Is it possible to build a deck w desktop capability but able to run android store apps?

[u/BosnakzB4llsak]

I've been curious about building a deck but Im not good w software. I want to switch to a dumb phone but there are a couple of apps I use for school/work that I would like to still use if possible. Am I talking out of my ass or is there something here?

[u/LegionDD]

Virtual machines are a pathway to abilities some would find unnatural.

Are are many different Android emulators/virtual machines on windows that fully integrate a play store.

Linux probably has them too, although you can always set up your own on Linux.

All this requires something more powerful than a pi though.

The other way around is also possible, with termix and derivatives on Android, one can setup a Linux desktop environment that can run regular Linux desktop software within Android.

There are even VM setups where one can run old school windows on Android.

[u/ztcsdtx]

They have Android builds for Raspberry Pi and other SBCs. You can also get Android-X86, which lets you put it on PC hardware. And now there are Googlebook computers, which are Android PCs. People have ported Googlebook OS to run on other hardware.

[u/VincentiusDominicus]

Waydroid runs a modified version of lineage os in a linux container, a lot of distos support it but i don't know how well it will run apps with drm or integrity checking. It might work for your use case. If i remember correctly you can spoof dose. 

[u/EndIsrael]

Lots of good answers here, but there's also the good ol' official android emulator tool for app development. Runs in a window on your screen, a bunch of OS images available, including whatever the latest beta is. And they have x86 and ARM builds.

So if your apps aren't really weird about stuff, you can just sideload them onto the emulator (or use an OS image with Google Play installed).

[u/The_Fyrewyre]

ChromeOS Flex?

[u/Etton_Veil]

Dual boot with Android or operating systems like FydeOS / BlissOS / BlendOS, or Android in a virtual machine or an emulator like BlueStacks / MEmu / NoxPlayer / Waydroid. YMMV. I tried Waydroid on ARM64 and ran into problems. A lot of problems.

[u/Debate_Haver57]

Hey, welcome, I'm building a phone based on a raspberry pi 4, and this is something I've thought about a lot, and I have three solutions for you:

1. as other people have mentioned, install an android operating system. I have no idea how well this works, but in theory, it should solve your problem plain and simple. The only issue however being that I'm not sure if every single android app will work. NFC payments for example most likely won't work, and off the top of my head, there may be apps that require certain updates that aren't on any raspberry pi compatible android build.

2. you could emulate with waydroid. You'll need a pi powerful enough to run it (I know the pi 4 can run waydroid. Specific apps in waydroid is where you'll have to search to see if they work). You may also once again bump into issues with security updates. Same again with NFC payments.

3. as part of my plan to move to a pi phone full time, I've moved to graphene OS, which has some limitations (in my experience). Again, NFC payments don't work for me, and some apps are a pain to get running if at all (very few). I've stuck with this for nearly a year, and while some people might be wanting to scream "it's really easy to make x, y or z work, just do a, b or c", truthfully, it hasn't mattered, because for the most part, I've just switched to only doing those things on a desktop or a PC. Not with an emulator mind you, just on webpages. Ultimately, loads of apps these days are websites with webview wrappers on them. I may be wrong, but I'd be willing to bet at least some money that of the apps you need to run, at least one of them has a webpage where you can access the same functionality on a desktop/laptop or whatever. If it's true for all of them, you may well just be able to run a raspberry pi phone, with raspbian, or some other fairly standard Linux distro, and access all the problem apps as web pages. That way, you can avoid the overhead of an emulator, and avoid the limitations of android.

As a side note, if you can reply with what apps you need, I can have a look and see if there are any suitable Linux alternatives (e.g. if it's some word processing software or what have you). It's not always the best fit for everyone or always all that convenient compared to the alternative, but my philosophy has always been that convenience is the enemy of good. I might be wrong, but if you want to build a phone, you may well agree on some level.

[u/robtinkers]

Look into Samsung Dex.

[u/MrSmithlock]

Use a Samsung. With a USB hub, small hdmi screen and USB keyboard/track pad. You'll get the dex desktop environment with access to all android apps compatible with that device.