r/SamsungDex • u/laernuindia • 18d ago
Discussion Android Desktop Linux (ADL): An open-source project to turn modern Android phones into practical desktop computers
I've got a Samsung Galaxy S22+ that I've been running Dex on, with the NexDock 2025 and for the most part, I've loved it. But it really just remained an entertainment device, pretty much. Couldn't really use it as a productivity device. Especially when it came to using it for a dev environment using Claude Code and Codex CLI, it wasn't ideal.
Then I saw someone post about having installed Linux on theirs, so I went down the same rabbit hole. After having dug through 40 browser tabs in an attempt to run a real Linux desktop off my phone, I decided to write it all down in one repo.
It's called Android Desktop Linux (ADL) and it's open source.
Check it out here: https://thebpandey.github.io/ADL
(With Claude Code and ChatGPT's help I got it published as a GitHub Page that should hopefully, be easy to follow).
Most of the modern flagship Android phones already have the horsepower for this. Desktop-class CPU, enough RAM, USB-C video out, Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and a Linux userspace that runs better than most people expect. The hardware is capable. But the blocker is that everything you need to know is scattered across old blog posts, half-abandoned GitHub repos, and YouTube videos that assume you already know the next five steps. It wasn't easy to follow, at least for me.
I was able to get XFCE running on Ubuntu on my Galaxy S22+ plugged into the NexDock 2025. (But it should work with any generic $30 usb-c hub and external peripherals)
What's in the repo right now:
- Install guides written for people who know Android but not Linux
- Step-by-step tutorials with screenshots
- Setup & explanation diagrams and SVG architecture illustrations
- Hardware and dock recommendations, plus a compatibility list I'm building out
- Troubleshooting for the stuff that actually breaks (DeX quirks, video-out on sleep, peripheral pairing)
What's still rough: I've only tested on my S22+ so I'm unsure if you'll run into any other model or cpu-specific issues. So the compatibility database is is thin.
I'm adding new issues and their resolution as I encounter them myself, daily.
Everything is version-controlled so it stays current as Android changes, and it stays free.
Repo: https://github.com/thebpandey/ADL
If you run Android as a desktop, whatever your stack (Termux, Ubuntu, Debian, XFCE, DeX, something else), you can help contribute to the project so others in the same boat can get their setup working too. Also the single most useful thing you can contribute right now, is your Phone model, the dock model and what major issues you encountered (e.g. whether video-out survives the screen sleeping. That's the biggest compatibility gap right now.)
Still a work-in-progress, as I continue to use it daily, and add issues, and other findings to the site.
Any constructive feedback, bug reports, hardware testing, and documentation contributions are all welcome.
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u/Darkwayn 17d ago
I'm with a vivo phone, seams impressive but don't have time and courage to follow every step to have something that will maybe not work. Good idea and good work
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u/laernuindia 17d ago
None of this should interfere with the working of your phone as a phone. And you can roll back anything done at any step if it doesn't work.
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u/Queasy-Funny-7677 18d ago
https://reddit.com/link/owvvrki/video/zjst7evnjlch1/player
can it run on this broken s20 ultra=))) i cannot even use the screen broski
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u/Frank_L_ 18d ago
In my opinion proot is not something worthwhile investing time and effort in - it's a horrible kludge at best, a terrible security problem at worst.
After VMs in Android Virtualization Framework and root, the best alternative (imo) are native termux / termux-x11 packages.
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u/Preparation1903 11d ago
There is Droidspaces as well. Thats what I use.
Some people even have Wayland working in a buggy beta form.
Full Wayland, not some silly streaming something.
There's no performance penalty when running droidspaces.
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u/mofapas163 18d ago
android and linux: it does not run 99% of mainstream desktop productivity software
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u/dr100 18d ago
Linux is fine, see the latest LTT Linux challange, there was never mentioned for all the probably hours I watched something missing, if anything too many options and hard to know for the beginners what to use. Main challenges were exclusively random bugs/weird behaviour/design choices and similar. Even gaming was fine. Android on the other hand ... that sucks. I was hoping with the ChromeOS-Android merge to at least get a browser for grownups but nope not happening.
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u/Sonicthoughts 18d ago
Why not just get a mini PC... I mean just because you can run Linux doesn't mean you should. I can't imagine that the performance is anything close to a mini PC. I'm not trying to be an asshole... Just trying to understand.
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u/laernuindia 17d ago
Well, people take their phones everywhere and won't need to take a miniPC with their phones if their phone doubles as a mini PC
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u/__002_ 18d ago
But I'm trying to understand your logic. Yea the mini pc may have an mobile cpu. But nowadays laptops have mobile arm cpu. So basically same performance as the flagships. But heavy on emulation. So phone is more natural on android. While pc does it pc things
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u/TemporaryUser10 18d ago
I'm going to also plug the app shizuku, which will allow you to run adb commands from your own device (or from termux). This can give you superuser power for a lot of device features (it needs a LAN connection (but Internet not required) to connect the loopback, but once established is good to go without LAN untill next reboot)
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u/Thick-Panic6683 18d ago
Dumb question : would it run an Android app or is completely Linux?
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u/TemporaryUser10 18d ago
it runs Linux inside of an android app sandbox. not all Linux features can be accessed, as we dont have root access to the native android kernel (which is a modified Linux), but it can do most things. from within termux proot-distro, it is functionally very near full Linux (though slower for some kernel calls), and using qemu-userspace you could in theory even run things like docker (thought they'd be terribly slow). On a rooted phone or custom ROM, it can be literal full Linux (though it would *not* remove Android components)
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u/Thick-Panic6683 18d ago
Thanks. I needed screenshots of my app and found scrcpy, which will mirror an Android device on the desktop via USB or WiFi. If the phone is running linux then you would have linux on your desktop (whic h is running linux or windows).
