Use a virtual machine on an Android mobile It's no longer something reserved for system geeks or highly advanced developers. Between apps like VMOS, QEMU-based solutions, or Limbo And with Google's own official emulator, it's perfectly possible to have it today. another operating system running inside your smartphone, with greater or lesser comfort depending on what you want to do.
However, not all options are suitable for the same purpose, nor do all phones handle the same amount of charge. Throughout this guide you will see What types of virtual machines can be used on Android?How well do they work in practice, what are they useful for (and what are they not), what requirements do you need, and also the reverse process: install Android as VM in VMware or VirtualBox for development and testing.
What exactly is a virtual machine in Android?
When we talk about a virtual machine (VM) in Android, we are referring to a a complete operating system that runs inside an appisolated from the main Android system. It's similar to what you would do on a PC with VMware or VirtualBox: the mobile device acts as the host and inside you run another guest system (another Android, a Linux distro, Windows ARM, etc.).
This approach differs from things like creating a second user or a private space on the phone. These separate profiles share the same kernel and part of the system stack, whereas a virtual machine emulates its own environment, with its virtual storage, its boot process, its memory management and, to some extent, its own simulated hardware configuration.
Thanks to this encapsulation, a VM serves as both sandbox or sandbox for suspicious apps, such as for development, using two accounts of the same application, or running systems that the mobile phone, by default, could not load in native mode.
VMOS: Android within Android with total isolation
One of the most popular solutions for running a Android virtual machine on Android It's VMOS. It's an app that, once installed, downloads an Android ROM (usually based on Lollipop 5.1 or more recent versions depending on the edition) and runs it as if it were a completely independent phone inside yours.
VMOS offers an isolated environment in which Any application you install will not affect the actual system.This means that if you introduce malware, try apps from dubious sources, or experiment with crazy configurations, the damage remains within the virtual machine. Its creators insist that even a virus shouldn't be able to escape the physical phone, so it serves as an extra layer of protection. Security and protection for your personal data.
The focus is very much geared towards advanced users and developers who need an independent environment for testingIt's also a great fit for those looking for a private space to keep photos, files, or accounts that they don't want to mix with their main profile, since VMOS allows you to encrypt and isolate files within the VM.
Another interesting point is that VMOS supports multiple virtual machines in parallelYou can have, for example, a "clean" Android for work, another for testing with root access, and another for games in the background, all running at the same time on the mobile if the hardware can handle it.
Key VMOS functions: what you can do in practice
Behind the concept of “Android within Android” are a number of features that make VMOS especially versatileIn general terms, this application allows you to:
1. Safety and isolation Thanks to a virtual system completely separate from the actual phone, it's perfect for development, app testing, and analysis of potentially malicious filesreducing the risk of damaging your main system or of a virus gaining access to your real data.
2. Simultaneous execution of multiple VMswith support for multiple instances to remain in the background. This opens the door to having different usage profiles (work, leisure, tests) running in parallel, something that is quite limited in a single physical Android.
3. Convenient handling with a floating button This allows you to minimize, switch to windowed mode, toggle between the guest and host systems, or activate Picture-in-Picture mode. Switching between environments is quite smooth if the terminal has sufficient RAM and a decent CPU.
4. Adjustment of internal parameters of the VM, such as resolution, amount of allocated memory, or certain simulated device properties. This is useful for both test how an app behaves in different configurations as well as to optimize performance on more modest mobile phones.
5. File and application transfer between the physical phone and the virtual machine. You can transfer APKs, documents, photos, or any other content from the host to the guest and vice versa, making it much easier to use the VM as a testing laboratory or data vault.
VMOS has an official website (vmosapp.net) and email support, which helps resolve any questions about device compatibility, performance issues, or specific failures that may appear when running certain virtual ROMs.
Practical uses of Android within Android: root, dual accounts, and more
Beyond how striking it is to see two Android desktops running simultaneouslyThe real interest of VMOS lies in the concrete uses it offers compared to a mobile phone without virtualization:
On the one hand, it allows use two accounts of the same application Without the need for external cloners or special manufacturer features. Apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, or games that only allow one session at a time can run on both the virtual and the real Android, each with its own data.
You can also keep a completely separate space for photos, documents, and contacts. It's similar to Samsung's Secure Folders or Huawei's Private Space, but with the advantage that this is a separate operating system, with its own apps and settingsnot just a partial container within Android itself.
