dotnetdreamer/open-android-dex

What it does

Open Android DeX gives an Android phone a desktop interface: a taskbar, an app drawer, draggable and resizable windows, and phone notifications with reply and call-answer controls. It works in three modes: a Tauri-based PC app for Windows, macOS and Linux; a standalone launcher on the phone; and a Web viewer that displays the desktop in a browser tab. It also bundles Ubuntu 24.04 with XFCE, Docker and remote SSH access without root.

The phone side includes a launcher, a window daemon, Linux provisioning scripts, a Docker/QEMU layer and a remote-access daemon. The PC app uses Android USB or wireless debugging to connect, so no root or Shizuku is required (README overview).

Quick start

For the PC route:

1. Download the build for your platform from the latest release: Windows installer or portable zip, a macOS DMG for Intel or Apple Silicon, or a .deb, .rpm or AppImage for Linux.
2. Enable USB debugging on the phone: Settings → About phone → tap Build number seven times → Developer options → USB debugging.
3. Connect the phone by USB and tap Allow when prompted. The desktop should open, and the PC app installs the phone-side launcher.

For the phone-only route, download OpenAndroidDeX-Launcher-v<version>.apk from the same release page, allow install from unknown sources if Android asks, and open the app. Allow Display over other apps if you want the dock visible over other apps. The LinuxOnDroid-v<version>.apk variant installs only the Ubuntu environment and needs about 3 GB free.

Build from source

Building requires Node 20+, Rust stable, JDK 17+, and the Android SDK with platforms android-35 and android-36; Windows also needs VS Build Tools with the C++ workload. The documented entry point is npm run tauri dev inside open-android-dex-tauri, which rebuilds and deploys both phone-side payloads. A fresh clone needs scrcpy unpacked into src-tauri/resources/bin/ for local bundling (developer build notes).

Constraints

• The PC app requires Android 8.0 or newer; Windows 10/11, macOS (Intel or Apple Silicon) or a 64-bit Linux desktop.
• Standalone external-monitor use depends on the phone's own desktop mode and video output; resizable windows may not be available on all phones. Custom title bars need the PC app and Android 14 or newer.
• Notifications require Android notification access; the touchpad needs the accessibility service; the Web viewer requests screen-sharing permission. The README states notifications are read and drawn on the phone and not sent elsewhere, but this is the project's own claim.
• Ubuntu setup can be interrupted by aggressive battery management on Xiaomi, Samsung and Huawei devices; battery optimization should be disabled for the app first.
• macOS builds are not notarized and require a quarantine-removal command before first launch.
• GPL-3.0 or later; bundled third-party components (scrcpy, adb, QEMU, proot, FFmpeg) carry their own licenses.

HotRepo's take

The project appeared on HotRepo's Java daily list on 2026-11-04 with 268 stars, 15 forks and 6 stars gained that day, ranked 15th in the Java list; no all-language daily rank is recorded. That is a single snapshot, so it supports noting a small Java-list appearance rather than describing a trend. The meaningful observation is scope: the README documents a multi-component stack (Tauri PC app, Android launcher, Linux runtime, Docker, remote access) rather than a thin screen-mirroring wrapper, with source directories named for each component.