Samsung’s flagship phones have been conspicuously missing a feature that Google introduced last year. The Linux Terminal, which lets Android run a full Linux environment natively, worked on Pixel devices but never made it to the Galaxy S25 Ultra. That might finally change.
Log files from an unreleased Galaxy S26 Ultra show the device now supports Android Virtualization Framework (AVF). That’s the underlying system requirement Google’s Linux Terminal needs to function. Its absence is exactly why the S25 Ultra couldn’t run it, even though the hardware seemed capable.
The S26 series is expected to ship with One UI 8.5, reportedly based on Android 16’s second quarterly platform release. That’s the same Android version where Google baked in Linux Terminal support, which means the timing actually lines up this time.
If Samsung follows through, the S26 Ultra would gain access to development tools, scripting environments, and Linux applications that typically require a desktop. Most people won’t care. But for developers, sysadmins, or anyone who occasionally needs a proper terminal on the go, it transforms the phone from a locked-down consumer device into something genuinely versatile.
This isn’t confirmed. Pre-release logs don’t guarantee final features, and Samsung has pulled back on capabilities before. But after skipping the feature entirely on the S25 Ultra without explanation, seeing AVF support declared in S26 logs suggests Samsung is at least considering it. For a subset of users who’ve been waiting, that’s better than radio silence.
Source – Android Authority
