One of my complaints (which in fact are only two) with Linux-based operating systems is their poor compatibility with some programs. For example, as you all know there is no official version of Photoshop for Linux, for which you have to resort to other programs such as PlayOnLinux and the latest versions do not always work. Actually, you can do almost everything, but you have to know the way and that is my second complaint: some things are not intuitive at all in Linux. But there are always shortcuts and one of them can be run Android apps on Ubuntu.
Google's mobile operating system can run many applications. It is true that the aforementioned desktop Photoshop will not be for Android, at least for several years, but it does have tons of applications that can get us out of trouble. For example, if we can't find a decent Twitter client for Ubuntu, we can always simulate an application of Android in Ubuntu and run it as if it were a desktop application. In this post we will show you how to do just that.
Before starting with the guide I would like to remind you that, as with any simulation, some apps may not work. Without going any further, I wanted to install Apple Music, but it didn't work for me. The next application that I have tried, Twitter has worked perfectly for me.
How to run Android apps on Ubuntu
- We make sure we have the latest version of Google Chrome installed. If we do not have the browser installed, we go to the web www.google.com/chrome/browser/desktop/ and we install it. If we already had a previous version installed, we can update by writing in a Terminal «sudo apt-get install google-chrome-stable»(Without the quotes).
- We install ARC Welder. Logically, we install the extension in Chrome.
- We seek and we download the .apk files that we want to execute. Logically, we cannot say from where to download them.
- We open ARC Welder. At first it will be in the Chrome applications. Once opened, it can be kept in the Ubuntu launcher.
- ARC Welder is very intuitive. We only have to indicate the main folder (where it will save the applications) and choose the .apk file.
- We can indicate if we want to give it access to the clipboard and if we want it to run as a version for mobile, tablet, full screen or expanded.
- As if by magic and that simple, we can now run a simulation of the Android application in our Chrome browser.
An important note: if we keep the Android application in the launcher and when we run the next one we tell it not to overwrite it, when we enter everything will be saved. Or at least that's how it has been in my case with the applications I've tried. And, with what is described in this guide, we can still do much more with our Ubuntu PC.