How to Install Android on Raspberry Pi 4 in 2021 [Guide]

Whilst you can remotely arrange and run Raspberry Pi and not using a monitor or an ethernet cable, you’ll need a bunch of wired equipment for those who select to put in Android in your Raspberry Pi 4 board. So on this article, we carry you an in depth information on the right way to set up Android on Raspberry Pi 4 and three. Now we have additionally talked about a solution to run the Android 11 construct on Raspberry Pi, however for stability and good efficiency, we now have chosen to stay with Android 10. With that in thoughts, let’s go forward and learn to run Android on Raspberry Pi 4 and RPi 3.

Set up Android on Raspberry Pi 4 & 3 (2021)

That is an all-in-one information for each newcomers and consultants to get Android operating on Raspberry Pi. I’d recommend you carefully observe the step-by-step directions, and you’ll have Android operating in your board very quickly.

Primary Necessities

1. You have to a separate monitor to arrange and set up Android on Raspberry Pi.

2. HDMI cable primarily based in your board. Raspberry Pi 4 will want a micro HDMI to HDMI cable whereas Raspberry Pi 3 would require an HDMI to HDMI cable.

2. A microSD card having free area of 16GB or extra.

3. Keyboard and mouse. When you’ve got a wi-fi combo one, that’s even higher.

4. An influence adapter relying in your board.

Important Downloads

1. To start with, obtain Android for Raspberry Pi. A developer named KonstaKANG is standard for making Android ROMs for Raspberry Pi 3 and 4. The ROMs are primarily based on Lineage OS and obtainable in lots of variations, together with Android 9, 10, and 11. Relying in your board, obtain any Android model, however I’d advocate Android 10 for stability. You possibly can click here to go over to the obtain web page for RPi 4. If you wish to obtain Android for RPi3, click on on the Gadgets menu on the top-right nook.

2. Subsequent, that you must obtain the GApps bundle because the Android construct doesn’t include Google apps and providers. Open this link and select “ARM” and “Android 10” as we’re putting in the Android 10 construct and “pico” because it’s the naked minimal required for operating Google Play Providers.

3. Subsequent, that you must obtain balenaEtcher (Free) to flash Android onto the SD card.

Set up Android on Raspberry Pi

1. Upon getting downloaded the Android construct, extract it, and you’ll get an IMG file.

2. Subsequent, open balenaEtcher and choose the Android IMG file. In my case, it’s an Android 10 construct. After that, select the SD card and click on on “Flash!“.

3. As soon as the flashing course of is full, take away the SD card and insert it into the Raspberry Pi module. As well as, join a mouse and keyboard. Lastly, join the facility supply and HDMI cable to the monitor.

4. Energy up the Raspberry Pi, and you’ll find Lineage OS loading up on the display screen inside just a few seconds.

5. After some time, you’ll be greeted with the standard Android setup course of. Observe the on-screen directions and ensure to connect with a Wi-Fi community.

Set up Google Play Retailer and Providers on Android-based Raspberry Pi

1. Now that you’ve got put in Android on Raspberry Pi, it’s time so as to add assist for Google Play Retailer and different providers. Use a USB drive and transfer the GApps bundle to Raspberry Pi out of your laptop. I attempted downloading the GApps bundle instantly on the Raspberry Pi, however that didn’t work. Should you can obtain it on the board itself, will probably be simpler for you.

2. Upon getting moved the GApps bundle to the board, open Settings and transfer to “About pill”. Right here, click on on “Construct Quantity” 7-8 instances constantly to unlock Developer Choices. You possibly can seek for “construct” on the Settings web page if “About pill” doesn’t seem on the settings web page.

3. Now, transfer again to the principle Settings menu and navigate to System -> Superior -> Developer Choices.

4. Subsequent, activate “Superior Restart“.

5. Now, to restart Android on Raspberry Pi, that you must press and maintain the “F5” key on the keyboard. Then, click on on “Restart” and select “Restoration”.

Notice: Some keyboard shortcuts for Android on Raspberry Pi are as follows: F1 = House, F2 = Again, F3 = Multi-tasking, F4 = Menu, F5 = Energy, F11 = Quantity down, and F12 = Quantity up.

6. You’ll now boot into the TWRP restoration. If prompted, click on on “Swipe to Permit Modifications”. After that, click on “Set up“.

7. Right here, select the GApps bundle that we transferred to the Raspberry Pi board.

8. Lastly, click on on “Swipe to substantiate Flash“.

9. Now, click on on the TWRP icon on the top-left nook, and it’ll take you to the principle menu. This time, navigate to Wipe -> Swipe to Manufacturing unit Reset.

10. As soon as the reset is full, click on on “Reboot System” on the identical web page.

11. And voila! You’ll boot instantly into Android in your Raspberry Pi. And this time, you’ll be prompted with the Google setup. Now, go forward and observe the on-screen directions to log into your Google account. I recommend you to not add your main Google account as Google has been terminating accounts for unknown coverage violations of late.

12. So right here it’s. Google Play Retailer and all of the Google providers are actually put in on Raspberry Pi and dealing completely superb. In case you’re getting a “Machine just isn’t Play Shield licensed” notification or some apps like Netflix are usually not obtainable for obtain,  observe the steps under to repair this subject.

Repair “Machine just isn’t Play Shield licensed” Error on Android-based Raspberry Pi

In case you are getting this error in your Android-based Raspberry Pi, there may be nothing to fret about. You possibly can manually enroll your Android-based Raspberry Pi on Google’s checklist of licensed gadgets. To start with, set up the Machine ID app by Evozi (Play Store/ APKMirror) on Raspberry Pi. If Play Retailer just isn’t opening for you, you’ll be able to sideload the Machine ID APK from APKMirror.

2. Subsequent, open the Machine ID app, and it’ll show the code for Google Service Framework (GSF). Click on on it and “copy” the code.

3. Now, open google.com/android/uncertified in your Raspberry Pi and paste the GSF code. After that, click on on “Register“. That’s all that you must do to repair the “Machine just isn’t Play Shield licensed” error. Now, await 5-10 minutes, and the notification ought to be gone. It is possible for you to to entry the Google Play Retailer and all its apps in your Raspberry Pi 4.

4. If it’s nonetheless not working, restart your Android-based Raspberry Pi. Press and maintain the F5 key and click on on Restart -> System. This time, the error ought to be gone. You possibly can test your system certification from the Play Retailer -> Profile menu on the top-right nook -> Settings -> About -> Play Shield certification. Right here, it ought to present the “Machine is licensed”.

Run Android on Raspberry Pi With out Any Restrictions

So that’s how one can set up and run Android on a Raspberry Pi. On this information, I’ve chosen KonstaKANG’s Android construct because it affords extra stability and has wider assist for older Pi boards. In case you need to run the most recent Android 11 construct, check out recently released OmniROM builds. That stated, it’s solely suitable with RPi 4, that includes a minimum of 4GB of RAM. However the good half is that it comes preloaded with Google providers.

So for extra such attention-grabbing tutorials on Raspberry Pi, keep tuned with us. And if you wish to use your Raspberry Pi to set up Pi-hole, we now have a devoted information that gives the directions from scratch. Lastly, when you’ve got any questions, remark them down under and tell us. We’ll strive that can assist you out.