🥖 Out now on Google Play

Real Linux.
Real desktop.
in your pocket

Breadstick turns Samsung DeX and Android's desktop mode into a full Debian desktop where every Linux app gets its own window. No root, no emulators. Just a real computer, wherever you go.

Get it on Google Play See what it does
✓ No root✓ Real Debian + apt✓ Freeform windows
Terminal
you@breadstick:~$ sudo apt install code
Unpacking code… done 🥖
you@breadstick:~$ ▍
Editor
Files
💻 VS Code🦊 Firefox🐍 Python🎨 GIMP⬢ Node.js🦀 Rust🗄️ MariaDB📝 LibreOffice🔧 Git & build tools🖥️ Terminals
Why Breadstick

Not a remote desktop.
A real one.

Other tools squash Linux into one scrolling screen. Breadstick gives every app its own window, and a system you actually own.

Native freeform windows

Every Linux app is its own desktop window. Move it, resize it, snap it, alt-tab to it. Just like a native app.

No root, no risk

Runs fully unprivileged in a container. Nothing to unlock, no warranty to void, your Android stays untouched.

A real Debian system

Actual apt. Install your editor, your browser, your whole toolchain. It's Linux, not a locked-down toy.

Deep host integration

Shared clipboard, files, audio, and live device status, battery and network included, bridged straight into Linux.

One-tap app packs

VS Code, Firefox, LibreOffice and more. Curated bundles install with one tap, so a full dev machine is minutes away.

Always fresh

Your system updates itself from the Breadstick repository. New features arrive without ever reinstalling.

How it works

Phone to workstation,
in three steps.

01

Install the app

One install from Google Play. No PC, no adb, no flashing, no bootloader to unlock, and nothing to undo later.

02

Unpack Linux

On first launch it sets up a complete Debian environment, ready to go in minutes.

03

Open your apps

Linux apps run as real, movable windows on the phone or tablet itself. Dock to an external display with DeX or Android desktop mode and you get the full workstation.

Screenshots

Not a mockup.
A tablet.

Every image below is a real screen capture from a Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra running Breadstick. Nothing is streamed from a server and nothing is staged.

The Google Play Store beside Chrome, System Monitor and a terminal from Linux, all as windows on one Android home screen
The Play Store is an Android app. Chrome, System Monitor and the terminal are Linux. Same screen, same task switcher, same window controls.
The Breadstick Linux desktop with VS Code, a file manager and a terminal open
Desktop mode. VS Code, the file manager and a terminal, running on the tablet's own processor.
VS Code running as a native Android freeform window
Floating mode. VS Code is an Android window, with an Android title bar and a place in the task switcher.
The System Monitor application floating beside the Apps drawer
The Apps drawer, and Breadstick's System Monitor showing what the Linux side is actually using.
The Breadstick desktop launcher showing installed Linux applications
The launcher, with everything installed on the Linux side.
The Recommended apps screen listing app bundles with download sizes
One tap installs a bundle from Debian's or the vendor's own repository. Sizes are shown up front.

Read the documentation

What it runs on

It runs on a lot.
It runs best on some.

Breadstick is a real Debian system executing on your device's own processor, so what your device has is what Linux gets. None of the following is a requirement, but knowing it up front is the difference between a good first hour and a disappointing one.

01

Memory decides the ceiling

This is the single biggest factor. A current flagship tablet with 12 GB or more of RAM will run a desktop, a browser and an editor together comfortably. A budget device, or a tablet a few years old with 4 GB, will run Breadstick perfectly well for a terminal, an editor or a couple of applications, but it will not hold a heavy desktop session at the same time. Storage matters too: a full desktop with development tools wants several gigabytes free.

02

A keyboard is worth having

Not required, and the on-screen keyboard works throughout. But Linux desktop software is built around typing and keyboard shortcuts, and a physical keyboard, whether Bluetooth, USB or a folio, is the difference between using these applications and fighting them. A mouse or trackpad helps for the same reason.

03

DeX helps, but is not the price of entry

Samsung DeX or an Android desktop mode gives you the best experience, particularly for Floating apps, where each Linux application becomes its own resizable window alongside your Android ones. Without one, Desktop mode and the Terminal work exactly as they should on any supported device, filling the screen instead. A desktop-capable device is a better experience, not a requirement.

Pricing

Free to use.
Pro when you outgrow it.

Install it free and see how it runs on your own device before spending anything. The free version is the whole distribution rather than a trial, and everything that decides whether Breadstick suits you, the desktop, apt, your files and the terminal, is already in it. Pro is one payment that lifts the limits and adds the features listed, with no subscription and no second tier.

