Linux Terminal app for Android
Shares rank 31 of 40 terminal emulators by recommenders
Built-in Debian Linux environment on Android 15 that gives a full shell and can run a desktop. Critics say it is buggy and only works on some devices.
Built-in Debian Linux environment on Android 15 that gives a full shell and can run a desktop. Critics say it is buggy and only works on some devices.
20 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 14
- approval share
- 30%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Full shell and Debian environment
“The Linux terminal app also supports running a DE (No VNC - as in no VNC, not NoVNC - required!), has full shell, full root”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Run Linux containers on Android, no root required” “Its file system is laid out exactly as you would expect”
Comment from 11 Nov 2025 in “The R47: A new physical RPN calculator” “the new 'terminal' with debian also worked well”
Comment from 25 Feb 2026 in “Claude Code Remote Control” Runs desktop environment and Minecraft
“The Linux terminal app also supports running a DE (No VNC - as in no VNC, not NoVNC - required!), has full shell, full root”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Run Linux containers on Android, no root required” “was able to get a desktop environment running, and a minecraft server & client”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Run Linux containers on Android, no root required”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Crashes, corruption and instability
“If I re-open it, it says it's corrupted, and has to delete and re-install its minimal Debian environment.”
Comment from 2 Feb 2026 in “Termux” “Keeps crashing, "recovery" just deletes everything and you start over from scratch.”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Run Linux containers on Android, no root required” “The Linux Terminal app is incredibly buggy in my experience”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Run Linux containers on Android, no root required” - Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Run Linux containers on Android, no root required”
Setup toggle greyed out or stalls
“is greyed out. I wait for 8.5 to see if it is enabled then”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Run Linux containers on Android, no root required” “Personally this toggle doesn't do anything (Android 16, Samsung)”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Run Linux containers on Android, no root required” “I cannot continue after specifying the ram and cpu number.”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Run Linux containers on Android, no root required” Limited to certain devices and processors
“seeing the same error on a Samsung Snapdragon device when attempting to use the Linux terminal”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Run Linux containers on Android, no root required” “Not everyone owns one of the limited range of devices that Linux Terminal is available for.”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Run Linux containers on Android, no root required” “the integrated linux terminal is not supported on all processors like snapdragon ones”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Run Linux containers on Android, no root required” Rougher than Termux
“Android "Linux terminal" is still jank compared to termux + proot distro.”
Comment from 19 Apr 2026 in “Android 15's hidden Linux Terminal is a real Debian VM – and it runs Claude Code” “Yes Android terminal is a bit of a miss, I agree.”
Comment from 14 Mar 2026 in “Your Phone Is an Entire Computer”
Other terminal emulators people recommend
The four most recommended other terminal emulators, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghostty | 401 | 158 | 72% | 12 | 3 mo22 owners | Approved |
| Termux | 188 | 31 | 86% | 12 | 1 yr6 owners | Approved |
| iTerm2 | 95 | 69 | 58% | 12 | 10 yrs4 owners | — |
| Warp terminal | 84 | 86 | 49% | 11 | 1 yr5 owners | — |
| Linux Terminal app for AndroidThis page | 6 | 14 | 30% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
19 of the 20 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Android "Linux terminal" is still jank compared to termux + proot distro.”
“Not everyone owns one of the limited range of devices that Linux Terminal is available for.”
“The Linux Terminal app is incredibly buggy in my experience”
“I cannot continue after specifying the ram and cpu number.”
“Android's terminal app is really slow and takes some time to boot”
“reddits are full of reports of instability”
“seeing the same error on a Samsung Snapdragon device when attempting to use the Linux terminal”
“is greyed out. I wait for 8.5 to see if it is enabled then”
“was able to get a desktop environment running, and a minecraft server & client”
“Personally this toggle doesn't do anything (Android 16, Samsung)”
“Keeps crashing, "recovery" just deletes everything and you start over from scratch.”
“the integrated linux terminal is not supported on all processors like snapdragon ones”
“The Linux terminal app also supports running a DE (No VNC - as in no VNC, not NoVNC - required!), has full shell, full root”
“Yes Android terminal is a bit of a miss, I agree.”
“the new 'terminal' with debian also worked well”
“If I re-open it, it says it's corrupted, and has to delete and re-install its minimal Debian environment.”
“the Linux terminal lived in its own sandbox isolated from the normal Android directories”
“I'd use the newish Terminal app, available since Android 15.”
“Its file system is laid out exactly as you would expect”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.