ServalDesk

Full Linux desktop on ARM64 Android — not a terminal app, not an emulator. Native kernel access, embedded X11, and an optional Android home launcher so boot and Home open the desktop directly.

ServalDesk turns your Android phone into a real Linux desktop, and can optionally act as your home screen so boot and Home open XFCE directly. Standalone APK with embedded X11, or classic Termux + TUR; Flutter dashboard fallback when setup isn’t ready.

Features Home launcher mode Behavior Detail Boot / Home Routes to the Linux desktop when setup is complete Incomplete setup / failure Falls back to the Flutter dashboard Overlay Dashboard Returns to Flutter (apps, terminal, settings, stop server) Overlay Android Leaves Linux for the stock Android home Long-press Android / Dashboard Opens the system default-home / role picker Set ServalDesk as the default home app from the dashboard (Set as Default Launcher), or leave the stock launcher as default and open ServalDesk from the app drawer.

Phone desktop UX Bottom dock — Applications menu, Terminal, Files, Browser, VNC helpers Top tasklist + clock — Window list and clock on the dark panel Wallpapers — Bundled Unsplash backgrounds (see CREDITS.txt in assets) Safe-area letterboxing — Black borders so notches don’t clip the desktop Orientation — Desktop resizes on rotate; windows rematch the viewport Trackpad / touch / soft keyboard — Floating control bar (Trackpad is the default) VNC to Mac / Pi / laptop On the dock, open VNC → Share VNC. The display switches to 1920×1080 for a normal desktop frame. Connect with a VNC client to PHONE_IP:5901 (Show IP if needed). Stop VNC Share restores the phone layout. USB tethering is usually snappier than Wi‑Fi. Wired USB-C HDMI / DeX is the lag-free path when the hardware supports it.

Launch reliability Foreground service starts before the desktop session where needed XFCE mobile profile installs atomically (marker written only after configs succeed) Dock helpers use a real bash shebang (avoids Termux #!/bin/sh permission errors)

What this actually runs If it runs on Ubuntu / Termux GUI packages, it can run here — for example LibreOffice, VS Code, browsers, and terminal tools. Heavy apps (Blender, local LLMs) work but are limited by phone GPU and RAM.

How it works Standalone APK (recommended): Embedded Termux:X11 (libXlorie.so); Linux on DISPLAY=:0. No separate Termux:X11 app required. Non-root: App-private Termux userspace + X11/TUR packages. Root: Ubuntu filesystem via chroot. GPU: Adreno → Turnip/Zink when available; otherwise Mesa software rendering. Classic Termux scripts: Optional for users who prefer Termux + Termux:X11 (see below). Proot: Optional Ubuntu/Debian/Kali container for packages not in TUR.