Remix OS alpha is here: run Android on your Mac

Remix OS notifications Mac screenshot 001

Remix OS, a software platform created in partnership with the Android-x86 project, is now available for download from the Jide website. Remix is basically a custom engineered version of Android Lollipop that can be installed onto a USB thumb drive to boot your Mac right into Android.

This is a pre-release alpha version of Remix intended for developers so it may be a bit rough around the edges and exhibit some hiccups. That being said, Remix OS is pretty cool: it has a custom user interface with built-in Amazon App Store, but you can sideload Google Play services to run virtually any Android app on your Mac.

To boot in Remix OS, you’ll need a USB 3.0 flash drive that supports FAT32 format, with a minimum capacity of 8GB and a recommended writing speed of 20MB/s.

Remix OS drag and drop Mac screenshot 001

Upon downloading and unzipping the Remix OS for PC package, insert a flash drive to your computer, launch the Windows-only Remix OS USB Tool and follow the instructions to make a bootable copy of Remix OS. Or, use the ISO file provided in the ZIP archive and use OS X’s Disk Utility application to burn Remix OS on an external hard drive, USB flash drive or other bootable storage device.

Lastly, reboot your Mac and press the Option (⌥) key to enter the Boot menu. Select your USB storage device containing a bootable copy of Remix OS and press Enter to boot right in Remix OS.

Remix OS games Mac screenshot 001

Unlike similar systems, Remix OS actually allows Android users to work in a traditional windowed app interface. They are also selling the $70 Remix Mini, a USB dongle that packs in a 64-bit mobile chipset, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage and built-in Wi-Fi, Ethernet and Bluetooth 4.0.

Remix Mini on desk image 001

With the Mini, you can run Remix OS on any Windows or Mac PC that meets the minimum system requirements, without needing to install anything or burn the flash drive.

Remix OS will soon be upgraded to Android Marshmallow.

For more information about Remix OS, read my preview article, check out the official website or visit their Kickstarter project page.