Full desktop applications on Android and GooglebookOS

Breadstick runs Debian on your phone, tablet or Googlebook and opens every Linux app as an Android window, beside your other apps on Samsung DeX and Android desktop windowing. No root, nothing to unlock.

Get it on Google Play Getting started

Free to use. Pro is $19.99, once.

The Google Play Store beside Chrome, System Monitor and a terminal from Linux, all as windows on one Android home screen — The Play Store is an Android app. Chrome, System Monitor and the terminal are Linux: same screen, same task switcher, same window controls. Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra.

Three ways to use it

VS Code running as a native Android freeform window

The Breadstick Linux desktop with VS Code, a file manager and a terminal open

What you get

The system

Debian 13, with aptThe real distribution, built for your processor: ARM64 or x86-64.
No rootLinux lives in Breadstick's own storage. Nothing on Android changes.
Updates through aptThe desktop and Breadstick's packages update like any other Debian package.
GPU acceleration ProLinux graphics drawn by your device's graphics chip.

Your device

Your filesDownloads, Documents and Pictures, open in Linux apps.
Clipboard, sound and notificationsCopy and paste both ways; Linux sound plays through Android.
Keyboard, mouse and touchpadPhysical keys and shortcuts, and a touchpad mode for the screen.
Camera and stylus ProThe cameras as a webcam; pen pressure and tilt in drawing apps.

Breadstick's Settings: the Display page with the desktop theme set to Light, beside the list of settings pages — Settings in the app, in light and dark like the rest of Breadstick. Captured on a Googlebook.

What it runs on

Linux runs on your device's own processor, so what your device has is what Linux gets.

Android 8 or newer, ARM64 or x86-64Phones, tablets and Googlebooks. Breadstick installs Debian 13 built for your processor.
MemoryWith 12 GB a desktop, a browser and an editor run together; 4 GB suits a terminal or a couple of apps.
StorageA full desktop with development tools wants several gigabytes free.
A keyboard and a mouseNot required, but Linux desktop software is built around them.
Samsung DeX or Android desktop windowingFor Floating mode's separate windows. Desktop mode and the Terminal work without it.

Free and Pro

The free version is the whole distribution, not a trial. Pro lifts Breadstick's limits and adds the rest.

$19.99once, for Pro. No subscription.

FeatureFreePro
Debian with apt, and Desktop mode
Backup, repair and restore
Floating Linux apps at once2No limit
Terminal tabs2No limit
Desks in Desktop mode14
Linux environments1Several
Enhanced Desktop and Enhanced Terminal
GPU acceleration
Layouts and home-screen widgets
Printing, drag and drop, Open with
Automatic and encrypted backups, snapshots
Camera, calendar and phone notifications in Linux
Game controllers and stylus
x86 apps in one tap, and Steam (experimental)
MCP server for AI tools

Pro removes Breadstick's own limit; your device keeps its own, and Samsung DeX allows about five floating windows at once. Pro is bought through Google Play and tied to your account, so a reinstall or a new device keeps it.

Get it on Google Play Full comparison

Questions

Which devices does it work on?

Samsung devices with DeX, plus Android phones that support desktop mode (Android 15+), and Googlebooks, ARM and Intel alike, where Android's desktop windowing gives every Linux app its own window. Breadstick needs Android 8 or newer on an ARM64 or x86-64 processor, and installs a Debian 13 built for that processor. Pair with a monitor or a desktop-capable display and you're set.

Using a Pixel or another AOSP phone?

On Samsung DeX the floating-window mode works out of the box. On Pixel and other stock-Android (AOSP) devices, freeform windows are off by default. Enable them once in Settings → Developer options by turning on “Enable freeform windows” (and, on some builds, “Force activities to be resizable”), then restart Breadstick. Full-screen Desktop mode and the Terminal work without this. Breadstick detects the setting and will point you to it if needed.

Do I need to root my phone?

No. Breadstick runs entirely unprivileged in a container. There's nothing to unlock and nothing that touches your Android system.

Will it affect Samsung Knox or Google SafetyNet?

No. Both exist to detect a device that has been tampered with, and Breadstick does nothing that either of them looks for. Installing it does not change what your banking apps, mobile wallets or work apps see when they check your device.

Samsung Knox is the security platform built into Galaxy devices, starting in the hardware. Part of it is a one-time fuse, the Knox warranty bit, which trips permanently if the device ever boots unofficial software such as a custom recovery, custom firmware or a rooted system. It can never be reset, and once it trips, Samsung Wallet, Secure Folder and Samsung's Knox-based work features stop working for good.

Google SafetyNet, since replaced by the Play Integrity API, is how an app asks Google whether it is running on a genuine, unmodified Android device. Banking apps, Google Wallet payments and many employer-managed apps and VPNs refuse to run on a device that fails that check.

Breadstick is an ordinary app from Google Play, running inside the same Android app sandbox as every other app. It does not root your device, unlock the bootloader, install firmware or change Android in any way, and none of that is possible for an app with normal Android permissions anyway. The whole Linux system lives inside Breadstick's own private storage. Being root inside Linux, or using sudo, gives Linux programs no power over Android at all. There is nothing for Knox to trip on and nothing for an integrity check to fail, and uninstalling Breadstick removes the Linux system completely.

