Android's Linux Terminal now lets you max out performance, but at a cost

A lot of Android users may not know, but Android has a hidden environment where you can run Linux programs. For quite some time, Google has been testing the ability to run full-scale Linux apps, which could be truly beneficial while running Android’s desktop mode. And ahead of the feature’s availability, we’re seeing new options that will let users choose between performance and visual quality.

Google is introducing new customization options for the Linux Terminal in the latest Android 17 beta updates. In addition to new options in Android 17 beta to theme the Terminal’s CLI or command-line interface to your taste, Google is also improving visibility.

We’ve discovered new options in Android 17 QPR1 beta 1 (separate from the latest Android 17 beta 4) to change Terminal’s resolution. The newly added “Display resolution” setting specifically applies to the Terminal’s graphical user interface, which can run a breadth of low-power Linux apps or even games, including DOOM.

The new option is available under Settings > Advanced inside the Terminal app. Once tapped, it gives you three options to choose from:

• Full — using this could degrade the performance
• Half — this balances resource usage and visibility and is recommended for optimal performance
• Quarter — this ensures better performance, but at the expense of quality

The screenshots below show the differences between different resolution levels:

In addition to these changes, Terminal also gets a dedicated button to go full-screen, hiding the navigation bar and the status bar. The options from the toolbar are placed in a pill-shaped floating bar at the bottom of the screen.

Meanwhile, Terminal’s modern interface, as well as the option to limit memory usage, which Google recently started testing with Android Canary, is already available with Android 17 beta, confirming it for the stable Android 17 rollout.