One of the most attractive features for advanced users is the possibility of enable root within the virtual machine without touching the main phone. Out of the box, the VMOS ROM doesn't usually come rooted, but the developer options include a switch called "ROOT" which, after restarting the VM, installs the classic superuser app to manage permissions.
That root is limited to the virtual environment, so It does not involve losing warranties or unlocking the mobile phone's bootloader.It's ideal for testing applications that require superuser privileges, tinkering with modules, automations, or system tweaks without fear of bricking your physical device.
Finally, VMOS allows you to leave games or resource-intensive tasks running in the background inside the VM while you use the main Android device for other things. However, this usage is quite demanding, because the device is essentially running two systems simultaneously, one of them emulated.
Performance, permissions, and boot times in VMOS
The other side of the coin is that a virtual machine of this type has a significant resource cost. In the case of VMOS, the downloaded ROM typically takes up on the order of a few hundred megabytes (for example, a cut-down Android Lollipop 5.1 is around 300 MB), which isn't dramatic, but it is noticeable on phones with little storage.
El The first VM boot may take between five and ten minutesDepending on the processor's power and the device's internal memory speed, this waiting time is only so long the first time; subsequent launches are much faster, although never as instantaneous as opening a normal app.
In terms of performance, a certain drop in fluidity must be expected because The mobile phone is managing two operating systems at the same timeIn most tests, the experience is smooth enough to use the VM reasonably well, but in heavy games or apps that demand a lot of GPU, you may notice lag or significant frame drops.
Another delicate point is the permissions that the app requests to functionVMOS often requests access to sensitive information, such as the IMEI, location, full storage capacity, or even the phone's status. The developers argue that this is necessary for the emulated system to appear more "realistic," but it's wise to be aware of what permissions you're granting before clicking "Accept."
Therefore, although VMOS is a very powerful tool, it is recommended to use it in relatively modern devices, with sufficient RAM and storageand with users who fully understand what granting such extended permissions to an application of this type entails.
Android 13 and QEMU: Windows 11 ARM and Linux as virtual machines on mobile
With the arrival of Android 13, Google introduced internal system improvements that greatly facilitate virtualization of complete operating systems by leveraging the ARM hardware of mobile devices. This has allowed advanced developers, using QEMU and other tools, to run systems as demanding as Windows 11 ARM on a modern Android phone.
One much-discussed case was that of a developer who managed How to boot Windows 11 ARM on a Google Pixel 6 using the first Developer Preview of Android 13. Even though the GPU was working without native graphics acceleration (i.e., without hardware support for the visual part), the system turned out to be "really usable" in their own words.
The demonstration videos showed how Windows would start up, allowing you to log in and run typical applications...with surprisingly smooth performance given the limitations. It even indulged in running Doom inside the VM, something almost obligatory in any experiment of this kind.
The same virtualization mechanism can be applied to Linux distributions for ARM architectureAccording to these tests, many distros run with "almost identical native" performance, at least in console mode, which opens up interesting possibilities for developers, system administrators, or curious users who want a complete Linux environment in their pocket.
If this capability is combined with a dock or adapter that allows the mobile phone to be connected to external monitor, keyboard and mouseYou can imagine scenarios where your smartphone acts practically like a desktop PC, running Windows 11 ARM or Linux on a large scale while still being a phone when you turn it off.
Other ways to “virtualize” apps on Android: isolated spaces and sandboxes
Besides VMOS and "pure" QEMU-based VMs, Android offers lighter solutions that partially approach the concept of virtualization. These are applications or features that allow run software in an isolated or cloned environment, without being a complete separate operating system.
A simple option is to create another user or job profile within the system itself. Android supports multiple user profiles on many devices, although with varying manufacturer restrictions. This allows you to install apps only on that user profile, with its own data, but sharing the kernel and much of the system with the main profile.
There are also sandbox-type apps that behave like containers to run APKs in a “virtual” wayThey are used to test applications, prevent an app from having direct access to the rest of the system, or have multiple sessions of the same tool, all without starting a full VM.
These alternatives consume fewer resources than a full virtual machine and are suitable for those who only need a little bit of isolation or duplicating some specific apps without going so far as to deploy an entire guest operating system.
Android Emulator: The official virtual machine for development (on PC)
If your main goal is Develop and test Android applicationsThe most powerful and flexible option remains the official Google emulator, Android Emulatorwhich is part of Android Studio. Here, instead of running the VM on the mobile device, you run it on your computer, but the concept of a virtual machine is the same.
