Recently we talked about Google's apparent intention to bring Android support to the Raspberry Pi 3. However, the community tends to move much faster, and anyone who wants to install Android TV on their mini PC can do so now, assuming they're comfortable with alpha software. The best part is that the experience isn't limited to running Android TV; it's also possible to load applications via sideloading.
Android on a Raspberry Pi 3. Sounds inevitable, if you ask me. The most popular mini PC on the market, combined with one of the major operating systems, present in millions of devices and with hundreds of thousands of apps under its wing. The idea of turning Android into a desktop OS is still a bit far off… but its destiny doesn't have to be exclusively that. A couple of days ago we created a list of the best media players focused on expanding any TV's functions, and the truth is that most of those accessories use Android as their operating system. Why not let the Raspberry Pi 3 assume that role with the help of Android TV?
Installation
The hardest work, compiling the Android TV build, was done by the folks at Geek Till It Hertz, where you'll not only find the original video showing Android TV running on a Raspberry Pi 3, but also a link to Mediafire with the image download. After that, you'll need an SD card with at least 16 GB of space formatted as FAT32, and a copy of Win32 Disk Imager. Uncompressing the Android image will create a .img file of approximately 7.7 GB, and that's what we need to write to the SD card using Win32 Disk Imager. The process is long (about 20 minutes on average), but once it's done, you just connect the card to the Raspberry Pi 3 and power it on.
Sideloading Apps
For now, connecting USB drives directly to the Raspberry Pi 3 with Android TV doesn't work, but WiFi works without issues, so sideloading apps can be done from a computer. There are several methods compatible with this process, though the video describes a program called Amazon Fire TV Utility App, which is very easy to use. All we need to do in the program is set the IP address assigned to the Raspberry Pi 3 on Android TV (the computer and the Raspberry Pi 3 must be on the same network), and indicate the APKs to load. You might encounter an error or two along the way, but in less than two minutes the apps will appear on Android TV. One of the first recommendations is ES File Explorer, and personally I'd like someone to experiment with AirDroid, as if it works it would make sideloading even simpler. Very "alpha", potentially unstable, but excellent anyway.
