I tried Waydroid on Arch and its amazing. It runs Android apps flawlessly. And with a touchscreen device, I feel like I have an Android tablet running inside my Linux machine.

But I still don’t know what to use it for…

What apps do you use with Waydroid? What use cases do you have for it?

  • bloodfart@lemmy.ml
    0·
    7 months ago

    Lotta people in here saying what they use it for, but the only ppl I know irl running waydroid are playing softcore gatcha games on it.

  • JoeKrogan@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Ive thought about using it for bank apps so I dont have hassle if I lose the phone or it gets robbed. Has anyone tried this ?

    • bitwolf@lemmy.one
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      7 months ago

      I imagine it would fail CTS and SafetyNet. Kind of curious if shizuku works on it

  • Björn Tantau@swg-empire.de
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    7 months ago

    Reminds me that my daughter wanted to play Toca Life World on her PC. So I guess I would use it for that. As soon as I have the energy to do it.

    • The Hobbyist@lemmy.zip
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      7 months ago

      Well yes, but also no.

      Whenever you search for a solution to your problem, it stems from the realization that something is a problem. But sometimes, you have a thing which has been done for a long time, it was a problem with no solution and you’ve had to accept that. How would you determine one day that things can be done differently and better without constantly reevaluating everything? It’s not realistic.

      In my view, it is a perfectly reasonable question to ask “what problem does waydroid solve?” To figure out if you have that issue and you didn’t know of this solution.

      Sorry, just my 2 cents.

      • milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
        0·
        7 months ago

        Also, Learning is Fun, so here I have a new toy, let’s have fun seeing what I can learn to do with it, then - as you say - that might solve a problem or improve a thing I hadn’t thought of before.

    • Alex@lemmy.ml
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      7 months ago

      This is the way 😉 although the Minecraft launcher is pretty good these days running under Waydroid is considerably less hacky as it’s not having to thunk between android and Linux userspace.

  • Eugenia@lemmy.mlEnglish
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    7 months ago

    Android does have lots of games, and some apps that aren’t as easy to use, or as good as in native linux. For example, some painting apps (krita is powerful, but can also overwhelm someone), video editors like capcut or lumafusion, audio apps. For most of everything else, there is a web browser on linux that can do the job better probably, and native apps. But overall, I’d say that Android apps aren’t really that useful on linux, because they’re mostly geared towards apps that you use on the go, while you usually sitting on a chair at home or work when you’re using linux. To be honest, most native apps now have been replaced by a web browser, so either native linux or native android apps are only useful for high end professional usages (e.g. blender, video editing, etc) rather than everyday use.

    • meteokr@community.adiquaints.moe
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      7 months ago

      aren’t a lot of games aarch64 only? do they even support x86? I’ve attempted in the past to use waydroid for a game, but no way to install it on an x86 machine. Does waydroid support some kind of box64 layer?

      • Quack Doc@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        There is an unofficial script that ads arm emulation. Note before anyone asks, it will not become officially supported by waydroid.

    • Quack Doc@lemmy.world
      0·
      7 months ago

      It is true that Waydroid isn’t super secure. that being said, it is still just a mostly stock android (unless you download gapps). Root is not exposed to the container so unless an exploit is found it is reasonably secure. There are measures waydroid can take to make it more secure. but as it stands it’s “not bad”

      • boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net
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        7 months ago

        Android relies on SELinux for its app sandbox. On Fedora the Waydroid package has some SELinux rules, but not sure if they are as good.

        Daniel Micay answered under a Waydroid issue and at least on Android I fully trust his knowledge.

        I dont know about exposed root, but Waydroid uses LXC containers and not rootless Podman/Docker.

        The best solution would either be:

        • only run it on Fedora (no Problem for me)
        • harden the SELinux policy when needed
        • switch to a rootless container
        • or on other Distros, use a VM where you can fully control the environment
  • JackGreenEarth@lemm.eeEnglish
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    7 months ago

    Side point, is it possible to install the google play store on waydroid? Aurora keeps crashing.

