Last year, Google introduced Linux Terminal support for Android 16, enabling users to operate a Linux distribution on select phones and tablets. This feature is available on Exynos-powered Galaxy devices, and it appears that One UI 8.5 includes several beneficial enhancements.
Android 16 QPR2 brings several enhancements to the Terminal experience, including support for graphical applications and increased storage access. The positive aspect is that One UI 8.5 is built on this version of Android. Insights provided to Android Authority by tipster Dylan H indicate that One UI 8.5 also incorporates these Terminal enhancements. This information was obtained from an Exynos-powered Galaxy S26 Plus.
To begin with, the Terminal app in One UI 8.5 now accommodates graphical applications. You can access this feature by tapping the display icon located in the top-right corner of the window (refer to the first image below). It is important to note that One UI 8, illustrated in the third image below, does not include this icon. This enhancement allows you to move beyond command-line programs and utilize applications such as GIMP, the Chromium browser, Doom, and others.
Additionally, One UI 8.5 introduces support for storage ballooning, as demonstrated by the 198GB of available space shown in the first image below. This means that the Linux Terminal can utilize all available storage on your device right from the start. In contrast, the Terminal app in One UI 8 offers a disk resize slider (see the second and third images) that enables you to modify the amount of available storage.
The enhancements in storage capabilities do not end here. The Terminal application in One UI 8 restricts access solely to the Downloads folder. In contrast, the Terminal in One UI 8.5 can now reach all shared storage on the device, which includes directories such as DCIM, Movies, Music, Android, and others.
Interestingly, the informant mentions that One UI 8.5 has removed the ability to search within developer options. It remains uncertain whether this is a bug, but it necessitates enabling Terminal access through ADB commands. Hope Samsung rectifies this, as activating this feature through developer options is significantly more convenient.
These enhancements also follow our discovery of additional Terminal improvements in Android Canary (build 2603). These upcoming upgrades feature a more contemporary interface, a slider to control memory usage, and an option to keep the screen active for a designated period.
Eager to experiment with the Linux Terminal on your Galaxy device? Unfortunately, if your phone is equipped with a Snapdragon chipset, you are out of luck, as this feature is only accessible on select devices powered by Exynos, MediaTek, or Google Tensor chips.
