Ubuntu now fits your phone.

What is Ubuntu for Android?

How would you like a PC that fits in your pocket? For the lowdown on Ubuntu for Android, in terms your grandma could understand, watch this short video. And for news on Ubuntu for Android products, watch this space.

A fast-evolving app ecosystem: 

Ubuntu is the world’s favorite Linux distribution. In fact, thousands of web and mobile developers already use it every day, so it’s natural to expect those apps to make their way to Ubuntu.

As well as providing a fast, uncluttered experience on the phone, a great Ubuntu app – whether web or native – can support the traditional PC desktop right alongside the handset.

The developer’s favorite OS :

• Existing web properties can be installed on the Ubuntu phone, where they can run as web apps independent of the browser, with full access to the system just like native apps.
• Ubuntu is already a wildly popular platform for web developers and savvy users.
• The standard Android development environment is Ubuntu.

• HTML5 is fully supported but Ubuntu is not limited to HTML5. To use the full power of the hardware, you can develop native apps, using OpenGL and QML, with C or C++ and Javascript compiled for extra performance.
• Major game developers like EA, Valve and Unity Technologies are now committing to Ubuntu.

Adapt your web apps or go native

Web apps are first class citizens on Ubuntu, with APIs that provide deep integration into the interface. HTML5 apps written for other platforms can be adapted to Ubuntu with ease and we’re targeting standard cross-platform web app development frameworks like PhoneGap to make Ubuntu ‘just work’ for apps that use them.

Our unique web app system lets you quickly adapt any web property for installation as an app on the phone, running independently of the browser, with its own icon and access to system services. This means that all the big names will be available to Ubuntu phone users at launch.

But Ubuntu isn’t limited to HTML5. For rich applications with gorgeous movement and transitions, and graphics-heavy games, Ubuntu provides an amazing native developer environment. It uses QML to give you a really slick, easy development experience for native apps with engines in C or C++, and JavaScript for UI glue that isn't performance critical. We also give you full native OpenGL, which the top games companies are using to make incredible games. That’s why developers like EA, Valve Software and Unity Technologies are committing to Ubuntu right now.

The QML toolkit and sample application are available for download today, so there’s no better time to get started.

Write apps for all Ubuntu devices

Ubuntu Software Center has been a part of Ubuntu for years, and we’ll extend it to deliver phone apps too.

Already established as the most popular way to find new software on the Ubuntu desktop, it enables Ubuntu users to download and install applications in seconds. And here’s the really amazing thing. With the arrival of the Ubuntu SDK, apps can be written to work on all Ubuntu form-factors: it’s the same Ubuntu OS on the desktop and on the phone, so a single native application can work on both. Which means you re-use most of the app when you add support for a new form-factor.

The number one free desktop on the number one open phone

With over 20 million users, Ubuntu is the world’s favorite free operating system – and Ubuntu for Android is the first complete solution for office productivity on a phone. It lets Android and Ubuntu share the same Linux kernel, so they can run at the same time – Android for the phone experience and Ubuntu when docked. Which means one address book, one set of bookmarks, one place for text messages and one inbox for mail. And thanks to careful integration between the Ubuntu desktop and Android, user’s have access to the phone’s functions when it’s docked – including making and receiving calls.

Easy to integrate to your Android phone

Ubuntu for Android drops in cleanly alongside the rest of Android, so it is easy to integrate into current production road-maps. The hardware requirements are straightforward and, with a broad range of ARM and x86 hardware supported, it can realistically be added to phones already in development.

Of course, your phone needs the docking capability and hardware support for HDMI and USB. But that’s standard for high-end models in the current generation of devices in development.

Why add anything to Android?

Android is a mobile solution, designed for a touch interface on a handheld device. On the desktop, where users expect a pointer-driven experience, a PC operating system is essential. Several vendors have tried to bring Android-based desktops or laptops to market, with no success; Android was designed for touch only, and has its hands full winning the tablet wars.

A complete desktop solution needs a full range of desktop applications. While a mobile OS carries no deep desktop software catalog, Ubuntu offers thousands of applications, all designed for the desktop and most, like Ubuntu, free. And Ubuntu is certified by governments, industry and enterprises, widely deployed on the desktop and supported by leading management solutions.

Another alternative would be a web-top, or web only desktop. But markets have not responded to web-only environments. The desktop is a high-productivity mode, not a media consumption mode or a browsing mode. That’s why we have brought the full power of a native desktop to this solution.