Lepton is the name of the compatibility layer for running Android on Linux. Its development looks to be linked to the upcoming Steam Frame.

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.

  • jaxxed@lemmy.worldEnglish
    41·
    5 hours ago

    I wondered the same thing, but I don’t think that this will be a big impact for mobile phones. AFAICT there are three blockers for mov8ng from andro8d to linux on a mobile phone:

    1. Hardware drivers: 'cause hardware companies don’t care, so OSS driver developers struggle to deliver efficient drivers
    2. Battery life: both because of drivers, but also because linux isn’t tuned for efficiency like mobile Oses are;
    3. Software : google play is such a walled garden, and some apps won’t run without it (some banking apps and some popular google apps.)
    • ApertureUA@lemmy.todayEnglish
      2·
      2 hours ago

      Despite sleep (the “wake up on every network event” kind of sleep) not being implemented in most PostMarketOS devices, I fucked around with my Redmi and found that the battery lasts much much longer on standby (if I don’t forget to close the apps because they won’t unload themselves)

      If you have a whole ass Android container like Waydroid (instead of stuff like android-translation-layer being developed), you can just put MicroG there. Or whole ass Google services, if for some reason you decided it’s a good idea. It’s just Android.

      But yeah, hardware support suckzzzz

    • gwl@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      1·
      2 hours ago

      3: I think the point is to try to build a new walled garden, maybe with lower walls that can be easily hopped over