{ "schema": "tesign-radar/item/1", "generated_at": "2026-09-17T01:56:13.055Z", "lang": "en", "slug": "podroid", "url": "https://tesign.com/en/item/podroid/", "alternates": { "ko": { "html": "https://tesign.com/item/podroid/", "json": "https://tesign.com/item/podroid/index.json", "markdown": "https://tesign.com/item/podroid/index.md" }, "en": { "html": "https://tesign.com/en/item/podroid/", "json": "https://tesign.com/en/item/podroid/index.json", "markdown": "https://tesign.com/en/item/podroid/index.md" } }, "name": "Podroid", "use_label": "Linux container VM for your phone", "one_liner": "Boots a real, separately-kernelled Alpine Linux VM on an unrooted Android phone, running Podman, Docker and LXC exactly as they behave on a server.", "text": { "why": "Most \"Linux containers on Android\" apps fake it with chroot or proot tricks, not a real container runtime. Podroid instead boots a genuine VM with its own kernel via QEMU (or hardware-accelerated AVF on supported pKVM devices), so Podman, Docker and LXC behave exactly as they do on a server. It ships a full xterm-256color terminal with 122 colour themes, an X11 viewer for GUI Linux apps, USB passthrough, SSH, port forwarding and a guest-to-Android bridge — no root required.", "take": "The claim of \"a real, separately-kernelled VM on Android\" is backed by a specific mechanism (QEMU or pKVM AVF), which is what separates it from the usual chroot-based imitations.", "build": [ "Run a real container on your phone to test something before deploying it to a server", "Expose a container to your phone's LAN with podroid-forward and hit it from another device", "SSH in to handle a quick server task from just a phone, no laptop needed" ], "who": [ { "role": "A developer who only has their phone and needs to test a container without a laptop", "situation": null }, { "role": "An embedded or mobile developer who needs a real Linux kernel environment", "situation": null }, { "role": "Someone learning Linux who wants a genuine terminal on their Android phone", "situation": null } ], "start": [ { "command": false, "text": "1) Download the APK from https://github.com/ExTV/Podroid/releases/latest and install it" }, { "command": false, "text": "2) Tap Start VM, wait for Ready!, open the terminal" }, { "command": true, "text": "podman run --rm alpine echo \"hello from a container\"" }, { "command": true, "text": "ssh root@ -p 9922 (password: podroid)" } ], "caveat": [ "GPLv2 · supports arm64 Android 8+ devices only", "Building from source needs Docker and the Android SDK/NDK (using the app itself only needs the APK)" ] }, "cta": { "type": "install", "label": "INSTALL", "url": "https://extv.github.io/Podroid" }, "ready": "install", "categories": [ "dev-tools" ], "categories_confirmed": true, "tags": [ "android", "linux-vm", "containers", "qemu", "no-root" ], "platform": [ "android" ], "license": { "spdx": "GPL-2.0", "scope": "copyleft", "scope_text": "Use freely. Release your source if you redistribute (copyleft).", "url": "https://spdx.org/licenses/GPL-2.0.html", "note": null, "open_source": true }, "language": "Kotlin", "source_urls": { "canonical": "https://extv.github.io/Podroid", "github": "https://github.com/extv/podroid", "huggingface": null, "app_store": null, "sightings": [ { "source": "github", "url": "https://github.com/extv/podroid", "posted_at": "2026-09-14T16:00:00.000Z", "hn_url": null } ] }, "numbers": { "as_of": "2026-09-16T21:00:00.000Z", "stars": 2604, "stars_unit": "GitHub stars", "stars_checked_at": "2026-09-15T07:20:25.124Z", "stars_observed_since_check": 2, "star_delta_24h": 2, "star_delta_7d": 14, "star_delta_30d": 14, "star_delta_unit": "GitHub stars gained in the window, GH Archive events summed to as_of", "spark_14d": [ null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, 7, 5, 2 ], "hf_likes": null, "hf_likes_observed_at": null, "hn_points": null, "hn_points_observed_at": null, "store": null, "method": "Star total = the value last checked on GitHub (stars_checked_at) + increases observed via GH Archive since. The 24h · 7d · 30d gains are GH Archive hourly events summed to the reference time (as_of). No score of ours." }, "ranks": null, "activity": { "pushed_at": "2026-09-03T18:51:59.000Z", "owner_type": null, "open_issues": null, "contributors": null, "releases_count": null, "latest_release": null, "checked_at": null, "core_checked_at": "2026-09-15T07:20:25.124Z" }, "signals": [], "images": { "og": "https://tesign.com/img/podroid-0f16dc4f02.png", "cover": "https://tesign.com/img/podroid-0f16dc4f02.png", "cover_width": 2400, "cover_height": 1260, "gallery": [ "https://tesign.com/img/podroid-0f16dc4f02.png" ], "alt": "Podroid's homepage: a dark screen reading \"Linux containers on Android. No root required,\" with a Download APK button.", "tier": 1 }, "dates": { "first_seen_at": "2026-09-15T03:29:49.653Z", "source_created_at": "2026-03-16T01:04:26.000Z", "discovery_hours": 4394.423236944444, "launch_signal_at": "2026-09-14T16:00:00.000Z", "kept_at": "2026-09-17T01:24:00.723Z", "first_published_at": "2026-09-17T01:24:00.858Z", "updated_at": "2026-09-17T01:26:30.182Z", "ingestion_mode": "live" }, "notes": [ "This file was produced by the same build, from the same data, as the tesign.com item page. The text is editorial; the numbers are stored observations.", "null in the JSON means not observed — never zero. The Markdown writes [unconfirmed] for it.", "Star total = the value last checked on GitHub (stars_checked_at) + increases observed via GH Archive since. The 24h · 7d · 30d gains are GH Archive hourly events summed to the reference time (as_of). No score of ours.", "A summary, not legal advice." ] }