Podroid

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9
downloads
8.0
android

AI summary

Run a full Alpine Linux VM with containers and desktop on Android without root. Includes Podman 5.8.3, Docker 29.5.3, LXC 7.0.0, and TigerVNC. New in 1.2.7: SFTP access on port 9922 works out of the box, updated to Alpine 3.24.1 and QEMU 11.0.2, improved port forwarding and network diagnostics, plus fixes for stuck VM launches and remote session display issues.

Generated by AI. May contain inaccuracies.

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About this app

Run Linux containers and a full Linux desktop on your Android phone. No root.

A real Alpine Linux VM with its own kernel - not a chroot or proot trick - so Podman, Docker and LXC behave exactly like they do on a server.

What's new

v1.2.7Jul 30, 2026
  • Installs in place over 1.2.6. No VM reset, and containers, packages and settings are preserved.
  • New
  • SFTP works out of the box. Any SSH client, including WinSCP and FileZilla, can browse and transfer guest files on port 9922 with nothing to install and no extra port forward. The guest system moves to Alpine 3.24.1 on Linux 7.1.5, which brings newer container tooling: Podman 5.8.3, Docker 29.5.3, LXC 7.0.0, crun 1.28, and TigerVNC 1.16.2 for the desktop. The software-emulation backend moves to QEMU 11.0.2. The port forward screen now lists the ports Podroid reserves for itself, above your own rules: SSH on 9922, and the desktop and its audio on 5900 and 4713, both bound to the phone only. Adding a rule on a reserved port was already refused, but the reason was invisible. The Status screen lists every address the phone can be reached on, one per interface, rather than only the one the default route uses. On a phone using mobile data while tethering, the address shown before was often the one no other machine could reach. The AVF diagnostic now reports whether the headless GPU declaration attached, is unsupported on the device, or failed outright, and the Home screen says so when it failed. That declaration is what gets a networked VM onto a network-capable hypervisor, so when it fails the guest comes up without an adapter, and until now that was invisible. Settings now says plainly that raising the vCPU count does not make the QEMU backend faster. The guide gained sections on sharing files (SFTP and FTP, and what the privileged-port limit rules out), reaching the desktop from another computer, connecting over RDP, and a minimal nginx container to start from.
  • Fixes
  • A port forwarding rule that cannot bind no longer stops the VM from starting. Rules are applied once the VM is up, where one that fails is skipped and logged instead of aborting the launch. This also repairs an install that was already stuck reporting "QEMU exited with code 1" after adding rules, with no data loss and nothing to delete. The rule list is capped, with a clear message when it is full, instead of growing without limit. Programs started by a remote session, such as an xrdp login or ssh -X, no longer open on the phone's built-in desktop. That left the remote screen black while the windows appeared on the phone. The guest tools no longer print a cut-off reply as though it were complete. podroid-forward list now says when a reply is too long instead of showing part of the table as if it were all of it. Documentation claims about CPU tuning that measurement did not support have been corrected. Broad reliability hardening across port forwarding, the guest host bridge, and AVF start-up diagnostics.
  • Known limitations
  • After updating an existing VM, the guest package database still lists the previous Alpine release. Programs run from the new image, but apk reports installed versions as older than what the repositories offer, and apk version -l "<" lists most of the base system. Running apk upgrade inside the guest brings the database in line, at the cost of copying those packages into your persistent storage. A fix is planned so the update settles this by itself. Windows file sharing cannot work in either direction, and an NFS server cannot run inside the guest. Both need ports below 1024, which an ordinary app cannot bind, and the guest kernel carries no NFS server or SMB client. SFTP and FTP are the supported routes, and the networking guide covers both. Mounting a remote NFS export from inside the guest does work.

About this version

Version
1.2.7 (31)
Size
296.39 MB
Requires Android
8.0
Target SDK
26
Architecture
arm64-v8a
Downloads
9
Updated
Jul 30, 2026
Package
com.excp.podroid

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