One thing worth knowing: a few banking apps also refuse to open while Developer options is turned on. That is the bank's own rule, separate from Knox and SafetyNet. Breadstick does not need Developer options on Samsung DeX. On other devices, floating windows need one setting there.

How is this different from Termux?

Termux is excellent, and the two overlap: both give you a real package manager and a shell, without root. The difference is what happens after the shell. Breadstick runs a stock Debian system, so the packages are Debian’s own, and it draws every Linux application as its own window beside your Android apps, with sound, the clipboard, your files, notifications and the camera bridged across. Termux can reach a graphical desktop too, but you assemble it yourself from an X server app and extra packages; here it is a couple of taps, and the desktop is set up and kept up to date for you. If you live in a terminal, Termux is lighter. If you want VS Code, Chrome or GIMP in a window on DeX, that is what Breadstick is for. The app catalog lists the Linux terminal and developer tools from Debian 13 as well as the apps, with the ones tested on a device marked.

Is it really full Debian?

Yes, a Debian-based system with real apt. Install, update, and remove software exactly as you would on any Linux machine.

Will it slow down or harm my phone?

It runs in an isolated, unprivileged container. Your Android stays untouched, and you can stop it anytime. Performance scales with your device.

The Linux desktop closed by itself. Why?

Usually not memory, even though the message says so. Android limits how many processes one app may run, on most devices 32, and a Linux desktop is made of processes: the window manager, the panel, the sound server and every app you open. A browser alone can use a dozen, so opening one is what normally tips a session over, and Android then closes the whole session rather than a single app. Breadstick starts few background services and sets the browser to share processes between tabs, which keeps a normal session inside the limit. Breadstick warns you as the count gets close, and its resource monitor shows it live. If you want the limit gone entirely there is a one-time ADB command, with its trade-offs explained, in the troubleshooting guide.

What are the limits?

Running with no root is what makes Breadstick safe to install, and it is also where the limits come from. There is no VPN inside Linux, no access to USB devices including hardware security keys, and no block-level access to drives, so encrypted volumes will not open. Nested virtualization is out, which rules out Docker, QEMU and VirtualBox. Graphics are drawn in software unless GPU acceleration (Pro) is on, and even then web browsers stay on the processor, and on ARM devices programs that need OpenGL 3 or newer cannot use the graphics chip. There is a full, honest list in the documentation, worth reading before you plan a workflow around it.

Can I use a VPN?

Not inside Linux. VPN clients need a TUN network device, which an unprivileged app cannot create. Run the VPN on Android instead: it applies to the whole device, and Breadstick's traffic goes out through the same network stack, so your Linux apps are covered too.

What about USB devices and security keys?

Android does not expose the raw USB bus to unprivileged apps, so Linux applications cannot see USB hardware. That includes YubiKeys and other FIDO2 security keys, serial adapters, USB printers and scanners, and audio interfaces. USB storage is different: if Android mounts the drive and you have granted file access, the files appear as a normal folder. What you do not get is the drive itself, so encrypted volumes, partitioning tools and disk images will not work.

Can it run x86 or Windows software?

x86 Linux programs, yes on an Intel device and sometimes on ARM. Windows programs, no. Breadstick installs a Debian 13 built for your device's processor, so everything runs natively. On an Intel Googlebook or another x86-64 device, that means 64-bit x86 Linux programs simply run, and with Pro, Steam is there for native Linux games, as an experiment that is not supported.

On an ARM device, almost all of Debian is built for ARM64, so this rarely comes up. When it does, the x86 apps pack, one tap with Pro, installs Box64, which runs 64-bit x86 Linux programs you start through it (box64 ./program): some work, some do not, and all run slower than native ones and without GPU acceleration.

Windows programs do not run on either: Android's security rules stop Wine from starting, and the same goes for Steam's Windows games. See x86 apps.

How much does it cost?

Free to download and use, and the free version is the whole distribution rather than a trial: all of Debian, apt, and Desktop mode with as many windows as you like. It runs two floating Linux apps and two terminal tabs at a time. A one-time $19.99 Breadstick Pro upgrade lifts those limits and adds features such as Layouts, printing from Linux apps, automatic and encrypted backups, and camera, notification and calendar access inside Linux. Restoring a backup is always free. Note that your device has its own cap on floating windows, around five on Samsung DeX, which no app can raise. No subscriptions, ever. See the full comparison.

Where do I get it?

It is on Google Play: install Breadstick. It is free to download and use, and we would rather you started there. Devices vary enormously, so the honest way to find out whether Breadstick works for you is to run it on your own hardware before buying anything.

Why is it called Breadstick?

Blame Chromebooks and my Passion for ChromeOS. The ways to run Linux on one keep getting named after bread: Crouton, Crostini, Bruschetta, and now Baguette. Apparently the people who build Linux environments are simply hungry. Breadstick borrows the best idea from that bakery, every Linux app in its own real window, and brings it to Android, so it clearly needed a bread name too. A breadstick felt right: long, thin, and it fits in your pocket. We checked the rest of the bakery for something better and came back with crumbs.