Android support with Coherence and bridges

Ability to install lates android OS VM and connect it to Mac is a USB device.

Could be used as a real device or a developer that could test an app on it.

 

This could potentially be fulfilled on Apple Silicon Macs if Parallels made its own LineageOS build.

There's an unofficial build of LineageOS that runs on Raspberry Pi 4 really well and you can install the full Google suite (without support).

If Parallels could add support for the kinds of images you use with the Raspberry Pi then it would open up that world to the Mac and make Parallels really special.

 

Hello, can you add a method to install the latest version of Android (now 14 "Upside Down Cake") for ARM on Silicon Macs? If that cannot be done, use Android x86 running version 9 "Pie". Android apps are now universally able to be run thanks to virtualization of Android plus a few bridges on Windows via Windows Subsystem for Android, Linux via Waydroid or Anbox, and ChromeOS via ARCVM or ARC++. After adding support for Android, use the source code of ChromeOS's ARCVM or Waydroid to implement bridges to have Android apps run as if they were real macOS apps.

Source code for ARC's bridges is here: https://source.chromium.org/chromium/chromium/src/+/main:chrome/browser/ash/arc/
The source code of Waydroid is here: https://github.com/waydroid/waydroid/

For window management (Coherence), the source code of either ARC or Waydroid will work, whichever is more fit for macOS porting. ARC looks way more native to the host on ChromeOS, it's hometown, and Waydroid brings the window management controls of Android to Linux distributions. The source codes of both also should bring every perk of each to macOS.

Touchscreen, bluetooth, battery life, etc bridges (already implemented from the VM itself so we don't need to worry)
An android start menu or app launcher you make, or port the Anbox application manager, or even better, bring the launchpad shortcuts back into Parallels with Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android shortcuts being moved to the launcher.
A folder of sorts to access /sdcard otherwise known as /storage/emulated/0/
A clipboard bridge
File extension handler bridges, for both macOS and Android from ARC.
Share sheet bridges that allow you to share to Android apps, taken from ARC
Bridges for Android apps acting as Files providers to macOS, ex: Dolphin Emulator, Bug Reports, Termux, and a bridge for calling the Files app to call Finder instead for the file picker, as ARC does.
Support for Nearby Share if not supported already
Notification bridging from Android to macOS.
Default browser bridging, allowing Safari to open on macOS when a link is pressed, and for Android browsers to handle links when shared like ARC.
Accessibility bridging, allowing some Android accessibility tools to function on macOS, for example, an app called "Shutdown" on the play store which acts as a button that opens the power menu on Android, also does the same to ChromeOS
Possible common directories sharing like ChromeOS does to the Android downloads folder
System settings bridging, allowing apps that ask for settings and control settings to use macOS settings like ChromeOS's ARC.
Wallpaper bridging, allowing wallpaper apps to set macOS wallpapers, and for launchers to see the macOS wallpaper.
Try adding all other bridges from ARC's and Waydroid's source code into Parallels.

 

Hi @TheM9, thanks for your request, we will take it into consideration. What is your goal with running an Android OS in a VM on a Mac?

 

I'd like to second this feature request.

I use Parallels because I am a software developer. I have Windows and Linux VMs and develop for both platforms. Android Studio uses QEMU to emulate a single device. One thing that would significantly enhance my development workflow for Android is if I was able to compile my app to a desktop-like Android VM where I can resize the app window to make sure breakpoints and UI layout are consistent on many different screen sizes without launching many different device emulators. Also Parallels virtualization is so much faster than QEMU by its very nature, making iterative development easier.

 

Hello @RobertS63, thank you so much for the detailed story, it is much appreciated. By any chance, do you know other developers/communities who would be interested in Android VM support on Apple silicon?

 

I would be interested in Android VM support on Apple silicon.

 

I am also very interested in this feature. Also a software developer.

 

Any updates on Parallels + Android 14 support?