Android’s Linux Terminal App Adds Tabs So You Can Multitask More Easily

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

With the most recent Pixel Drop, Google finally introduced the Linux Terminal app that we’ve been tracking since last year. For those who are unfamiliar, the Linux Terminal app lets you run a full instance of Debian in a virtual machine, giving you access to many Linux apps that aren’t available on Android. The March update is only the initial release of the Linux Terminal app, though, so it’s missing numerous features. Google is making it a priority to improve the Linux Terminal app, though, and in the latest Android beta release, the company has implemented a significant feature: tab support.

After installing the third beta of Android 16 that Google released earlier this week, we opened the Linux Terminal app and noticed that it now had a tabbed interface. The tabs in the Terminal app are similar to those in a web browser, with a title, a button to close them, and a button to open new ones. The tabs can neither be rearranged nor renamed currently, but this is functionality that Google could add in future updates. The application supports opening numerous tabs, as we were able to open 12 tabs without issue.

The benefit of adding tabs is that it allows you to multitask. If you run a command that will take a while to complete, you can open another tab to do other tasks. I think most people intuitively understand the benefit of tabs, so its inclusion in the Terminal app is a no-brainer.

Another new addition to the Terminal app in Android 16 Beta 3 is the “Display” button. This button is intended to open the Display activity, which allows users to run graphical Linux applications. However, graphical app support is currently disabled in Android 16 Beta 3, so the “Display” button is non-functional. For those curious, we previously demonstrated Doom running in the Linux Terminal app using this Display activity.

Since we shared a demo of Doom running in the Linux Terminal, Google has made several improvements to the app, which are expected to be included in a future Android release. Notably, these improvements include speaker and microphone support, which, when combined with hardware-accelerated graphics, will enable a wide range of useful Linux programs to run.

To try the Linux Terminal app, you must first enable Developer Options on your Android device. Then, enable the Terminal by navigating to Settings > System > Developer Options > Linux development environment and toggling ‘(Experimental) Run Linux terminal on Android‘. After returning to your home screen, open the Terminal app from the app list. You will be prompted to download a ~567MB package containing the Debian image, which will then be unpacked and run in a virtual machine using the Android Virtualization Framework (AVF).

Let us know in the comments below what you think of Android’s Linux Terminal app and what you plan to use it for!

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