New article: Android apps on Linux PCs without using emulators read more at here http://www.spinonews.com/index.php/android/item/3291-android-apps-on-linux-pcs-without-using-emulators

A new open source project Anbox, run Android apps on Ubuntu and other Linux-powered desktops. Anbox employs Linux namespaces to run Android in a container on the same kernel as the host operating system, allowing Android software to run like native apps on the host.

Anbox's creator, Canonical's Simon Fels, explains, the project began with the idea of putting Android into a simple container based on LXC and bridging relevant parts over to the host operating system while not allowing any access to real hardware or user data.

Currently the project in a "pre-alpha development state", so while it should allow Android apps to run natively on Ubuntu or Debian, it isn't stable. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other hardware components won't work until further work is completed.

Feels said, the next phase of development will focus on stability and bug-fixing and will add more necessary features to integrated better with the host operating system.

Anbox's developers said that there's no intention to install the Google Play Store, but they may in future create a way to install Android apps.

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The main targets for Anbox are Linux desktops. It runs on Ubuntu Touch, Sailfish OS, and Lune OS. Indeed, the initial proof-of-concept was done on Ubuntu Touch.

Fels says, there are parallels between Anbox and how Google is enabling Android apps to run on Chrome OS. Based on Linux namespaces both approaches are quite similar as both put Android into a lightweight system container and keep a small bridge to allow communication with the host system.

In difference Google's implementation, Anbox doesn't allow any direct access to hardware devices. In Chrome OS, the container gets access to the host kernel side of the graphic subsystem to allow fast rendering.

 

Other hardware devices like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth will be abstracted in the future via a dedicated API between the container and the host.