Free

$0

Everything below, forever. No account, no expiry.

  • The complete Debian system, with apt
  • Desktop mode, with as many windows as you like
  • Two floating Linux apps at a time
  • Two terminal tabs
  • One Linux environment
  • Your files, clipboard, audio, battery and network
  • SSH and VNC
  • Backup and repair, and restoring any backup, encrypted ones too
  • A live resource monitor
  • App packs, and your own .deb and AppImage files

Breadstick Pro

$19.99 once

Everything in Free, plus the following. One payment, no subscription.

  • Layouts: windows reopen where you left them, and a saved set of apps opens in one tap
  • Open Android files in Linux apps
  • Drag files into Linux
  • Print from Linux apps
  • Desks: up to four desktops in Desktop mode
  • Keyboard remapping and shortcuts
  • Home-screen widgets
  • Floating apps without a cap, as many as your device allows
  • A better Terminal: unlimited tabs, split panes, themes and fonts, saved SSH hosts and your own command buttons
  • GPU acceleration: Linux apps drawing with your device's graphics chip
  • x86 apps in one tap, on ARM devices
  • Steam on Intel devices, experimental and not supported
  • Several Linux environments
  • Automatic and encrypted backups
  • Snapshots
  • Camera on the Linux desktop
  • Your calendar in Linux
  • Phone notifications in Linux
  • Everything Breadstick adds later

Pro removes Breadstick's own limit. Your device still applies its own: Samsung DeX allows about five floating windows at once, whatever is running in them.
Bought through Google Play and tied to your account, so a reinstall or a new device keeps it. Full comparison

Questions

Good to know.

Which devices does it work on?+
Samsung devices with DeX, plus Android phones that support desktop mode (Android 15+), and Googlebooks, ARM and Intel alike, where Android's desktop windowing gives every Linux app its own window. Breadstick needs Android 8 or newer on an ARM64 or x86-64 processor, and installs a Debian 13 built for that processor. Pair with a monitor or a desktop-capable display and you're set.
Using a Pixel or another AOSP phone?+
On Samsung DeX the floating-window mode works out of the box. On Pixel and other stock-Android (AOSP) devices, freeform windows are off by default. Enable them once in Settings → Developer options by turning on “Enable freeform windows” (and, on some builds, “Force activities to be resizable”), then restart Breadstick. Full-screen Desktop mode and the Terminal work without this. Breadstick detects the setting and will point you to it if needed.
Do I need to root my phone?+
Nope! Breadstick runs entirely unprivileged in a container. There's nothing to unlock and nothing that touches your Android system.
Will it affect Samsung Knox or Google SafetyNet?+

No. Both exist to detect a device that has been tampered with, and Breadstick does nothing that either of them looks for. Installing it does not change what your banking apps, mobile wallets or work apps see when they check your device.

Samsung Knox is the security platform built into Galaxy devices, starting in the hardware. Part of it is a one-time fuse, the Knox warranty bit, which trips permanently if the device ever boots unofficial software such as a custom recovery, custom firmware or a rooted system. It can never be reset, and once it trips, Samsung Wallet, Secure Folder and Samsung's Knox-based work features stop working for good.

Google SafetyNet, since replaced by the Play Integrity API, is how an app asks Google whether it is running on a genuine, unmodified Android device. Banking apps, Google Wallet payments and many employer-managed apps and VPNs refuse to run on a device that fails that check.

Breadstick is an ordinary app from Google Play, running inside the same Android app sandbox as every other app. It does not root your device, unlock the bootloader, install firmware or change Android in any way, and none of that is possible for an app with normal Android permissions anyway. The whole Linux system lives inside Breadstick's own private storage. Being root inside Linux, or using sudo, gives Linux programs no power over Android at all. There is nothing for Knox to trip on and nothing for an integrity check to fail, and uninstalling Breadstick removes the Linux system completely.

One thing worth knowing: a few banking apps also refuse to open while Developer options is turned on. That is the bank's own rule, separate from Knox and SafetyNet. Breadstick does not need Developer options on Samsung DeX. On other devices, floating windows need one setting there.

