Waydroid

Overview

While Android applications are not natively installed within PureOS [1], Waydroid makes it possible to install Android applications within PureOS for desktop and mobile.

See also

• Download the video

• Original blog post

[1]

Purism does not have any control over the quality or security of Waydroid or Android applications. Neither Waydroid nor any Android applications are covered by any warranty, expressed or implied.

Install and configure

1. Update PureOS

2. Download and install Waydroid from the PureOS Store or from the terminal with sudo apt install waydroid.

3. Reboot the device

4. Launch Waydroid by clicking/tapping on its icon in the application list.

   

   A “Initialize Waydroid” window will launch which allows you to download an Android image.

5. Select an Android image to install.

   • VANILLA: no Google services installed

   • GAPPS: includes proprietary Google Apps services

   Leave the selection at the default value to use the official Waydroid OTA service.

   Note

   microG can be installed later, which is a free- and open-source implementation of Google Play services

6. Click or tap “Download”.

   

7. After the image downloads complete, click or tap the blue “Done” button. Wait a few moments; an Android splash screen should appear and the Android system should eventually load.

   Tip

   If an Internet connection is unavailable from within Waydroid despite an active Internet connection on the host computer:

   1. Launch a terminal emulator and run the following commands [source]:

      # Start the firewall
      sudo systemctl start firewalld
      
      # Allow traffic on the waydroid0 interface with few restrictions
      sudo firewall-cmd --zone=trusted --add-interface=waydroid0 --permanent
      
      # Enable NAT on PureOSDesktop so devices/containers within it share the host's IP address for outbound traffic
      sudo firewall-cmd --zone=PureOSDesktop --add-masquerade --permanent
      
      # Reload the firewall for the changes to take effect
      sudo firewall-cmd --reload
      

   2. If there is still a networking issue where the Internet cannot be reached, refer to the official Waydroid documentation.

8. Optional: Obtain Google Play certification

See also

• Original Waydroid installation instructions

• Community wiki: Android applications on the Librem 5

Tips

Mobile PureOS

Here are a few tips to make your experience with Waydroid more enjoyable on the Librem 5:

1. Set a persistent Waydroid resolution. There is a known issue whereby having the on-screen keyboard active when a Waydroid session is launched will cause Waydroid’s environment to only take up the remainder of the screen area. The following steps will ensure that Waydroid looks consistent every time:

   1. Determine your Waydroid resolution dimension settings based on Settings > Displays > Scale:

      Scale	Width (px)	Height (px)
      1.00	720	1368
      1.25	576	1080
      1.50	480	888
      2.00	360	648

   2. Launch a terminal emulator.

   3. Run the following commands. Replace “<int>” with an integer representing a number of pixels:

      waydroid prop set persist.waydroid.width <int>
      waydroid prop set persist.waydroid.height <int>
      

   4. Restart the Waydroid container if it is already running for the changes to take effect:

      sudo waydroid container restart
      

Uninstall

Caution

The following terminal commands remove all data stored within the Android container.

1. Launch a terminal emulator and run the following:

   sudo systemctl stop waydroid-container
   sudo rm -rf /usr/share/waydroid-extra /var/lib/waydroid ~/.local/share/waydroid ~/.local/share/applications/waydroid.*.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/Waydroid.desktop
   sudo apt remove libgbinder libgbinder1 libglibutil libglibutil1 libgbinder-dev libglibutil-dev python3-gbinder waydroid