Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon chips are compatible with Android's Linux Terminal app

Google’s Linux Terminal app for Android is a fantastic power-user tool that so far has been held back by its limited hardware support — but the good news is, that’s finally changing.

We first saw the Linux Terminal debut for Pixel phones running Google’s own Tensor chips, but the vast majority of popular smartphones on the market run Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips. So far, though, Snapdragon chips haven’t been compatible with the Terminal app. In order to use the software, devices needed to support the Android Virtualization Framework, as well as offer compatible virtual machines (VMs).

While that hasn’t included past Snapdragon chips, tipster Dylan H points our attention to a Google security announcement from last month that drops a tantalizing detail:

MediaTek recently announced support of the [protected KVM (pKVM)]-backed On-device AI seal on MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro, and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipsets will also support our architecture via AVF as we expand across the broader silicon ecosystem.

We knew that Googlebook laptops running Snapdragon X Elite chips had access to the Linux Terminal through this same sort of pKVM hypervisor, so it sounded possible here that we might see support arrive for Android phones running Qualcomm’s latest silicon, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6.

Sure enough, 9to5Google managed to confirm that the Linux Terminal app works on the new REDMAGIC 12 Pro, running an 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6.

We’ve got plenty more phones featuring these new chips on the way, like the HONOR Magic 9 Pro Max, to say nothing of all the upcoming 2027 launches that will no doubt be built around these Snapdragons. And that means that the number of Android users with access to the Linux Terminal app is set to positively take off.

Granted, it’s still a bit of an esoteric tool, and we imagine the vast majority of smartphone users won’t bat an eye at this news. But for those of you like us who have had this massive Snapdragon oversight on your radar for the  past year now, this is some fantastic news.