How is this different from Termux?+
Termux is excellent, and the two overlap: both give you a real package manager and a shell, without root. The difference is what happens after the shell. Breadstick runs a stock Debian system, so the packages are Debian’s own, and it draws every Linux application as its own window beside your Android apps, with sound, the clipboard, your files, notifications and the camera bridged across. Termux can reach a graphical desktop too, but you assemble it yourself from an X server app and extra packages; here it is a couple of taps, and the desktop is set up and kept up to date for you. If you live in a terminal, Termux is lighter. If you want VS Code, Chrome or GIMP in a window on DeX, that is what Breadstick is for. The app catalog lists the Linux terminal and developer tools from Debian 13 as well as the apps, with the ones tested on a device marked.
Is it really full Debian?+
Yes, a Debian-based system with real apt. Install, update, and remove software exactly as you would on any Linux machine.
Will it slow down or harm my phone?+
It runs in an isolated, unprivileged container. Your Android stays untouched, and you can stop it anytime. Performance scales with your device.
The Linux desktop closed by itself. Why?+
Usually not memory, even though the message says so. Android limits how many processes one app may run, on most devices 32, and a Linux desktop is made of processes: the window manager, the panel, the sound server and every app you open. A browser alone can use a dozen, so opening one is what normally tips a session over, and Android then closes the whole session rather than a single app. Breadstick 1.0.2 starts fewer background services and sets the browser to share processes between tabs, which keeps a normal session inside the limit, so update first. Breadstick warns you as the count gets close, and its resource monitor shows it live. If you want the limit gone entirely there is a one-time ADB command, with its trade-offs explained, in the troubleshooting guide.
What are the limits?+
Running with no root is what makes Breadstick safe to install, and it is also where the limits come from. There is no VPN inside Linux, no access to USB devices including hardware security keys, and no block-level access to drives, so encrypted volumes will not open. Nested virtualization is out, which rules out Docker, QEMU and VirtualBox. Graphics are drawn in software unless GPU acceleration (Pro) is on, and even then web browsers stay on the processor, and on ARM devices programs that need OpenGL 3 or newer cannot use the graphics chip. There is a full, honest list in the documentation, worth reading before you plan a workflow around it.
Can I use a VPN?+
Not inside Linux. VPN clients need a TUN network device, which an unprivileged app cannot create. Run the VPN on Android instead: it applies to the whole device, and Breadstick's traffic goes out through the same network stack, so your Linux apps are covered too.
What about USB devices and security keys?+
Android does not expose the raw USB bus to unprivileged apps, so Linux applications cannot see USB hardware. That includes YubiKeys and other FIDO2 security keys, serial adapters, USB printers and scanners, and audio interfaces. USB storage is different: if Android mounts the drive and you have granted file access, the files appear as a normal folder. What you do not get is the drive itself, so encrypted volumes, partitioning tools and disk images will not work.
Can it run x86 or Windows software?+

x86 Linux programs, yes on an Intel device and sometimes on ARM. Windows programs, no. Breadstick installs a Debian 13 built for your device's processor, so everything runs natively. On an Intel Googlebook or another x86-64 device, that means 64-bit x86 Linux programs simply run, and with Pro, Steam is there for native Linux games, as an experiment that is not supported.

On an ARM device, almost all of Debian is built for ARM64, so this rarely comes up. When it does, the x86 apps pack, one tap with Pro, installs Box64, which runs 64-bit x86 Linux programs you start through it (box64 ./program): some work, some do not, and all run slower than native ones and without GPU acceleration.

Windows programs do not run on either: Android's security rules stop Wine from starting, and the same goes for Steam's Windows games. See x86 apps.

How much does it cost?+
Free to download and use, and the free version is the whole distribution rather than a trial: all of Debian, apt, and Desktop mode with as many windows as you like. It runs two floating Linux apps and two terminal tabs at a time. A one-time $19.99 Breadstick Pro upgrade lifts those limits and adds features such as Layouts, printing from Linux apps, automatic and encrypted backups, and camera, notification and calendar access inside Linux. Restoring a backup is always free. Note that your device has its own cap on floating windows, around five on Samsung DeX, which no app can raise. No subscriptions, ever. See the full comparison.
Where do I get it?+
It is on Google Play: install Breadstick. It is free to download and use, and we would rather you started there. Devices vary enormously, so the honest way to find out whether Breadstick works for you is to run it on your own hardware before buying anything. 🥖
Why is it called Breadstick?+
Blame Chromebooks and my Passion for ChromeOS. The ways to run Linux on one keep getting named after bread: Crouton, Crostini, Bruschetta, and now Baguette. Apparently the people who build Linux environments are simply hungry. Breadstick borrows the best idea from that bakery, every Linux app in its own real window, and brings it to Android, so it clearly needed a bread name too. A breadstick felt right: long, thin, and it fits in your pocket. We checked the rest of the bakery for something better and came back with crumbs. 🥖
🥖
Out now on Google Play
Fresh out of the oven.

Breadstick is on Google Play and free to install. Try it on your own device, see how it runs, and upgrade to Pro only if you decide it has earned a place there.

Get it on Google PlayRead the docs