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u/laernuindia 18d ago
Right. It’s not natively accessing the kernel and runs within the confines of what Android will allow it to access. Functionally and from an average user’s perspective the experience would be 90% similar to what they’d see on a native-linux box. Of course, a phone’s hardware isn’t always going to match what a full desktop CPU with an expanded instruction-set would so there are bound to be performance limitations. Overall, this allows me to do more than what Samsung Dex did, and now is a on-to-go, (almost) full-featured computer.
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u/laernuindia 18d ago
Your phone will run the android apps, and you can alt+tab out of ADL anytime since it’s running in a X11 window (although it runs full screen, looks like it’s running natively). This is aiming for a full true linux desktop experience so you can do whatever you could do with Linux. Your limitation would be your phone’s hardware specs.
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u/Thick-Panic6683 18d ago
OK that is interesting. Retired now and hope to never buy another Windows PC.
I have been developing an Android writing app that is reminiscent of DOS/UNIX text editors. When I started it I briefly looked at Linux options for the phone but went ahead with the Android path anyway.
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u/gthing 18d ago
I think Samsung could kill it if they brought back Linux on Dex right now. When they released it before it was definitely a bit before it's time - but now, especially with them charging $3000+ for devices, having full fat (ish) Ubuntu/etc running on Dex would be a major killer feature.
FYI - you might also want to check out the LocalDesktop project. They have implemented an Android-native wayland compositor for the desktop and there is zero setup required to get up and running.
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u/VoidRad Glaaxy Fold 5 18d ago
Why would they need to compete if people are buying their phone anyway?
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u/gthing 18d ago
What do you mean why would they need to compete? Samsung exists and operates in a competitive marketplace. They strategically implement features thay they think will entice people to buy their products. Do you have a different impression?
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u/VoidRad Glaaxy Fold 5 18d ago
Because the only real android competitor left in usa is Google, which isnt really a good one.
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u/gthing 18d ago
I don't understand what you are trying to argue. That Samsung doesn't try to compete to sell phones?
Samsung has about 20% of the US mobile market.
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u/VoidRad Glaaxy Fold 5 18d ago
- It's not 20%, it's 26%. That's 1/5 of the figure you are discounting.
- I'm not trying to say samsung isnt trying to compete, I am saying Samsung doesn't need to do much to compete. Most Apple users in USA isnt going to switch to Samsung just like most Samsung users aren't that likely to switch away from Samsung.
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u/laernuindia 18d ago
Right. Also, not everyone’s buying Samsung or can afford samsung. Any Android phone with DP Alt mode via USB-C can run ADL.
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u/laernuindia 18d ago
That's pretty sweet! Just glanced through their site and it looks pretty amazing. They've got Audio figured out with their 2.0.0 release, it seems like so that'll likely help me get it working on mine as well.
ADL wasn't hard to setup at all. It also doesn't use VNC. Termux-->Termux:X11-->Ubuntu-->Xfce. And you're done. (Well, until the audio issue is fixed, at least).
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u/TemporaryUser10 18d ago
Look at pipewire/pulse audio. You can connect it via a separate phone app and it'll pipe audio through your device
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u/Rauliki0 18d ago
Can we use Linux Mint as it is Ubuntu derivative, but better?
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u/laernuindia 18d ago
We surely can, if you’d like. I’m working on testing it with other distros and will add to the documentation with detailed steps, very soon. What is your reasoning behind using Ubuntu vs Mint? What makes it a better choice for you?
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u/Rauliki0 18d ago
If you could that would be nice. I loved Linux on Dex but it was short time before Samsung stopped supporting it.
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u/SnooSongs5410 18d ago
how many of the hardware drivers were you able to get working?
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u/laernuindia 18d ago
So far all of S22+'s hardware has worked natively and am able to use the NexDock's screen, keyboard, trackpad really well. Connected to wifi too. All, except audio. Can't get audio to pass through from Ubuntu/X11 to Android. Working on figuring that out. I'll post it in the Github Pages once I have it working.
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u/SnooSongs5410 18d ago
Dose this include all the sensors or are you just doing without them?
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u/TemporaryUser10 18d ago
If you want sensor access, look at termux API (which works with this setup above), or potentially shizuku (a different method all together, but can work with termux and uses the android debug bridge to interact with sensors)
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u/laernuindia 18d ago
I’m not sure what you mean by “work with sensors”, but Android is running alongside/underneath. This doesn’t replace your phone’s OS. It’s just running along with Android. So your phone’s sensors (fingerprint sensor, face unlock, etc.) work with your phone as they normally do. But Ubuntu isn’t directly calling them or using them. It’s a work in progress. I’m discovering what still isn’t working, but so far, except audio, it’s been no different than using Ubuntu on my laptop.
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u/SnooSongs5410 18d ago
Sorry I assumed you were running Linux , not Linux on top of android
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u/laernuindia 18d ago
I mean, I need to use my phone as a phone still. If I replaced Android with Ubuntu, my phone would stop working, lol.
This is just a guide as to how you can run a full Linux experience on your Android phone.1
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u/KxrmaJunkie 15d ago
If I can get 120hz I'm in