Building an APK runner for macOS using redroid — looking for native binary translation options

[u/seajy]

Hi everyone,

I'm working on a tool to run Android APKs on macOS. My current setup runs redroid inside a Linux VM.

I'm trying to understand how to support APKs whose native libraries target a different CPU architecture from the Android environment. My main focus is Apple Silicon, though I'd also like to understand the options for Intel Macs.

Is there a practical instruction translation layer that can work with redroid in this setup?

Specifically:

Can Android's Native Bridge mechanism handle this, and what implementations could I use?

Are Houdini or libndk_translation viable options? What technical or redistribution restrictions would I need to consider?

Are there any open-source alternatives suitable for this architecture?

On Apple Silicon, what compatibility issues remain when running ARM Android native libraries in an ARM64 Linux VM?

I'd appreciate any working examples, documentation, or advice from anyone who has tried something similar. I'm also open to changing the architecture if there's a more practical approach.

Thanks!

[u/Micro-Naut]

What AI is building this?

[u/seajy → u/Micro-Naut]

gpt 6.1 sol

[u/Emergency_Respond489 → u/seajy]

Use opus 5.5