I wonder how it deals with gapps and how it compares to waydroid
this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2026
336 points (99.7% liked)
Linux
68728 readers
418 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 7 years ago
MODERATORS
I think right now the main focus is actually running Oculus/Meta Quest native games on the Steam Frame - the Quest headsets run Android and the games are actually APKs. No GAPPs involved
I'm sure I everything will be working about as soon as the community gets ahold of it though
the Quest headsets run Android and the games are actually APKs
Yes but how will you get those APKs installed on the device and make them run properly?
I think devs will have to ship a build that does not have the extra DRM and whatnot that is required to run on Oculus devices. The beauty of Lepton is just that developers won't have to rewrite their game for a new architecture or anything. All they have to do (hypothetically) is export a new build of their project without the "include Oculus DRM" button checked. From what I understand, it's not the exact same situation as Proton, just similar in many regards.
So you think Valve is counting on Oculus devs uploading their games to Steam directly?
Don't all the games have to be uploaded to Steam by their rightful developer?
If someone wants to publish on Steam, yeah, probably. But if Lepton works like Proton, the game doesn't actually need to be distributed through Steam. For Proton, you can run basically any Windows executable file through Proton, even if you downloaded the file from somewhere other than Steam. I assume the plan is for Lepton to be able run basically any APK you throw at it regardless of where the APK came from. I just doubt that Lepton will bypass the Oculus DRM.
Cracked quest games exist already, there are side load redistributables which allow you to bypass meta authentication.
So sailing the high seas sounds like an option. But ideally, publishers who want the additional distribution but can't the arsed to make a new x86-64 version of their game for PCVR, could at least squirt out a new build that leaves off the Oculus DRM.
load more comments
(2 replies)
load more comments
(2 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
If you mean the Quest you can, once developer mode is enabled, run adb install whatever.apk and it will show up in the UI of the OS.
If you mean the Frame I tried them but didn't install anything. My bet though is that it is the ONE thing Valve actually use to make money, Steam, that will wrap Lepton just like it does with Proton now.
load more comments
(2 replies)
The problem with running quest games outside of quest is actually that meta has a specialized vr version of android, that even people haven't figured out how to get their apps running on the pico (bytedance) android headsets. This is pretty crazy considering how easy it is to pirate on quest
Lepton is not designed for general Android use, instead opting to keep the bare minimum functionality required to launch into games.
So it's nothing more then a layer for games to get shipped via steam sans Gapps integration.
I know that way to ride makes some steps towards faking Gapp or offering some Gapp compatibility, but relying on Play services is essentially a non-starter for me these days, so all of the best games I have for Android mobile would require finding cracked copies.
It's so strange that I got to skip essentially all piracy for a decade and a half in my gaming life, only to watch all of the platform operators except valve enshitify all at once and to an untenable degree
Lepton is a fork of Waydroid.
That Valve has worked on in their own after forking it.
I'm drooling over this. I hope the community picks this up, this could be extended to better support Android apps on Linux phones for example.
Cool, is it better than waydroid?
I think it's based on waydroid.
Dear God I hope so
I actually just discovered Waydroid this past weekend and it's been a godsend. I don't play any android games though, just use it for utility stuff that refuses to run on my physical phone.
I'm super curious to what tools you would use? Other than games off course, I wanted to find a reason to finally get around and install Waydroid. But I just don't find a reason to, please help. :D
I used it once to install Pandora, so I could have a bigger selection of latin jazz when I was playing Tropico. It worked pretty well!
Proprietary OTP / RFA auth apps that won't run on my phone's Android version (Work stuff).
Hue smart lighting bullshit that won't run on my phone's Android version.
That's it so far. But it's been a lot nicer than Android Studio's emulator breaking every time my Arch install falls more than a week out of date.
Other uses would be banking apps and store apps (discounts).
Also it is a way to play games that have issues in Wine and have mobile version.
load more comments
(10 replies)
load more comments
(4 replies)
This will be so cool if it allows me access to the required directories to make it possible to play PvZ2 Reflourished. It would be super cool to play Reflourished on pc without a full-blown waydroid install. It's given me issues installing the required PvZ2 apk, so I kinda gave up.
It's based on waydroid in the same way that proton is based on wine, so seems unlikely.
Proton is packed with more functionality than wine (by nature of being a superset fork), and is wrapped in a much simpler box to open than Wine for the most part, so it gets a lot more praise and user adoption. I love wine and have used it for decades, but prefer Proton heavily at this point for games. I'll still use wine for desktop apps though.
I imagine Lepton will eventually be super easy to install and get running compared to Waydroid, which I can also attest was a massive headache.
I love it, but I'm personally more interested in FEX. I just prefer playing actually good games on my phone than playing bad games on my pc :P
If this helps Port standalone oculus Quest titles to steam ecosystem, that would be pretty neat.
I'm interested in continuing my game of dead cells that lives on my Android handheld, from my desktop with a controller in the evenings I'm home.
Also, i have preferred the emulator experience when on android devices versus fine-tuning them and playing them one on full-fat PCs.
I could absolutely see continuing gaming old console titles from my living room machine running those mobile platforms with their own front ends
Outside of three Android native titles which are pretty much locked down by Google Play services, and console gaming with emulation, I honestly kind of struggle to find a home for lepton in any of my regular configurations.
The readme says this tool is to help developers power their titles to Steam.
load more comments
(1 replies)
I wonder if lepton will solve the Minecraft problem. Waydroid was broken by some recent drm changes which are unlikely to be reverted although mcplauncher still seems to work although it's been awhile since I tested on my SteamDeck.
Minecraft problem? I've been playing Minecraft happily on cachyos with no compatibility layers for a few months now (it uses java)
The comment is talking about bedrock. Linux user usually play the android version, as opposed to the windows one, because it actually works better.
I've had no issues with java edition, on 1.21 or 1.7. on cachyos Pretty sure android would have less features too.
load more comments
(5 replies)
Not sure if this fits your use case. But this mod seems to work pretty flawlessly from my experience. https://geysermc.org/
What benefits does Minecraft Bedrock have over Java? Cross-play? My kid plays modded Java. Mainly Cobblemon.
Pretty much cross play with tablets and the PlayStation.
Have you tried io.mrarm.mcpelauncher?
Yes, I misspelt it in my comment. It's currently working well but I worry that the main developer will burn out. They usually have to add new thunks every new Minecraft release.
load more comments
(1 replies)
view more: next ›