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Android apps on Debian

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  Android apps on Debian John Hasler <john@sugarbit.com> - 2022-01-29 19:40 +0100
    Re: Android apps on Debian didier gaumet <didier.gaumet@gmail.com> - 2022-01-29 20:00 +0100
      Re: Android apps on Debian John Hasler <john@sugarbit.com> - 2022-01-29 20:20 +0100
        Re: Android apps on Debian Alexis Grigoriou <alexis@nanoid.net> - 2022-01-29 20:40 +0100
        Re: Android apps on Debian local10 <local10@tutanota.com> - 2022-01-29 21:10 +0100
          Re: Android apps on Debian John Hasler <john@sugarbit.com> - 2022-01-29 21:40 +0100
            Re: Android apps on Debian Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2022-01-29 22:30 +0100
            Re: Android apps on Debian local10 <local10@tutanota.com> - 2022-01-29 22:40 +0100
              Re: Android apps on Debian John Hasler <john@sugarbit.com> - 2022-01-29 23:30 +0100
                Re: Android apps on Debian Curt <curty@free.fr> - 2022-01-30 09:50 +0100
            Re: Android apps on Debian local10 <local10@tutanota.com> - 2022-01-29 23:00 +0100
            Re: Android apps on Debian Bijan Soleymani <bijan@psq.com> - 2022-01-29 23:30 +0100
              Re: Android apps on Debian John Hasler <john@sugarbit.com> - 2022-01-29 23:40 +0100
                Re: Android apps on Debian Bijan Soleymani <bijan@psq.com> - 2022-01-30 00:00 +0100
                  Re: Android apps on Debian Bijan Soleymani <bijan@psq.com> - 2022-01-30 00:10 +0100
              Re: Android apps on Debian Bijan Soleymani <bijan@psq.com> - 2022-01-29 23:40 +0100
                Re: Android apps on Debian John Hasler <john@sugarbit.com> - 2022-01-30 00:40 +0100
                Re: Android apps on Debian Ash Joubert <ash@transient.nz> - 2022-01-30 00:50 +0100
    Re: Android apps on Debian local10 <local10@tutanota.com> - 2022-01-29 20:00 +0100
    Re: Android apps on Debian Bijan Soleymani <bijan@psq.com> - 2022-01-30 00:20 +0100
      Re: Android apps on Debian John Hasler <john@sugarbit.com> - 2022-01-30 01:00 +0100
    Re: Android apps on Debian Bijan Soleymani <bijan@psq.com> - 2022-01-31 03:10 +0100
      Re: Android apps on Debian John Hasler <john@sugarbit.com> - 2022-01-31 04:00 +0100
        Re: Android apps on Debian Bijan Soleymani <bijan@psq.com> - 2022-01-31 04:10 +0100
        Re: Android apps on Debian Bijan Soleymani <bijan@psq.com> - 2022-01-31 04:20 +0100
          Re: Android apps on Debian John Hasler <john@sugarbit.com> - 2022-01-31 05:10 +0100
    Re: Android apps on Debian 황병희 <soyeomul@doraji.xyz> - 2022-02-05 14:10 +0100

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#244769 — Android apps on Debian

Is there a simple way to run Android apps under Debian such as an
emulator?  My Starlink terminal is arriving next week and it would be
convenient to be able to run the Starlink app.  However, I do not have
either an IOS or an Android device.
-- 
John Hasler 
john@sugarbit.com
Elmwood, WI USA

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#244770

Le samedi 29 janvier 2022 à 12:29 -0600, John Hasler a écrit :
> Is there a simple way to run Android apps under Debian such as an
> emulator?  My Starlink terminal is arriving next week and it would be
> convenient to be able to run the Starlink app.  However, I do not
> have
> either an IOS or an Android device.

