Mashal Rehman / Android Authority
tl; drag
- The terminal app on Pixel phones enables users to operate Linux apps through Deban Virtual Machine.
- Android 16 beta 4, and then the stable Android 16 release, removed the last 16GB storage cap for the Linux VM.
- In Android 16 QPR1, manual storage maintenance has been replaced with dynamic storage balloon, which allows VM to automatically adjust its storage requirements.
Update 1, 6 August, 2025 (02:24 PM et): With the release of Android 16 QPR1 Beta 3, Google introduces storage balloon support at the Linux terminal app. This feature allows the terminal to dynamically adjust the storage space available to Debine VM. As a result, the disk size slider has been removed because it is no longer necessary.
The original article, April 19, 2025 (09:30 AM et): Pixel phone is taking a step towards becoming a powerful portable PC with the introduction of the Linux terminal app in the March 2025 update. This app allows compatible Android devices to run a complete example of the popular Deban Distro in virtual machine, and opens the door to run the famous Linux desktop program along with Android apps. However, this feature is not ready for everyday professional use, currently lacking support for important features such as graphical apps and audio output, and recently, it was limited to only 16GB storage space, which limited the capacity of Linux Linux VM of apps and files. Thankfully, Google has just removed the storage range, allowing the Linux terminal to use the maximum storage of your phone as needed.
With the release of the fourth Android 16 beta, Google has eliminated the slider changing the disk size in the Linux terminal app settings. In the previous release, the disk size was closed at 16 GB. In Android 16 beta 4, however, the disk size can be changed to capture most of the host device, which can leave 1GB of virtual machine free to prevent all available space.
I tested this feature at Google Pixel 9 Pro Running Android 16 Beta 4, which was successfully converted to 42.3GB. The process only took a few seconds, and after resuming the VM, the growing storage was immediately available. According to Android’s storage settings, the total size used by the Linux terminal app (including base app and size VM disk) increased to about 45.52GB.
Mashal Rehman / Android Authority
In the future release, Google plans to remove the disk completely from the Linux terminal app. Instead, the app will use storage balloon to dynamically adjust the storage space available to Deben VM. This feature allows guest VM storage to use the available space available and “defile” when the host system needs to be re -claimed. This approach offers two key benefits: Deben does not have to clearly set the allotted storage, and when necessary, the guest’s available storage automatically shrinks and protects the host from getting out of place.
Google is rapidly improving the Linux terminal app, which has recognized its key role in the company’s projects to move Chrome OS to Android base. Although the app theoretically allows the Linux desktop environment to operate, Google says the main purpose of the terminal is to enable Android apps as well as Linux Apps, not changing Android’s ancestral desktop mode. Nevertheless, Google’s efforts will open up some interesting issues of use, and it will be interesting to look at the latest methods that users take advantage of the Linux terminal on their pixels as soon as the app is maturity.
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