Save the date! Android Dev Summit is coming to Mountain View, CA on November 7-8, 2018.

Preview Android Studio on Chromebooks

With Linux on Chromebooks, developers can use top tools, editors, and Android Studio while still getting the speed, simplicity, and security of Chrome OS. Keep reading to learn how you can access the preview today.

Studio on Chrome OS

Install Linux

Follow these steps to install Linux.

Switch to the developer channel

To switch to developer channel:

  1. Go to chrome://chrome > Detailed build information > Change Channel and select Developer - unstable.
  2. Click the back arrow and select Check for updates.
  3. If there are updates, wait for them to finish downloading and click the button to restart Chrome to apply the updates.

Enable Linux

To set up Linux on a Chromebook, go to Settings and find the Linux (Beta) section. Choose the option to turn on Linux and follow the setup prompts.

Enable Linux

This initiates a background job that downloads a secure virtual machine image and a Debian container. The download can take up to ten minutes depending on your Wi-Fi connection. When Linux starts, a terminal window opens. From the terminal, you can run commands, install more tools using the APT package manager, and customize your shell.

The Launcher contains an icon for the terminal window so you can open the terminal later.

Terminal icon

Enable Crostini files

There is a flag in chrome://flags called Crostini Files - Enable Crostini Files in Files app. Enable this flag.

Install Android Studio (Preview)

Follow these steps to install a preview Android Studio for Chromebooks.

  1. Run apt-get to install the unzip utility if necessary.
  2. Visit the Android Studio download page and download the Linux version of Android Studio.
  3. Copy android-studio.zip into the SFTP mount using the Files app.

  4. Run the following commands in the terminal:

    $ sudo apt-get install unzip
$ unzip <Android Studio>.zip
$ ./android-studio/bin/studio.sh

See the full instructions for more information about installing Android Studio under Linux.

Running apps

You can test your Android apps by running them locally on your Chrome device, or push them to another Android device.

Running locally

If your device is in developer mode, you can run apps locally on your Chromebook. Use Android settings to enable adb debugging. Then open the terminal and connect to the local Android runtime:

$ adb connect 100.115.92.2:5555

Running on another device

You can also use adb to push an app to a device over Wi-Fi. Support for pushing apps to USB-attached devices is coming later this year.

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