I don't use it but I know of Anbox:
https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-install-anbox-and-run-android-apps-in-linux

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#244773

Thank you both.  Now to get a copy of the ("free") app without opening a Google
Play account...
-- 
John Hasler 
john@sugarbit.com
Elmwood, WI USA

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#244775

On Sat, 2022-01-29 at 13:07 -0600, John Hasler wrote:
> Thank you both.  Now to get a copy of the ("free") app without
> opening a Google
> Play account...

Everything nowadays "needs" an app... I hate it.

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#244777

Jan 29, 2022, 19:07 by john@sugarbit.com:

> Thank you both.  Now to get a copy of the ("free") app without opening a Google
> Play account...
>

First, identify the app you want to install, then download it from apkpure ( https://apkpure.com/ ) or similar sites. That, of course, leads to some security risks so exercise due caution.

Regards,

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#244778

local10 writes:
> First, identify the app you want to install, then download it from
> apkpure ( https://apkpure.com/ ) or similar sites.

Apkpure has the Starlink app but as I had never heard of them (No reason
to, not having an Android phone) I didn't download it immediately.  Are
they reliable?

-- 
John Hasler 
john@sugarbit.com
Elmwood, WI USA

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#244780

[Multipart message — attachments visible in raw view] — view raw

On Sb, 29 ian 22, 14:38:50, John Hasler wrote:
> local10 writes:
> > First, identify the app you want to install, then download it from
> > apkpure ( https://apkpure.com/ ) or similar sites.
> 
> Apkpure has the Starlink app but as I had never heard of them (No reason
> to, not having an Android phone) I didn't download it immediately.  Are
> they reliable?

The only source I trust is f-droid.org, but I have used apkmirror.com 
for one app that I really needed and couldn't find a FLOSS replacement 
for.

So far I didn't notice anything bad going on, but that doesn't really 
prove anything ;)

Kind regards,
Andrei
-- 
http://wiki.debian.org/FAQsFromDebianUser

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#244781

Jan 29, 2022, 20:38 by john@sugarbit.com:

> Apkpure has the Starlink app but as I had never heard of them (No reason
> to, not having an Android phone) I didn't download it immediately.  Are
> they reliable?
>

apkpure has been around for several years, draw any conclusion you want from that. Google Play also isn't particular reliable, they've hosted and continue to host plenty of mal/spy/crap/ad/-ware aps, so just because an app is hosted on google play doesn't guarantee that it's safe.

I've downloaded a few apps from apkpure and similar sites over the years and so far haven't seen a negative affect. YMMV though.

Check out F-droid for the apps as well: https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/

Regards,

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#244783

I never intend to install any app other than the Starlink one.  I'm
willing to trust it as long as what I get is in fact exactly what SpaceX
distributes: if they are going to spy on me they will have better
opportunities than that.  I guess I'm asking if Apkpure can be trusted
to send me exactly what I would have gotten from directly from Google.

I'll be running it in anbox or similar as I don't have and don't want an
Android "device".
-- 
John Hasler 
john@sugarbit.com
Elmwood, WI USA

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#244810

On 2022-01-29, John Hasler <john@sugarbit.com> wrote:
> I never intend to install any app other than the Starlink one.  I'm
> willing to trust it as long as what I get is in fact exactly what SpaceX
> distributes: if they are going to spy on me they will have better
> opportunities than that.  I guess I'm asking if Apkpure can be trusted
> to send me exactly what I would have gotten from directly from Google.

An alternative would be to try installing the playstore on Anbox:

 https://github.com/geeks-r-us/anbox-playstore-installer

(I'm reading elsewhere these dependencies are required: wget curl lzip tar
unzip squashfs-tools.)

> I'll be running it in anbox or similar as I don't have and don't want an
> Android "device".

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#244782

Jan 29, 2022, 21:33 by local10@tutanota.com:

> apkpure has been around for several years, draw any conclusion you want from that. Google Play also isn't particularly reliable, they've hosted and continue to host plenty of mal/spy/crap/ad/-ware aps, so just because an app is hosted on google play doesn't guarantee that it's safe.
>
> I've downloaded a few apps from apkpure and similar sites over the years and so far haven't seen a negative effect. YMMV though.
>
> Check out F-droid for the apps as well: > https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/
>

Also, maybe it will be worth for you to consider creating a virtual machine or a jail of some kind to run your Android apps.

