Android, inside
your Android.
VineOS runs a second Android system in an isolated container on your phone, no PC, no dual boot. On the 64-bit-only chips most new phones ship with, a bundled QEMU user-mode layer keeps 32-bit apps working anyway.
One phone, two systems
A container-based guest, not full-machine emulation, sharing your host kernel the way Waydroid or Anbox do on desktop Linux.
Real isolation
Linux namespaces and cgroups wall the guest off from the host: its own PID tree, mounts, and (where the host allows it) resource limits.
32-bit that still works
Newer Snapdragons dropped AArch32 entirely. VineOS detects that and drops in a bundled qemu-arm user-mode layer so 32-bit guest apps keep running.
ROMs from anywhere
Pull a verified image from the ROM store, or import a .vrom file straight off your device, no network required.
Root today, less later
The engine runs in a small helper started with su or through Shizuku, because containers need CAP_SYS_ADMIN. A Shizuku started with root works fully. Started through Wireless Debugging it runs as the ADB shell user, and the built-in namespace test tells you what your phone allows.
Home screen shortcuts
Pin any app from an instance to your home screen. One tap starts the instance and opens the app as soon as the guest is up.
Storage without a 16 GB cap
Pick any disk size up to your free space. The guest disk is a sparse file, so it only takes the room the guest actually fills.
Fullscreen guest
The guest screen fills your whole phone, multi-touch included, and the on-screen navigation buttons stay hidden until you ask for them.
What "inside" actually means
Three layers, host kernel shared all the way down, nothing emulated that doesn't have to be.
Available images
Fetched live from the same manifest the app itself reads. Download links point straight at the .vrom file, the app will verify its hash after import.
Read before you build
Everything lives as plain markdown in its own repository, these link straight to the rendered GitLab view.
Get VineOS
Signed release builds are published on every tagged release.
Latest release ↗Join the Discord
Got a question, a bug to report, or a device you want to see supported? The official VineOS server is the quickest way to reach the developers and other users. Drop in, say hi, and share what you are running VineOS on.