moment we only support the following distributions:

Ubuntu, LinuxMint, neon, elementary

If your distribution is in the list but you still see this message, open
an issue here: https://github.com/anbox/anbox-installer

So I think we first need official support from the ANBOX project.

Cris

Does seem strange that snap supports far more distros than Anbox does.

Stuart

Just opened an issue on https://github.com/anbox/anbox-installer.
Let’s see…

Cris

You cannot run the anbox install script directly on an openSUSE because the script supports only Deb packages (more specifically installs from an Ubuntu repo).

You can try installing snap, then “finding” the pre-built anbox app. You should not need to run the Anbox install script from within the snap container, and as the script contents say… They admit they have not properly isolated what happens in the snap container so unpredictable things can happen.

I guess I’d wonder what you are trying to do…
There are a great many projects out there that will provide an IDE for you to build your app using your language of choice, then create the APK for you.
If you want to go “old school,” of course you should be able to install the Android NDK, and anything that works on top of that like Android Studio.

TSU

Hi tsu2,
I guess I’ll let the OP answer your question.

However, AFAIU anbox is about running Android apps unmodified on Linux, it is not about developing android apps.

Cris

There are a number of ways to run Android apps on Linux which don’t require anything special or are easily installed on any version of Linux…
First, there is an x86 version of Android. With this, you can install directly on bare metal or in any virtualization. Because this version of Android is built for a CPU found in most Intel and AMD laptop, no CPU emulation is necessary.

If you have to install an ARM based Android image on your x86 Linux system, then you will need special emulation like what QEMU can provide.

IMO Snap might find its niche with some Users, there are some interesting ideas around creating a fully built application that can be “snapped” on to any OS platform, but for those who don’t need that extreme convenience, it’s not that difficult to piece together two commonly used technologies (eg virtualization with an x86-based image). And, there are other technologies which can deliver the same features as snap although might be quite a bit more complex… like docker.

So, if snap is for you then maybe someone at snap will be willing to fix anbox… The fix probably is either the installation script itself or the environment the script is running in. Based on the embedded comments by the script authors, they knew they had a problem but either didn’t know how to fix it or weren’t willing to spend the additional time.

TSU