Breakthrough: The Nintendo Switch can now run Android

The Nintendo Switch is one of the most popular consoles of this generation. While it lags behind the Playstation 4 and Xbox One in terms of pure sales, the hand-held console has actually averaged similar yearly sales to the PS4, and is the most moddable current-gen console by quite a distance. A new release on XDA has taken that up a notch, too, with the Switch now able to run on the Android OS.

Right now, Switch users are limited to a single ROM. It's a LineageOS 15.1 ROM based on an NVIDIA Shield TV build. For the laymen, LineageOS 15.1 is based on Android 8.1 Oreo, so this isn't quite the latest version of Android. It's close enough, though. Interested Switch owners will be able to flash the ROM with TWRP after mounting an SD card with the ROM image.

Bugs include screen off while docked, no screenshots, ghost touches, wonky WiFi, and charging undetected although the console actually charges. It's by no means a perfect release but it's something, and those bugs will likely be fixed over time. The ability to dual boot between the Switch's OS and Android is invaluable and makes the Switch an even better hand-held console.

While running Android on the Switch is excellent, we have a feeling most people will be more interested in being able to run Switch software on Android phones. That appears to be quite a ways off at the moment, though.