If you are experiencing memory limitations with Android 15’s Linux Terminal app, you’re not alone. This new feature, which allows users to run Linux applications on Android via a Debian virtual machine, has a default memory cap of 4GB.
This restriction can be insufficient for developers needing more resources for their projects. Fortunately, there is a workaround to enhance the memory availability.
The Linux Terminal app runs on any Pixel device updated to Android 15 or the Android 16 beta, but it allocates a fixed amount of memory, regardless of the phone’s total RAM. This differs from Chromebooks, where the Linux VM can utilize most of the available memory while reserving only a small portion for Chrome OS to function properly.
This limitation makes Android’s Linux Terminal less capable of handling memory-intensive development tasks. To improve the situation, developer Li Zhao suggests a method to increase the zram size and create a swap file.
The zram size, which is usually set to 1GB, can be increased to 8GB to allow for better performance. Furthermore, establishing an 8GB swap file on disk and adjusting the swappiness value can significantly alleviate memory issues.
The steps to implement this workaround include editing configuration files to adjust the zram size, changing the swappiness value, and creating a new swap file. Using zram allows a portion of RAM to act as compressed swap space, which can increase the available memory, albeit with its limitations.
This workaround, while not perfect, should help in reducing crashes and boost overall performance in the Linux Terminal app. Since its rollout, Google has continued to make improvements, and we hope for more features, such as customizable memory allocation.
Have you tried out the Linux Terminal app on your Pixel device? Share your experiences with us!
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