LinuxRunner 1.1.0 — Build 900

LinuxRunner 1.1.0 — Build 900

LinuxRunner brings ARM64 Linux applications and desktop environments to iPhone and iPad without a jailbreak. Version 1.1.0 adds external-display workflows, a Metal-backed virtual GPU, more desktops and substantial runtime improvements.

What's New

• DeX Mode: use a compatible external display with keyboard/mouse input or the iPhone's relative touchpad. USB-C/compatible adapters and AirPlay use iOS display support; a separate external scene enables independent phone controls.
• Metal GPU acceleration: compatible guest Mesa/virgl workloads use virglrenderer, ANGLE and Apple Metal. Select Settings → Graphics → Linux GPU Device → GPU → Metal GPU · Experimental, fully restart the app, then check Active renderer. Automatic does not enable it in Build 900.
• More desktop choices: LXQt, Enlightenment on Arch, Wayfire and experimental Hyprland join LinuxRunner Desktop and Debian KDE Plasma. Install available environments through Settings → Desktop Environment.
• Optional ARM64 JIT: inspect actual execution status through Settings → Advanced → Developer Mode → Execution Engine / StikDebug. JIT activation depends on platform permissions. JIT is not required to use LinuxRunner.
• Optimized ARM64 execution: faster NEON comparison/pairwise paths, exclusive stores and memory bookkeeping; additional JIT ARMv8 crypto translations and validated instruction capability reporting.
• Expanded application compatibility: Vesktop is reported fully working in the maintainer's tests. New captures show VS Code, FreeCAD and ONLYOFFICE; Telegram on Arch has previously been tested with login, messages and calls.
• Networking and files: more accurate interface/address and route reporting, native Network diagnostics and per-environment shared folders.

Desktop and Runtime Improvements

Desktop fitting defaults to a landscape 960 × 540 workspace, with saved viewer preferences and a unified Desktop Settings panel. Session reconnection and external-output transport retain the active desktop. Hyprland uses a single pointer instead of an extra x11vnc cursor overlay.

Wayland applications receive the selected compositor's launch context. Arch Wayfire can use the virtual GPU. Shared-memory, signalfd readiness, route-query handling and Linux execution correctness have also improved. These changes expand supported workflows; they do not establish compatibility with every Linux application.

Performance

On a physical iPhone 16 Pro running iOS 27.2, the maintainer reports approximately 10 FPS with software rendering and 55–60 FPS with Metal during Hyprland testing. This is an informal reported observation; the measurement counter/method and duration were not supplied. It is not a controlled benchmark or a guarantee for other devices/workloads. The supplied Hyprland and FreeCAD captures use GPU acceleration.

The release also improves covered interpreter workloads and provides optional JIT execution. JIT translation overhead can make short programs slower. Recorded measurements, environments, ranges and regressions

Distributions and Applications

Debian ARM64 and Arch Linux ARM are recommended for desktop use. Alpine ARM64 remains supported, with less desktop/application coverage and further integration work planned. Hyprland is currently an Arch-only experimental option. KDE Plasma is offered on Debian; Arch Plasma has not been validated. Enlightenment is disabled on Debian because startup stops at its splash screen.

Application results depend on distribution, package version and workflow. Maintainer-tested Vesktop functionality is a compatibility milestone, not a promise that every Electron application works. Compatibility

Requirements

• Minimum guidance: iPhone 11 or newer/equivalent compatible device, at least 4 GB RAM and approximately 3–4 GB free storage.
• OS target: iOS/iPadOS 15.0 is the configured deployment target, not broadly verified compatibility. Most testing has used much newer versions; older releases can have startup or API limitations.
• Recommended: iPhone 12 Pro or newer/equivalent with at least 6 GB RAM, iOS/iPadOS 26 or newer and at least 10 GB free storage. Larger desktop/application collections need more space.
• Hyprland: at least 8 GB RAM, Arch Linux ARM, experimental; Metal recommended.

The maintainer has physically tested iPhone and iPad support. This does not certify every model or OS version. An earlier iPhone 11/iOS 17 launch-black-screen report remains unresolved.

Installation

Install the release IPA using a compatible sideloading tool of your choice. Signing/provisioning and renewal requirements depend on that method. Then open Distributions → Set Up Linux… to install or configure Linux inside the app. No jailbreak or JIT activation is required. Back up important files and preserve app identity/storage configuration when updating.

Installation · First-launch walkthrough · External-display setup

Known Limitations

• Hyprland is still being optimized. Its first launch can report an error; select Retry when offered. Use LinuxRunner Desktop/LXQt if startup continues to fail.
• Metal must be explicitly selected and the app restarted. Acceleration depends on the application/API, guest driver and presentation path; software rendering remains available.
• Optional JIT depends on iOS restrictions, signing and activation tools. Interpreter fallback remains available.
• Alpine has less coverage; some desktop features are unavailable. Wayfire, Hyprland, KDE Plasma and Metal paths remain experimental.
• Bluetooth networking, unrestricted network-hardware access, Linux kernel boot, x86 applications and kernel modules are unsupported.
• Separate external-output behavior depends on iOS and the receiver. Plain mirroring cannot supply an independent phone control surface.
• Large workloads can exhaust memory. iOS suspension/termination can stop execution; saved Linux files persist, running processes do not survive app termination.

Downloads

Release assets:

• LinuxRunner-1.1.0-build900.ipa — the retained Metal/JIT-capable Build 900, ad-hoc signed without an Apple provisioning profile. JIT remains optional.
• LinuxRunner-1.1.0-source.tar.gz — corresponding application source, required dependency sources, build instructions and notices.
• LICENSES.txt — project and third-party notices.
• SHA256SUMS — final asset checksums.

The verified IPA is 21,513,740 bytes, SHA-256:

b2d73496307b6d2f535d80f09c00ef06aaf2b324a3ab9a52798999d4155634ae

Verify the original IPA before signing; signing changes its checksum.

Feedback and Acknowledgments

Please report reproducible problems with device, OS, app version/build, distribution, desktop, renderer and steps. Review logs/screenshots for private information before sharing.

Maintained by Leminos (mxhm11cr), derived from iSH through ios-linuxkit. Thanks to their authors and the Mesa, virglrenderer, libepoxy, ANGLE, terminal, font, distribution and desktop projects. Their code retains its own copyright and license terms. The combined application is GPL-3.0-covered; see License, App Store terms and Third-party notices.