What is Anbox?

Android in a box

Simply put, Anbox, lets you easily run any Android applications on Linux operating system.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to install anbox on latest version of ubuntu. Bionic Beaver (18.04) LTS

Before starting, make sure your system is updated in order to have a successful installation.

sudo apt-get update

Step 2 – Install kernel modules

After updating your system, you need to install the right kernel module and anbox-dkms module which are required in order to install anbox.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:morphis/anbox-support sudo apt update sudo apt install anbox-modules-dkms

Step 3 – Load kernel modules

Once you’ve installed the necessary required kernel modules, now you need to load them manually via the following. This is done only once, as the next time you start your system modules will be started automatically.

sudo modprobe ashmem_linux sudo modprobe binder_linux

Step 4 – Install Android Debug Bridge

Adb is needed in order to install apk apps.

sudo apt install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot

Step 5 – Install Anbox

Once you have completed all the steps above, proceed and install anbox.

snap install --devmode --beta anbox

If you get an error like “snap not found”, that means you don’t have snap package installed on your system.

Install snap and retry again.

sudo apt-get install snapd

Installing apk

Installing an app on anbox is easy, simply download the apk file you want to install, open the terminal and type the following command below to install it.

Make sure to specify the correct path where you downloaded the apk file.

sudo adb install /the/location/of/file.apk

To uninstall an app use

sudo adb uninstall /the/location/of/file.apk

Launch Anbox

Search anbox via search box on dashboard menu and click the icon to run it.

Another way to launch anbox is through terminal, via the following command.

anbox session-manager

Conclusion

Even though there are many ways to run android apps on linux, we chose anbox as it’s definitely the easiest way to do it.