Regards,

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#244784

On 2022-01-29 15:38, John Hasler wrote:
> local10 writes:
>> First, identify the app you want to install, then download it from
>> apkpure ( https://apkpure.com/ ) or similar sites.
> 
> Apkpure has the Starlink app but as I had never heard of them (No reason
> to, not having an Android phone) I didn't download it immediately.  Are
> they reliable?

I don't know if they modify the apks they host but as far as I know the 
original apk (from the play store) will be signed by the app 
publisher/writer. So if they haven't removed that you can just verify 
the signature is from the publisher, etc.

Bijan

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#244786

Bijan writes:
> I don't know if they modify the apks they host but as far as I know
> the original apk (from the play store) will be signed by the app
> publisher/writer. So if they haven't removed that you can just verify
> the signature is from the publisher, etc.

Apkpure says that apps downloaded from their site only work with their
app.  That's right out so I'll have to figure out something else.  At
least I now know how to run the thing under Debian if I can get a copy.
There may also be a way to get by without it.

Thanks.
-- 
John Hasler 
john@sugarbit.com
Elmwood, WI USA

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#244788

On 2022-01-29 17:38, John Hasler wrote:
> Bijan writes:
>> I don't know if they modify the apks they host but as far as I know
>> the original apk (from the play store) will be signed by the app
>> publisher/writer. So if they haven't removed that you can just verify
>> the signature is from the publisher, etc.
> 
> Apkpure says that apps downloaded from their site only work with their
> app.  That's right out so I'll have to figure out something else.  At
> least I now know how to run the thing under Debian if I can get a copy.
> There may also be a way to get by without it.
> 
> Thanks.

First their xapk file contains the original app apk (as well the 
original sub apks required by that apk).

Second you can install without any app:
https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-install-Xapk-files-on-an-Android

"
     Method 2: Download .XAPK file using File Manager:

         Download the .XAPK file on your Android device.
         Open file manager and discover the .XAPK file. Rename the 
extension to .zip format.
         Extract the .zip file.
         Now, find the .obb file (usually named as “com.xxxxx.obb”) 
within the file and copy it into the location: 
/sdcard/storage/emulated/0/Android/obb/.
         Lastly, install the .apk file. Within a few minutes, you would 
be able to run the file successfully
"

Bijan

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#244789

On 2022-01-29 17:57, Bijan Soleymani wrote:
>          Now, find the .obb file (usually named as “com.xxxxx.obb”) 
> within the file and copy it into the location: 
> /sdcard/storage/emulated/0/Android/obb/.
>          Lastly, install the .apk file. Within a few minutes, you would 
> be able to run the file successfully

Just a small correction, I believe in this case you would need to copy 
the sub apks:
config.*.apk

into:
/sdcard/storage/emulated/0/Android/obb/com.starlink.mobile/

Then install:
com.starlink.mobile.apk

from the android emulator file manager.

(Adapter from 
https://techbeasts.com/how-to-manually-install-xapk-files-on-android/ )

Bijan

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#244787

On 2022-01-29 17:25, Bijan Soleymani wrote:
> On 2022-01-29 15:38, John Hasler wrote:
>> Apkpure has the Starlink app but as I had never heard of them (No reason
>> to, not having an Android phone) I didn't download it immediately.  Are
>> they reliable?
> 
> I don't know if they modify the apks they host but as far as I know the 
> original apk (from the play store) will be signed by the app 
> publisher/writer. So if they haven't removed that you can just verify 
> the signature is from the publisher, etc.
> 

Just as a follow up, I downloaded the Starlink xapk file from apkpure, 
unzipped it and ran:
apksigner verify --verbose --print-certs "com.starlink.mobile.apk"

