Valve has been a big proponent of Linux gaming, and now the company is investing in Android support on Linux. It’s already possible to run Android in a Linux container through Waydroid, but Valve has developed a new fork – and it has officially named it Lepton.
Last month, news broke that Valve would soon support Android games on Steam. This was thanks to a sighting in Steam app changelogs for Walkabout Mini Golf, which added an APK file. The VR title is currently available on the Meta Quest (which runs on a custom version of Android), and may run through the Lepton compatibility layer for Valve’s upcoming Steam Frame VR headset, which runs the company’s Linux-based operating system, SteamOS.
A lot of people here missing the bigger picture:
This could be the start for a Valve-backed Linux phone.
That’s a fun fantasy, but this is almost certainly a way to get Oculus games running on the Steam Frame.
They’re 100% coming for Oculus’ lunch with this one.
F*ck yesss, Waydroid for the lazy like me!
I also got excited. However some time ago I set up waydroid and once I got it all running smoothly I was like “what now?”
I didn’t know any app or game that I wanted to play over the games that I have on my PC.
So my question would be: what do you want to play?
I used Waydroid to get Apple Music running on Linux. It worked, but it wasn’t a great experience, not least because it needed to be an older version of the app. Winapps was slightly better, but given that AM is only available as a UWP through the Windows Store, it was a pain in the arse to get running, then buggy when it was.
So these days I just play music through my phone.
Think there is an app called Cider that is apple music. It should be in your Linux app store.
Linux is sure becoming the universal platform - We just need a proper macOS compatibility layer now
You can emulate it by opening up your mouse and carefully ripping all of the button switches other than the left one out. Then go into your BIOS, underclock your CPU (or alternatively, go to the store you got your computer or parts from and just give them more money).
Then get some plaster and just cover up most of the ports on the back of your computer. Don’t worry, you’ll replace them with dongles, there’s a nice selection available for purchase!
Then uninstall proton and go around claiming that your computer is the only one that can handle making art (doesn’t matter if you’re an artist, just smugly insist this is the case).
Oh also forget that your computer is a computer. I don’t know what you need to think it is, but only nerds use computers, you’re not a nerd, you’re cool because you’re on a mac. Or pretending to be on one.
No reason for a full compatibility layer when we already have GNOME
I cannot possibly overstate how amazing this is, given everything else valve is doing to make compatibility layers for practically anything.
This can attack Meta’s near-monopoly on VR incredibly effectively. All those games made for the Quest? Pop 'em on either your higher-power PC, or directly on the Steam Frame, and it just works, very low effort to port, and you can squeeze more performance out of them if you’re playing tethered.
Want to use an Android app on your PC rather than your phone? Done. Linux suddenly becomes much more useful to you on its own.
Being able to run Windows applications on Linux was just the start of making Linux more usable, and giving people more choice as to what software to use, but this expands it to an even larger scale. Simultaneously, this could mean some developers make things for Android that they otherwise would have only made to run on Linux, meaning Android users get more (likely open-source) choices too.
There’s a metric fuck ton of apps that I wish I could use on Linux, but are only easily run on Android directly. (Yes, I know Waydroid is a thing, but it’s been a pain to set up and use for me and many others. Valve has been pretty good so far at making sure things “just work” as best they can.)
That’s cool because 0.00023 % of android games are not only Pay2WinMoneyGrabGarbage.
I’m hopeful this leads to being able to play older Android games.
One of the things that sucks about Android is that as the versions march on they raise the API requirements (ostensibly for security), which leaves old games being unable to run on new devices.
I have a bunch of games purchased om Humble Bundles over the years that now just refuse to run on my Android devices as their API target level is too old.
So you’re telling me my daughter is gonna be able to play roblox on my Linux laptop soon? Thanks, but no thanks. PS: I know about vinegar.
It amuses me to play Roblox with my son when he’s on a tablet or console and I’m using the Sober app to run the Android client on my Linux desktop that was built to be a windows gaming PC several years ago when he was a little baby.
He has an old PC that he doesn’t use much, but he’s got a much fancier one on the way.
