This actually began as a search for whether I could install Ubuntu on my phone. Turns out there are some ways. There's even the Pine Phone. These would actually be a much better option than our current phones that contain bloatware and are gleefully invading our privacy.
Then I wondered, if Ubuntu could be installed on a phone, could Android OS be installed on a PC? Recently, WhatsApp had notified my uncle that it would no longer run on his old iPhone, and in the effort to help him find a solution, I found ways to install Android on PC or Mac.
CAUTION: Before using any emulator or app, please read all license terms and check if what you are doing is permitted as per the EULA of the software.
Trying WhatsApp on BlueStacks
If you try BlueStacks (which I've written about earlier too) to install WhatsApp, you can do it as listed below (but make sure you check the license agreement to see if it's ok to do so):
- Download the WhatsApp apk file for Android.
- Install BlueStacks5 and select the APK button on the right side menu and select the apk file you just downloaded.
- Follow instructions on the screen to install WhatsApp.
- Enter your phone number and you'll receive an SMS to confirm it. Once you verify it, you can add new contacts and start sending and receiving messages in WhatsApp.
Note that in this whole process, it isn't necessary to install WhatsApp on the phone. Whether using BlueStacks is safe or not (in terms of privacy and security), I don't know though. So I'd typically consider using it from within a sandbox or virtual box (again, it's necessary to check the license agreements to see if it's ok to do so).
Other Android options
You can also download ISO files and install Android on your computer just like how you'd install Ubuntu or any other operating system. This would possibly mean that it could be installed via Virtual Box too (I'll be trying this out in a while).
While there are various options, I'll probably also try one or more of: PrimeOS, Android x-86, Bliss OS or LineageOS.
If you are a big fan of Android games, and while playing on your mobile phone you see yourself being defeated easily, there's a good chance the other players are either playing the game from their PC, using one of these operating systems or they would've connected a keyboard and mouse to their phone.
ps: Framework laptop even brings us modular laptops that we can repair ourselves. Not yet available in India though.
2 comments:
I believe that we are left with Phoenix OS and a Chrome OS like FydeOS which has Android support, as PrimeOS is trash and Androidx86 has stopped giving new versions.
I see. It's hard to understand what you mean by "trash". Does it work too slow or does it not run certain apps or does it have too many unresolved bugs? I'm yet to try those out. Glad to hear your opinion. More importantly, it's good to know that you've already tried them.
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