Android Desktop PC?

[hunterjwizzard]

This is a dumb place to ask but maybe someone on the vault knows:

Does there exist a device that runs android(and can thus install android "apps" but just works like a desktop PC with a monitor/keyboard/mouse?

Reason I ask - I have approximately umpteen million stupid IoT devices and no smart phone(ok, I have a smartphone, but still); and for some reason none of the device manufacturers can concieve of a world where someone *might* not want to have a tablet glued to their arm. Having to find my phone/tablet, get the screen to turn on, navigate to the "app", etc is a really big pain in the butt when I am already sitting at a massive multi-monitor workstation. I'd really love to just tap a few keys on the KVM and have an always-on device I can use my existing keyboard and mouse to tap the little buttons. As you can probably guess, I'm not a huge fan of the whole smartphone/tablet thing. I have a cheap android tablet for setting up smart plugs and stuff, I just need something better for controlling them after the fact.

Does such a thing exist?

I have found a few "android tv" type devices but I don't know if they run "apps"; or if they are modern software, etc, etc. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[BlueFox]

You can run Android on x86 hardware. There are plenty of SBCs that run it too (say ODROID-C4 for example).

 

[mmo]

Check out android-x86, it has been around for quite a long time.

Android-x86 - Porting Android to x86

Android-x86 is an Android Open Source Project licensed under Apache Public License 2.0. Some components are licensed under GNU General Public License (GPL) 2.0 or later.

www.android-x86.org

 

[hunterjwizzard]

You can run Android on x86 hardware. There are plenty of SBCs that run it too (say ODROID-C4 for example).

I've heard that. I've also seen that it can be loaded onto a rasberry pi. But I don't want to dedicate a full-scale PC to this need and I'm hoping to find something more prefabricated/supported, and hopefully fairly low-power. If such a thing doesn't exist I can resort to the pi as a solution.

 

[blinkenlights]

Does such a thing exist?

Would a Chromebox work for you? Chromebox | Chrome Devices | ASUS USA

After years of playing "Tech Support" for my elderly parents, I replaced the custom desktop I built for them, with a refurbished Asus box from eBay. Upgraded the memory to 16GB, replaced the stock SSD and reinstalled... makes for a swift little ChromeOS device.

 

[WANg]

Ehhh...HP t630?

 

[hunterjwizzard]

Would a Chromebox work for you? Chromebox | Chrome Devices | ASUS USA

After years of playing "Tech Support" for my elderly parents, I replaced the custom desktop I built for them, with a refurbished Asus box from eBay. Upgraded the memory to 16GB, replaced the stock SSD and reinstalled... makes for a swift little ChromeOS device.

Would I be able to install things like smarthome apps on the chromebox? I haven't honestly looked at a chromebook in 10+ years, so no idea what the OS is capable of these days.

 

[blinkenlights]

Would I be able to install things like smarthome apps on the chromebox? I haven't honestly looked at a chromebook in 10+ years, so no idea what the OS is capable of these days.

Generally? According to Google, yes: Get Android apps & digital content from the Google Play Store - Google Play Help Specific to your application(s) I would say it depends - search the vendor's support forums.

I was able to buy my parents' i7-8550u Chromebox from a recycler for about $300 in early 2019. Another $200 (optional) to Crucial for upgraded memory and SSD, reinstall the proper restore image, and it's off to the races. Now if only my parents could understand re-connecting their Google Print printer after the ISP router resets...

 

[Rand__]

Is there not something that can run in a vm? That might be even easier...

 

[hunterjwizzard]

I'm actually liking the notion of a chromebox more and more. Idealy if I can find something that can run at 1024x768 and do what I need I can just have it be another device on my KVM and switch to it as needed. May even be good for some light web-browsing.

EDIT: to clarify: I have an ancient 32-port Kat5-KVM switch and nowhere near 32 devices to control. I do have a single 4:3 scree set up though most of the computters don't use it. The nice thing is for small, low-priority things like this, it offers a hand couple-of-keystrokes access instead of keystroke + pick up the IR remote that controlls the big screen.

 

[cageek]

Development tools like android studio have emulators built-in. They run on qemu on Linux in a window. They emulate a bunch of different phones. I don't know if you can run them standalone or how much work you'd have to put in to get it to where you could use it. Android studio is a big platform. You can put most apps on them I think.