Android Emulator launches what is called a Android virtual device or AVD (Android Virtual Device)Each AVD contains the complete Android software stack (kernel, framework, system apps) and behaves as if it were a physical device, with its own resolution, amount of RAM, Android version, and even simulated sensors.
The first step to using custom images in the emulator involves Download the Android source code and prepare a build environment. This involves creating a directory for the project, initializing the repository, and synchronizing all the necessary branches, which is usually done with the `repo init` and `repo sync` commands within an AOSP tree.
Once you have the code, you can compile a system image for a specific AVDFor example, for a 64-bit x86 AVD, it's common to load the environment scripts, choose a target like sdk_phone_x86_64 using `lunch`, and then run a compilation with `make` using multiple threads. The process can take a considerable amount of time depending on the machine's processing power.
When the compilation is complete, simply start the emulator with the corresponding command (emulator) to The custom image will run within the Android Emulatorallowing you to test your apps in an environment virtually identical to a physical device but with extra tools for debugging.
Share custom AVD images with other users
In business environments or large development teams, it's common to want that multiple people use the same Android system image in their emulators, to ensure that everyone tests and debugs on an identical environment.
To achieve this, AOSP allows the generation of special packages such as sdk and sdk_repo. In recent versions (Android 13 and higher), a task called emu_img_zip is used which Package the AVD system image into a compressed file with a name like sdk-repo-linux-system-images-eng..zip.
In earlier versions (Android 12 and earlier), the command `make sdk sdk_repo` is used, which generates both the image zip file and an XML file (repo-sys-img.xml) in the SDK's output path. This XML describes the image repository and can be modified to point to the URL from which other developers will download them.
The next step is to host the zip file (and, if applicable, the XML) on an accessible server and Configure a custom update site in Android StudioThus, the SDK Manager detects the custom system image and displays it alongside the other available official images.
From there, each developer can create a new AVD by selecting that imageso that everyone works on the same virtual environment without having to compile AOSP on their own, saving a lot of time and headaches.
Multi-screen support in the emulator
Android 10 introduced significant improvements to the multi-screen mode and desktop scenariosThis is very relevant in a context where foldable phones, devices with external screens, and "PC"-like modes when connecting the mobile phone to a monitor are starting to appear.
Android Emulator incorporates the possibility of simulate multiple screens on a single AVDallowing developers to test how their application behaves when dragged to a second virtual monitor, expanded to an extra area, or dynamically changed in orientation and size.
To enable this support in a custom build, it is necessary to include certain libraries and packages related to the multidisplay provider in the product files, such as the native libraries libemulator_multidisplay_jni (in 32 and 64 bits) and the MultiDisplayProvider apk within the /system/priv-app partition.
Also, you have to activate a specific feature flag in the advanced configuration file (advancedFeatures.ini), usually with a line that says something like MultiDisplay = on. With this, the emulator understands that the image supports multiple displays and offers the corresponding controls.
This way, you can test how the app responds to resizable windows, active screen switching, second monitor presentations and other scenarios that would be much more complex or expensive to reproduce on a single physical mobile device.
Install Android as a virtual machine in VMware and VirtualBox
Another side of the coin, very useful if you program or test intensively, is Install Android as a guest operating system on a desktop VM Using VMware Workstation, VMware Player, ESXi, or VirtualBox. Here, the host is your PC or server, and Android acts as the guest.
This approach brings clear advantages: you can create snapshots, clone virtual machines, make full backups, migrate VMs between hosts and, in general, treat Android like any other lab or production VM, with all the flexibility offered by VMware or VirtualBox hypervisors.
To set up this environment, the usual practice is to download an image of Android x86 or similar, prepared for x86-64 architectures instead of ARM. Although most mobile phones use ARM or ARM64, there are specific builds to run on PCs with desktop CPUs that are better suited to the typical hardware of a server or laptop.
In a scenario with ESXi 6.5 managed by vCenter, the process goes through upload the Android ISO image to the datastore From the host, create a new virtual machine specifying Linux as the guest system family (for example, "Another 64-bit 3.xo Linux later") and adjust the resources: 1 vCPU, 2 GB of RAM and a virtual disk of about 8 GB or more are usually sufficient for basic testing.
