Waydroid support on FP4

Pingu

Hi, is it possible to install Waydroid on FP4? Will Firefox work? I do know the workaround of how to install waydroid on unsupported devices, but I did not try it yet. I don't want to brick my phone. On an oneplus nord n10 5g waydroid works fine with that workaround.

Is waydroid safe to install on FP4? Thanks for answers.

kugiigi

@Pingu Yes, you can use the Waydroid Helper app for convenience. Just note that Waydroid drains the battery a lot when running.

Pingu

@kugiigi Are you sure? In open store waydroid helper app seems only to support Fairphone 3/3+, as mentioned in the discription. Would be nice and easy if that would work, including hiding apps.

stanwood

@Pingu So I think you should be able to unroll the whole list.
I just copy-paste below the device list supported by WayDroid Helper....from WayDroid Helper on the OpenStore.

I guess one could add the Redmi Note 9S as it works also on it.

As for the Fairphone 4, its seems WayDroid also works according to the Telegram community user group (Ubuntu Touch on Fairphone 4)

Sources:

https://open-store.io/app/waydroidhelper.aaronhafer
https://t.me/ut_on_fp4

The following devices are supported:

Fairephone 3/3+
MI A2 (No WiFi if used with Google Apps)
Pixel / Pixel XL
Pixel 2 XL
Pixel 3a
Poco F1
Redmi Note 7
Redmi Note 7 Pro
Redmi Note 9 Pro
Redmi Note 9 Pro Max
SHIFT6mq
Vollaphone
VollaX

Partial functionality:

Pinephone (Unstable due to the immature porting of the device).
Pixel 3a XL (Video playback doesn't work on WayDroid)
Redmi 9 (No external storage)

Pingu

@kugiigi if it is not running it doesn't effect the battery drain? So no difference if waydroid is installed or not?

stanwood

@Pingu To be honnest, yes it does....as long as WayDroid container is running.
But you can stop the container at any time. Also, WayDroid does not start automatically on boot.
When you launch the first Android App, it launches the LineageOS container.

Schlicki2808

@Pingu I'm using Waydroid on FP4 without any problems. Yes, it drains batteriy faster but if you need specific apps on Android, you can use it.

Pingu

@Schlicki2808 does Waydroid helper app work, including hiding aps. Or does just Waydroid itself work - good enough

kugiigi

@Pingu Waydroid is now in the system by default. The helper app does is just initiate it and setup the image. It doesn't mess with the system anymore so it's safe to just try it on any device. And yes, hiding app also work.
There's also an app in the store that can freeze Waydroid when you're not using it and stop the battery drain.

Schlicki2808

@Pingu Both. I've installed Waydroid with Waydroid Helper App without any issues.

Pingu

@Schlicki2808 thanks a lot, I will give it a try.

gandalf

My daily driver is a FP4 with waydroid actively running at all times. This works but comes with a few caveats:

with light phone usage overall I get ~10-12hrs battery life
battery life varies drastically between any waydroid update, +- a few hours
when locking the screen make sure any other app is in the foreground (e.g. the calendar). Not sure what's going on exactly but keeping waydroid active in the foreground costs a lot more battery life

Pingu

@gandalf and at all, thanks for your informations and tips. I am using it now and works fine. I just need firefox sometimes, so battery drain is no problem for me.