  • Extras@lemmy.today
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    7 months ago

    Was straight up asking myself this the other day and still couldn’t come up with a good answer. I keep reading for 2fa or my passwords but that’s not really a reason IMO. Why not just have a copy of your totp seeds (any good android totp manager should let you export) and then use a desktop manager like keepassxc, the same with your passwords. The only reason i can personally think of are games but even then which games are worth keeping on your desktop that don’t already have a port? Another application that might be worth emulating could be like Shazam but not sure how good the desktop alternatives are

    • lemmyreader@lemmy.mlEnglish
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      7 months ago

      I keep reading for 2fa or my passwords but that’s not really a reason IMO. Why not just have a copy of your totp seeds (any good android totp manager should let you export) and then use a desktop manager like keepassxc, the same with your passwords.

      Well, you know, some people use more than one computer. Having WayDroid + 2FA codes on one laptop, and filling in the codes on a browser on the other laptop does not defeat the idea of strictly using two different devices for 2FA.

      • Extras@lemmy.today
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        7 months ago

        No i get people use more than one computer but I don’t understand your point though about using wayDroid specifically vs a desktop totp manager? You can achieve the same by just having your totp seeds on one computer and manually filling the generated code on the other. Only difference is no android application needed just a standalone desktop totp manager

        • lemmyreader@lemmy.mlEnglish
          0·
          7 months ago

          No i get people use more than one computer but I don’t understand your point though about using wayDroid specifically vs a desktop totp manager? You can achieve the same by just having your totp seeds on one computer and manually filling it in on the other. Only difference is no android application needed just a standalone desktop totp manager

          Right, I see your point. Now, I don’t see myself clicking on a touchscreen laptop with KeePassXC to get TOTP codes. Seems easier to use Aegis app in WayDroid.

          • Extras@lemmy.today
            0·
            7 months ago

            Ahh didn’t think about laptops with touchscreens just assumed touchpads or mice. That’s fair honestly never knew that was a popular way to navigate would assume people just get tablets for that but you make a solid point.

  • lemmyreader@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    7 months ago

    You already answered this in your question description :) With a touchscreen laptop and Linux and WayDroid you can have a Linux tablet. (Unfortunately (?) the choice of a DeGoogle ROM for Android tablets is minimal and you never know when the ROM developer will buy a new phone, change their life priorities and drop the ROM development) Compared to an Android phone you’d have a much larger screen. What do I use WayDroid for personally ? Just to test some programs, to see what’s new in F-Droid, and sometimes use LibreTube.

    • bigmclargehuge@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      If you like LibreTube check out Grayjay. It similarly lets you privately browse and watch YT content, while also being able to subscribe and make playlists, but it’s killer feature is pooling all your subscriptions across different platforms into one feed. Ie having your Patreon, YouTube, Twitch, etc all in one app.

  • Flaky@iusearchlinux.fyiEnglish
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    7 months ago

    Used to use it for Apple Music but Cider 2 does what I want now, especially since Apple started locking down AM on rooted devices (of which Waydroid basically is) for no good reason.

    • CedarMadness@midwest.socialEnglish
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      7 months ago

      Cider doesn’t support lossless, but then again neither does the version of android supported by waydroid currently

      • Flaky@iusearchlinux.fyiEnglish
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        7 months ago

        I was able to get lossless back then. It’s a matter of enabling fake_wifi for the app in Waydroid. You have to play a track for it to activate, but that’s also a bug I’ve experienced on my actual phone.

        • CedarMadness@midwest.socialEnglish
          0·
          7 months ago

          I could enable it in the app, but Android versions below 10 resample everything down to 16 bit / 44.1 khz and Waydroid is stuck on Android 9 for now.

          Now I guess I’d have to pass safety net or hide root and I can’t be bothered. I just plug my phone into the dac instead