During the VM creation wizard, the virtual CD/DVD drive is associated with the Android installation ISO file, selecting the option to connect on power-up so that the machine starts directly from the installer when it is turned on.
Step-by-step Android installation process on VMware
Once the virtual machine is created and booted from the Android-x86 ISO, the installer offers a type option “Installation – Install Android-x86 to harddisk” which you must select to begin the installation process on the virtual disk.
The next step is to manage the virtual disk partitionsNormally, a tool like cfdisk is used, from which a new primary partition is created occupying the entire 8 GB space, marked as bootable, and the changes are written to the disk, confirming with a "yes" when prompted.
After exiting the partitioning utility, the installer detects the newly created partition (for example, sda1) and allows you to select it. format with ext4 file systemIt is also advisable to accept the installation of the GRUB boot manager and the possibility of mounting the /system directory in read-write mode to have greater flexibility when modifying the system.
At the end, the assistant indicates that Android-x86 has been successfully installed and suggests restarting the VM. Doing so will display the GRUB menu with various boot options for the newly installed system.
In some cases, Android doesn't finish booting correctly with the default configuration and leaves you at a simple prompt. The typical solution involves editing the selected boot entry (using the 'e' key in GRUB) and replace the quiet parameter with nomodeset xforcevesa in the kernel line, so that the command includes these flags to force a compatible video mode.
Permanently adjusting GRUB and first steps in the Android VM
After changing the boot parameters and successfully booting Android, you will see the system graphical interface and the initial setup wizard: language selection, network connection, Google account, date and time, etc., just like on a phone or tablet, although here the hardware is virtualized.
One of the interesting points is network detection. Android is designed for mobile phones without an Ethernet port, so when running in a VM, the system tends to expect Wi-Fi networks. In a VMware environment, a network often appears called something like VirtWiFi, which This represents the connection of the virtual Ethernet adapter. to the host's actual network.
If you need real Wi-Fi, there is the option of connect a wireless USB adapter directly to the VM performing passthrough from the hypervisor, similar to what is done in environments with Kali Linux or other audit-oriented distros.
Once everything is configured, Android boots to its home screen. At that point, it's advisable to... make changes persistent in GRUB To avoid having to manually edit the parameters each time, you can switch to a text console using the key combination (Alt+F1) and run commands to mount the disk containing the boot loader configuration.
The typical procedure involves creating a mount directory (e.g., /mnt/sda), mounting the sda1 partition there, and then Edit the GRUB menu.lst configuration file using a text editor like vi, permanently replacing quiet with nomodeset xforcevesa in the first boot entry.
After saving changes and restarting, the Android VM should Start up correctly without manual interventionFrom there you can adjust things like screen timeout in Settings > Display > Sleep, enable 3D acceleration in the hypervisor VM settings (if available), or prepare snapshots before installing apps and running experiments.
Virtualize Linux on Android with Limbo and other tools
Beyond running Android within Android or Android within a PC, it is also possible to run complete Linux distributions as virtual machines on the mobile device itselfOne of the best-known applications for this is Limbo, a frontend for QEMU adapted for Android.
The basic workflow with Limbo consists of Install the app, download an ISO image of the Linux distribution you want to virtualize (the lighter, the better) and create a new machine by selecting that ISO as the boot medium. For example, a distro like Damn Small Linux (DSL), which weighs barely 50 MB, is a great fit for these experiments.
From the Limbo interface you can define parameters such as amount of RAM allocated, type of CPU emulated, virtual disk size and other QEMU options, adapting them to what your phone supports without going overboard. Modest hardware will require very limited configurations.
The result is a full Linux terminal running as guest Within Android, it's ideal for launching scripts, administration tools, compiling small utilities, or practicing in a PC-like environment, but from your own smartphone.
However, it's important to understand that CPU emulation and the full graphical environment may struggle on many mobile devices, especially if the distribution isn't highly optimized or if you intend to run resource-intensive desktop environments. The key is to opt for lightweight images and assume that performance will be limited compared to a real PC.
The current ecosystem offers a very wide range of ways to use Android-related virtual machinesFrom having another Android device inside your phone with VMOS and root access, to running Windows 11 ARM or Linux distributions on powerful Android 13 phones, to the professional use of the official emulator on PC or the installation of Android-x86 in VMware and VirtualBox. Each option has its pros, cons, and requirements, but they all share the same underlying idea: leveraging virtualization to experiment, develop, and separate environments without putting your main system at risk.
