A new report claims that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Series is missing an important Android security feature that Google wants to make compulsory on all new devices running Android 15 and above.
Android expert Mishaal Rahman recently reported that Samsung’s Galaxy S25-series smartphones don’t appear to support Android’s Advanced Virtualization Framework (AVF), leaving them incompatible with some advanced features such as the forthcoming Android Linux Terminal app.
What Is AVF?
AVF, introduced in Android 13, lets your device create secure, isolated virtual machines that run a mini version of Android called Microdroid. These virtual machines can run code in a protected environment with restricted access to a smartphone’s hardware and sensitive data. Conversely, AVF can protect running code from malicious apps on the host device.
Samsung’s home-grown Knox solution duplicates many of AVF’s security benefits, such as separating sensitive data and biometrics from the rest of the Android operating system.
However, Google’s new Android Linux Terminal app goes one step further, allowing you to run a complete Linux operating system inside a virtual machine. This could eventually let Android devices run graphical Linux apps like Chrome OS can already.
Rahman claims that the Galaxy S25 Series hardware should be capable of running AVF. Rival devices like the recently released OnePlus 13 support AVF using the same Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset as Samsung. However, Samsung has chosen not to.
According to an earlier report from Rahman, at least 361 Android devices from various manufacturers already support AVF. However, no Samsung devices are among them, despite Google’s stated intention to make AVF support compulsory in the future.
Will Samsung Support AVF In The Future?
Android’s new Linux Terminal app will likely launch with Android 16, so it will be interesting to see whether Samsung adds support for AVF in One UI 8 later this year.
While most Galaxy S25-series owners won’t miss AVF, it would be unfortunate for a flagship device like the Galaxy S25 Ultra to miss out on apps widely available on devices from other manufacturers.
I’ve contacted Samsung for comment on this issue and I’ll report back with any updates.
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