The Nintendo Switch Can Now Run Android 10, Unofficially

Thanks to the hard work of the SwitchRoot team, it's now possible to enjoy an Android 10-based LineageOS 17.1 port on your Nintendo Switch console. XDA Developers reports: The Android 10 release is based on the LineageOS 17.1 build for the NVIDIA SHIELD TV and brings many improvements over the previous release, including a much-needed deep sleep mode so the OS doesn't murder your console's battery life. It's also generally faster and more responsive than the previous Android 8.1 Oreo version, according to the SwitchRoot team.

The ROM comes in two flavors: a Tablet build that offers a standard Android UI with support for all apps and an Android TV build that supports both docked and undocked use cases but has more limited app support. The former is recommended if you primarily use your Nintendo Switch while undocked, while the latter will offer a much-better docked experience. As for bugs and broken things, the developer says games built for the SHIELD (Half-Life 2, Tomb Raider, etc.) aren't supported, and you might notice some stuttering with Bluetooth audio. Some apps also may not support the Joy-Con D-Pad.

In order to install this build, you'll need an RCM-exploitable Nintendo Switch, a USB-C cable, a high-speed microSD card (formatted to FAT32), and a PC. If you already have the Android 8.1 Oreo build installed on your SD card, just make sure to back up your data before installing the Android 10 build, as flashing this new ROM will wipe all data. After installing the ROM itself, be sure to flash the Google Apps package, Alarm Disable ZIP, and Xbox Joycon Layout ZIP if you use an Xbox controller. You can download LineageOS 17.1 for Nintendo Switch here.

But whyyyy

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeesh, of anything you could run.. why wouldn't you rather have games? You probably already have a phone or tablet or three.

Re:

[Cmdln Daco]

I remember a number of years ago that you could run a version of NetBSD on an early 68k Apple Powebook. It didn't support the frame buffer, though, so you could only run a shell session over a serial console.

Re:

[Pimpy]

That's because the serial console is, generally speaking, the easiest starting point for any new port, and gives you a way to obtain debug output while you try to bring up the rest. Typically the serial console is already initialized by firmware, so you don't need to have any specific knowledge of e.g. how to reprogram the baud rate generator, you just need to figure out where the TX and RX buffers are mapped in the address space and can inherit the initialization settings already applied by firmware. It on

Re:

[drinkypoo]

I used to run netbsd on my Macintosh IIci. It didn't support Apple's 8*24 GC, but I only had the 8*24 card (no GC, that is, no acceleration) so I got to have graphics.

Re:

[Vomitgod]

because you can?

why breath... or why take a shit.?

Re:

[ratbag]

since otherwise you die?

Whereas running Android on a Switch is a slow form of death

Re: But whyyyy

[Armonk]

I imagine the switch would be far more interesting if it ran an unjailed android 10 vs whatever locked down hell that nintendo gives it from birth

Re:

[Curtman]

This is not from Nintendo. It requires an unpatched original version of the switch or a newer one with a modchip which are increasingly difficult to find.

Re:

[ratbag]

Nope. If I wanted Android, I'm probably go for a phone. If I want to play excellent, stable, well-programmed games, I'll stick with the locked-down environment.

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[Curtman]

The locked down environment is pretty open these days too. There's even a homebrew kernel (mesosphere [github.com]) for the switch that works as well as well as the Nintendo one, and enables all sorts of nice debugging features. There's uLaunch [github.com], a homebrew alternate launcher. At this point you can upgrade to open source, and still play the games.

Re:

[BeerFartMoron]

why wouldn't you rather have games?

For some folks, this is the game.

Re:

[Curtman]

My 6 year old is thoroughly impressed that he can finally play Roblox on the switch. Having access to a web browser is handy too. Plex would be nice, but the audio was very choppy. Maybe some day. I can't see it being something gets used every day, but it's neat, and useful. Everything seems to mostly work.

Re:

[OrangeTide]

AOSP doesn't include additional proprietary software necessary to run on most devices. Replicant and Eelo are free software alternatives to Lineage and CM. But in terms of broad platform support it's tough to beat Lineage OS.

LineageOS is the most unsupported Android OS

[theadviceboat]

LineageOS is a terrible project. It doesnt support systems. Release and then, broken for all time to come after. I was surprised myself, after having run it for a few months. Devs dont respond, fixes remain broken. Unless you buy the newest toys for devs to play with. You'll be broken in a few months. Be warned all you early adopters. This project is subject to hype.

Re:

[OrangeTide]

Platform support works as well the size of the community around it. If people aren't contributing and updating and fixing bugs, then a port bit rots and becomes nothing more than a curiosity for those willing to toy around with such things.

It would not be complicated to fully support platforms. All I'd need is some money for staff from a paying customer base. I'm not sure if people would pay $10/mo (or whatever it might take) to run Android on an old phone or Switch. So you get these volunteer-based project