this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2025
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Steam Deck

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How to Install Waydroid on Steam Deck: Full Guide (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 6 days ago by shaytan@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/steamdeck@sopuli.xyz
17 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/38020983

Before We Begin
Hello deck-ers, this guide walks you through installing Waydroid, a tool to run Android apps on your Steam Deck. Links are included below for troubleshooting and updates. Enjoy ;)

Step 1: Set Up a Password

Your Steam Deck’s terminal (Konsole) will ask for a password during installation. If you haven’t set one yet:

  1. Switch to Desktop Mode and open the Konsole app (found in the taskbar or applications menu).
  2. Type passwd and press Enter.
  3. Create a password. For simplicity, a 4-digit code like 9876 works, but use something stronger if security matters to you, (as it should).
    • Note: The password won’t show as you type, this is not a bug.
    • Re-enter the password when prompted to confirm.

Why? This password grants temporary "sudo" access to install software.

Step 2: Install Waydroid

Prerequisite: Ensure your Steam Deck is connected to the internet.

  1. Open Konsole (still in Desktop Mode).

  2. Copy and paste these commands one by one, waiting for each to finish:

    Command 1 – Download the Installer:

    cd ~/ && git clone https://github.com/ryanrudolfoba/steamos-waydroid-installer

    This downloads the necessary files to your home folder.

    Command 2 – Run the Installer:

    cd ~/steamos-waydroid-installer && chmod +x steamos-waydroid-installer.sh && ./steamos-waydroid-installer.sh

    This makes the script executable and starts the installation.

  3. Wait for the magic to happen!

    • The installer sets up Waydroid and applies custom configurations.
    • Installation takes ~5 minutes (varies with internet speed).
    • When finished, close Konsole and return to Game Mode.

Step 3: Launch Waydroid

  1. In Game Mode, navigate to your Library > Non-Steam Games.
  2. Find and launch the script named Android_Waydroid_Cage.sh.
  3. Waydroid will boot, give it a moment to initialize.

Need to Uninstall?

  1. Back in Desktop Mode, open Konsole.
  2. Paste these commands: 
    cd ~/Android_Waydroid && ./uninstall.sh
    This removes Waydroid and its files.

Troubleshooting & Tips

  • Issues? Check the official GitHub for known bugs, compatibility notes, and updates.
  • Keyboard/Mouse Not Working? Some users report needing a Bluetooth or USB input device for setup.
  • Performance: Close background apps in Desktop Mode and try again, otherwise I recommend checking opened issues over on github.

Enjoy your Android apps on Steam Deck! 🎮
Credits to ryanrudolfoba and the Waydroid contributors, cool guys!

Last tip: If this is your thing, check the AndroidTV installation option for a cool docked experience !!!

top 17 comments
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[–] cRazi_man@lemm.ee 11 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I read these conversations. I have no idea what's going on. I'm glad there are people who understand who are working on things. I tell myself I can still use Linux as a commoner and this back-end doesn't really matter for me. I still don't understand what the hell is going on with Wayland or X11 or systemd or Snap or BTRFS/ext4 or any of this stuff that people feel strongly about. I'll just keep my head down. My OpenSUSE PC and Steam Deck seem to be working (without doing the undergraduate degree amount of wiki reading that people say I need).

[–] shaytan@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I just lend my steam deck to my girlfriend and she games around, your aproach is 100% valid

Valve released a console, and you can use it as you wish, if you want help with installing wayland let me know, or you can search for any other tutorial online

Have fun gaming :)

[–] cRazi_man@lemm.ee 5 points 4 days ago

Thank you satan

[–] kn0wmad1c@programming.dev 6 points 5 days ago (5 children)

I'm curious why you'd want to run android apps on steam deck. What apps bring functionality that you don't normally have access to on SteamOS?

[–] Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Biggest reason may be bypassing anticheat. Some games (like roblox for example) have anticheat that doesn't work on linux, but you can run the android version. As long as the android version supports controllers it can be a decent enough deck experience.

[–] LiveLM@lemmy.zip 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Does this really work? On popular games?
I was fully expecting them all to have integrated the bastard Play Integrity API, they even specifically detect virtual devices with the "MEETS_VIRTUAL_INTEGRITY" verdict

[–] Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz 2 points 4 days ago

It may depend on the specific game, but I know people are specifically using the android version to run Roblox through a tool called sober.

[–] ArsonButCute@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 5 days ago

Minecraft bedrock is only accessible on Linux through waydroid or other android emulators.

There's a few other games in the mobile markets that are decent, I'm sure.

[–] shaytan@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 5 days ago

For me it usually comes to:

  • Android TV to dock the steam deck on my living room and use it as such
  • Some very specific games, like PvZ2, or roblox
  • Specific apps like "Stremio", have a better touch screen experience under Waydroid compared to their flatpack version
[–] geoff@lemm.ee 2 points 5 days ago

Probably to run Minecraft, I’m guessing.

[–] warmaster@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Would this work on Bazzite ?

[–] shaytan@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 5 days ago

Waydroid in this tutorial is running in a "cage" so it can run under X11 which is an older system used by the current KDE version in the steamdeck.

To install it on bazzite (under Wayland instead of X11), it's even simpler.

   rpm-ostree install waydroid

and

   sudo dnf install waydroid

So if you are ussing bazzite, follow first option here

[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 3 points 5 days ago (2 children)

How does this work? SteamOS uses X11, and Waydroid requires Wayland. Xwayland translates X11 calls to Wayland, but I'm not aware of any Wayland to X11 compatibility projects.

[–] Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz 6 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

SteamOS in game mode runs on wayland actually, because it's using gamescope which is a wayland compositor. My understanding is a lot of applications are still running as x11 and then using xwayland to run on gamescope though. I don't know if that can be manually bypassed to run directly on wayland or not.

Desktop mode is always using x11 though.

[–] shaytan@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

You are right

But in this case, the "steamos-waydroid-installer" creates a cage ( A wayland compositor running X11), and uses XWayland to render that. That creates a nested Wayland environment, with some overhead, but it works :))

Edit: The good thing is, overhead isnt nearly even a problem, since you're probably not getting the steamdeck to suffer under android emulation. Still, I believe and hope next big SteamOS update will switch to Wayland, leaving X11 behind

[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 2 points 5 days ago

Still, I believe and hope next big SteamOS update will switch to Wayland, leaving X11 behind

Same! This would be amazing, and hopefully their teamwork with Arch will see that happen sooner than later. I noticed that they fixed some CVEs in this latest stable update, so perhaps we'll see more!