The Easy Way to Run Android Apps on Your Raspberry Pi

Learn how to install APK files on your Raspberry Pi using an open-source project called Anbox. Follow this step-by-step guide to get started. …


Updated August 18, 2023

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Learn how to install APK files on your Raspberry Pi using an open-source project called “Anbox”. Follow this step-by-step guide to get started.

What is Anbox?

Anbox is an open-source project that allows you to run Android applications on Linux-based systems like Raspberry Pi. It does so by creating a virtual Android environment within your Raspberry Pi, which enables you to install and run APK files directly from Google Play Store or other sources.

Prerequisites

To follow this guide, you will need:

  • A Raspberry Pi with the latest version of Raspbian installed (we recommend using Raspberry Pi 3 or higher for better performance)
  • An active internet connection
  • A mouse and keyboard connected to your Raspberry Pi (or you can use SSH to access it remotely)

Step 1: Update Your Raspberry Pi

Open a terminal window and run the following command to update your system:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y

Step 2: Install Anbox

Anbox provides an installation script that will automatically install all required dependencies and configure your Raspberry Pi. Run the following commands one by one:

wget -qO- https://anbox.io/setup.sh | sudo bash
sudo reboot

After the reboot, Anbox is installed on your Raspberry Pi.

Step 3: Install Android Debug Bridge (ADB)

ADB is a command-line tool that allows you to communicate with an Android device. We will use it to install APK files on Anbox. Run the following command to install ADB:

sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb -y

Step 4: Start Anbox and Connect to it Using ADB

Now that Anbox is installed, we need to start it and connect to it using ADB. Run the following command in a terminal window:

anbox start

After Anbox starts, you can connect to it using ADB by running:

adb connect localhost:55555

Step 5: Install an APK

You can now install any APK file on your Raspberry Pi. For example, let’s download and install the popular game Pocket Tanks. First, download the APK from a trusted source (we recommend using APKMirror or APKPure). Then, install it using ADB:

adb install ~/Downloads/com.gamevil.pockettanks-1.6.0.2.apk

Replace ~/Downloads/com.gamevil.pockettanks-1.6.0.2.apk with the path to the APK file you downloaded.

After the installation is complete, Anbox will automatically launch the game and you can start playing!

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully installed an APK on your Raspberry Pi using Anbox. Now you can run Android applications directly on your Raspberry Pi. With Anbox’s support for keyboard and mouse input, gaming experience is surprisingly good. Enjoy your newfound ability to play Android games on a device that doesn’t have Google Play Store access!