This gives:
Verifies
Verified using v1 scheme (JAR signing): true
Verified using v2 scheme (APK Signature Scheme v2): true
Verified using v3 scheme (APK Signature Scheme v3): true
Number of signers: 1
Signer #1 certificate DN: CN=Android, OU=Android, O=Google Inc., 
L=Mountain View, ST=California, C=US
Signer #1 certificate SHA-256 digest: 
cdfba780576f7a4800e2a609726f83f053b51bae6a239003abc16b7f75e9f588
Signer #1 certificate SHA-1 digest: c2b34a5ac1267e5d377eef89d0eb96fcddc1c9f1
Signer #1 certificate MD5 digest: eb2004799f4685bb04e49de3d8ed3f39
Signer #1 key algorithm: RSA
Signer #1 key size (bits): 4096
Signer #1 public key SHA-256 digest: 
a5fd4be5d047beae966c4a68cfa06951a8700e610d84f28b68ab1620a7eca434
Signer #1 public key SHA-1 digest: 324a6a9aa7e418d33bd98a0f81a0ae946d0dde71
Signer #1 public key MD5 digest: a30fdb38ff1050c59800bf83a94a4eb5

With a few files in the META-INF directory not being signed or not 
verifying.

I think the reason it is signed by Google is that the app uses Play app 
signing, where google signs the app on their servers on your behalf. 
That way if you lose your private key, you can change it on your end, 
without breaking app upgrades.

Also the main 64 bit binary apk:
config.arm64_v8a.apk checks out as does the English language config: 
config.en.apk

The only files that won't be signed will be those files from the 
META-INF directory as well as the manifest.json from the top level xapk 
file.

Bijan

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#244792

I downloaded it from apkmirror.com and got the same numbers you did
plus "Verified using v4 scheme (APK Signature Scheme v4): false",
"Verified for SourceStamp: true", some "Source Stamp Signer" results,
and the same META-INF warnings.

Looks ok, I guess.
-- 
John Hasler 
john@sugarbit.com
Elmwood, WI USA

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#244793

On 30/01/2022 11:39, Bijan Soleymani wrote:
> I think the reason it is signed by Google is that the app uses Play app 
> signing, where google signs the app on their servers on your behalf. 
> That way if you lose your private key, you can change it on your end, 
> without breaking app upgrades.

Play App Signing does have this benefit for app developers, but its main 
purpose is to deliver app downloads optimised for the user's device and 
therefore smaller. For example, if you are using an arm64-a8v device, 
Play Store will deliver a package with only native libraries for your 
arm64-a8v device. In comparison, old-style packages would typically 
include both armeabi-v7a and arm64-a8v native libraries, and some even 
x86 or x86_64 native libraries. Downloads can also be optimised for 
screen resolution and language.

Kind regards,

-- 
Ash Joubert <ash@transient.nz>
Director
Transient Software Limited <https://transient.nz/>
New Zealand

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#244771

Jan 29, 2022, 18:29 by john@sugarbit.com:

> Is there a simple way to run Android apps under Debian such as an
> emulator?  My Starlink terminal is arriving next week and it would be
> convenient to be able to run the Starlink app.  However, I do not have
> either an IOS or an Android device.
>

Maybe this can help you:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/run-android-apps-games-linux/

Regards,

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#244790

On 2022-01-29 13:29, John Hasler wrote:
> Is there a simple way to run Android apps under Debian such as an
> emulator?  My Starlink terminal is arriving next week and it would be
> convenient to be able to run the Starlink app.  However, I do not have
> either an IOS or an Android device.

Just to go in another direction and answer the original question:

1. Seems the Starlink router has a web interface:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/of6wab/what_if_you_dont_have_a_cell_phone/

2. You can get an android phone tablet that can run the app between $45 
and $100 (and that's new, you can probably get a used one for 
practically free). Given that I think the Starlink terminal costs $499 
and the service is $99 a month, that may be a better way to go.

Bijan

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