Exclusive first look: Here's Chrome OS running on an Android phone
TL;DR
- We got Google’s Chrome OS up and running alongside Android on a Pixel phone.
- This is possible thanks to a special build of Chromium OS — the open-source version of Chrome OS — made for running in a virtual machine.
- It’s not clear whether Google plans to release this to the public.
We have some exciting news! It seems Google has figured out a way to run Chrome OS on Pixel phones. They achieved this by creating a special version of Chromium OS, the open-source base of Chrome OS, that can run within a virtual machine on the phone itself. This project, codenamed "ferrochrome," was recently shown off to other companies at a Google event. We even managed to get our hands on it and compile our own version of "ferrochrome" to run on a Pixel phone! Check out the video to see Chrome OS running for the first time on a Pixel phone in virtual machine mode.
In the video, you might spot something unusual: my Pixel 7 Pro isn't running the standard Android software that comes from Google. Instead, I had to use a special version built from the ground up (AOSP). This was necessary because I needed a particular Google app called VM launcher. This app uses a clever trick – it relies on Android's built-in virtual machine capabilities (AVF) to run another operating system, following instructions from a file. The app then creates a window to display this virtual machine on the phone's screen.
As you'll see, Chromium OS starts up pretty quickly on my Pixel 7 Pro. There's a catch though – since this software isn't officially released, signing in with a Google account wasn't possible. I had to use a guest profile instead. Using the internet also required some tinkering after I arrived – luckily, a quick script and some setting adjustments in Chromium OS did the trick. The good news is that USB devices like a mouse and keyboard worked right away. While there was no sound yet (something Google is working on), everything else seemed to run smoothly in the short time I had to play around with it.
The reason we had to build a custom version of Android (AOSP) is because Pixel phones from Google don't come with the VM launcher app yet. This app is crucial for running Chromium OS. Thankfully, there's good news! A recent update (merged on April 9th) added the VM launcher app to the Virtualization APEX module, meaning future Android builds should have it built-in.
The bad news? You'll still need root access on your phone for now. Here's why: the VM launcher app is currently disabled. We could potentially recompile it and change its name to bypass this, since the app's permissions can theoretically be granted through ADB (a developer tool). However, the script for setting up network access requires root access at this point.
Thankfully again, Google's documentation mentions this script won't be needed in the future. This hopefully means running Chromium OS on any Android phone with AVF support will be possible without needing to root your device!
As for running other operating systems, the official documentation (as of April 2024) states that Chromium OS is the only officially supported option. However, it also hints that future updates might allow running more operating systems with graphics support!
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