Mishal Rahman / Android Authority
TL; Dr.
- Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Flip 7 is the first non-pixel phone to support Google’s Linux Terminal App, but this feature is eagerly missing from Z. Fold 7.
- The app requires a non-protected virtual machine, which the Z supports the exynos chip of Flip 7, but the Z fold 7’s Snapdragon chip is not currently.
- The terminal app runs a Linux VM and is part of Android 16, but it will probably not be available on many other devices.
Back in March, Google made a major update to its pixel devices, which a new couple Linux Terminal AppThis app allows you to run a full-linux program in a virtual machine, an easy feature that many devices for power users and developers are not originally available on Android. However, it was not clear early when the terminal app will come on other Android devices, we have found that Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Flip 7 It is the first non-pixel phone to support it. Eagerly, however, the phone’s big and more expensive brother, Galaxy jade fold 7No.
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Download the terminal app and a modified version of boots Debian, a popular Linux distributionWithin a virtual machine. This virtual machine is powered by the Android virtualization Framework (AVF), which is the sub -critical of the operating system to create and manage VM. Although Google started AVF in 2022 with Android 13, the Terminal App started with the second quarter release only Android 15Since OEMs like Samsung usually manufacture their software on major annual OS versions, however, the terminal app will be effectively one Android 16 Facility for their equipment.
Mishal Rahman / Android Authority
However, the inclusion of the terminal app in the codebase of AVF and Android does not guarantee support on all Android 16 devices. Availability depends on strict technical requirements that are mostly determined by the silicone seller instead of OEMs. The latest chipset of both Qualcomm and MediaTek support AVF, but Samsung recently chose to disable the convenience on its otherly compatible equipment A UI 8 The release, perhaps as the inconsistencies were required to be cured with its Knox service.
This hardware dependence explains a curious case of the availability of the terminal app on Samsung’s latest flagship. Even in a UI 8, the Linux terminal app is present on the Galaxy Z Flip 7, but the Galaxy S25 is missing from the series and the Galaxy Z fold 7. The reason for this lies in their chipset: Z Flip 7 uses Samsung himself. Exynos 2500While use S25 and Z fold 7 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 EliteWhile both chips support AVF, Snapdragon 8 Elite only supports more secure, protected virtual machines. The terminal app, however, requires a non-protected VM, supports a capacity Exynos 2500. This is why the app Z works on Flip 7, but it is not siblings equipped with Snapdragon.
Qualcomm hope that future sellers will address this limit in updates. The company’s Snapdragon chipset is certainly the most powerful chips that power the Android device, but there is a significant drawback of characteristics that take full advantage of that power. Such as combined with equipment Samsung Dex on Z Flip 7The Linux Terminal App can convert a phone into an incredibly competent portable PC. While the app currently lacks graphical app support, we Know that the facility is in the wayPublic the way to run a full Linux PC game on your Android device in the future.
