Drion · Comparison

Drion vs Sailfish OS AppSupport

Both run unmodified Android apps on a Linux phone, on its own kernel rather than in a virtual machine. AppSupport, Jolla’s Android runtime for Sailfish OS, runs an Android system in a container and shows its apps next to native Sailfish apps. Drion has no Android system underneath: each app runs as its own sandboxed Linux process.

AppSupport

Sailfish OS’s Android runtime: an Android system in a Linux container. Your apps run inside it.

Drion

No Android system underneath. Each app is its own sandboxed Linux process.

BothThe host’s Linux kernel, no virtual machine · unmodified APKs · Android apps next to native ones
What runs

What runs underneath the app

AppSupport runs an Android system image in a container beside Sailfish OS, and your apps run inside it. Drion keeps the parts an app talks to, the runtime and Android’s framework, and replaces everything underneath with its own services.

AppSupport
Android app
Android runtime and framework
Android 13 or 15 system image
LXC container
Sailfish OS
Drion
Android app, unmodified
Android framework, real AOSP code
Drion system services
no shared container
Linux host: desktop, audio, GPU
Isolation

How apps are kept apart

AppSupport puts one boundary around the whole Android system, and Android’s own permissions apply to apps inside it. Drion puts a kernel boundary around every app and keeps its own services outside all of them.

AppSupport
Sailfish OS
Container (LXC) · one for all apps
Android 13 or 15 system
App A
App B
App C

Jolla describes AppSupport as a sandbox that limits what Android apps can do, with Sailfish OS deciding which of your data they see. Inside it, each app has Android’s own permissions.

Drion
Linux host · your user account
Supervisor
System server
Display
sandbox
App A
sandbox
App B
sandbox
App C

The Linux kernel walls off each app’s processes and private files from the host, other apps and Drion’s own services. The network is shared with the host.

Side by side

The practical differences

Aspect
AppSupport
Drion
Where it runs
Sailfish OS, on the phones Jolla supports: the Jolla Phone, the Jolla C2 and several Sony Xperia models. Community ports of Sailfish OS don’t get it.
Ubuntu Touch 24.04 and newer, Linux desktops on Wayland, and SteamOS.
Installing
From the Jolla Store, once a Sailfish OS licence is active on the phone. The Jolla C2 comes with one; on Xperia phones you buy one, tied to the phone’s IMEI.
A Click package on Ubuntu Touch, with no root to install, run or remove. An archive or a signed Flatpak on Linux desktops. Not yet available for Sailfish OS; support is planned.
What runs
An Android system image in an LXC container: Android 13 since Sailfish OS 5.0.0.76, Android 15 with 5.2, so far released for the Jolla Phone only.
Each app as its own Linux process, served by Drion’s system services.
Isolation
One container for the whole Android system, which Jolla describes as a sandbox that limits what apps can do. Inside it, each app has Android’s own permissions.
One kernel sandbox per app process. The system server stays outside every sandbox.
Starting the first app
AppSupport starts with the phone, or, if you turn that off, when you open the first Android app. While it’s stopped, apps’ background services, such as messengers, don’t run.
No Android system to boot. An app starts like any other program.
Alongside your apps
The whole Android system, in the background. Jolla notes that it uses battery while it runs, and stopping it ends every Android app.
A few Drion services.
Windows
Apps open like Sailfish apps, with covers on the home screen, rather than inside an Android home screen.
One window per app: maximized in Lomiri on Ubuntu Touch, resizable on Linux desktops, fullscreen in Gamescope on SteamOS.
Your files
What apps save, such as downloads and photos, goes to an android_storage folder in your Sailfish home folder.
Apps share one storage folder with the host, as on a phone. Each app’s Android/data and Android/obb folders stay private.
Google Play
The Play Store app isn’t supported, and Jolla advises against Google Play Services. Apps from Google Play install through Aurora Store. On 5.2, microG installs from the setup wizard or the Store.
Optional, installed in a couple of clicks from the store list in Drion’s launcher. Other app stores work too.
Which fits

Where each one runs

For phone owners, AppSupport comes with Sailfish OS; Jolla also offers it to companies building their own Linux devices. Drion runs on Ubuntu Touch, Linux desktops and SteamOS; Sailfish OS support is planned.

AppSupport

When your phone runs Sailfish OS

It is Sailfish OS’s own Android runtime: installed from the Jolla Store, updated by Jolla with Sailfish releases, with Android apps next to native ones.

Drion

When you run Ubuntu Touch, a Linux desktop or SteamOS

Each app in its own sandbox and window, with Google Play or other app stores, and no Android system running in the background.

Architecture · diagramsHow Drion worksProcesses, the per-app sandbox, permissions and platforms, with diagrams.
More comparisons
ContainerDrion vs WaydroidArchitecture, isolation, root and desktop integration, side by side.Virtual machineDrion vs the Android EmulatorA virtual device, or apps as Linux processes: startup, windows, networking and arm64 apps.Commercial virtual machineDrion vs Genymotion DesktopVirtual test devices, or apps as Linux processes: Arm-only apps, Google Play and licences.Translation layerDrion vs Android Translation LayerRebuilt Android APIs, or Android’s own framework: isolation, desktop integration and Google Play.
Closed alpha

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