GNOME Project Developer Publishes Developments Allowing AlienDalvik to Launch on Linux Distributions
Jonas Dressler from the GNOME project, known for developing the Gnome Shell editors for mobile devices, has revealed new developments that enable the launch of the AlienDalvik environment in traditional Linux distributions. AlienDalvik is a layer for the Sailfish mobile platform that allows users to run applications designed for the Android platform.
In the course of engineering the integration of AlienDalvik, Dressler has prepared necessary patches for the composite server Mutter, scripts, and strappings over the sound server and the input system for launching purposes. This development opens up AlienDalvik functionality beyond the confines of the Sailfish platform.
The launch of AlienDalvik was demonstrated on the Pinephone Pro and OnePlus 6 smartphones running Arch Linux with the GNOME Mobile shell. The standard Freedesktop API is utilized for AlienDalvik’s interaction with the Sailfish user environment. For instance, notifications are transmitted through the DBUS interface, and the MPRIS protocol is used to manage music players. Each Android application launched is displayed in its own separate Wayland-tops window, with input organization utilizing the text-input method.
The AlienDalvik environment is launched using LXC container isolation tools, and its integration components with the host system are compiled specifically for the ARM64 architecture using QT.
Unlike the Waydroid project, which also runs Android in a container, AlienDalvik aims for a closer integration with the host system. It allows Android applications to open in regular windows, offers synchronization with the address book, and supports the Sailfish on-screen keyboard.
The Sailfish system environment is built on the foundations of the Mer project, which has been an integral part of Sailfish since April 2019. It also relies on the Mer-Distribution Nemo. The environment utilizes Systemd, Dbus, RPM, Packagekit, Pulseaudio, Bluez, Wayland, and Qt. The composite server, Lip