I'm confused, how does Chrome work on ARM64 Android phones today?
This is "just" about providing the official Chrome binary to ARM64 "desktop" Linux.
You've been able to build and run Chromium on ARM Linux for a long time (I'm running it right now), it's just that they haven't provided an officially branded Chrome.
This is a good thing. While Chromium works well, there are a few things (like syncing) that is a bit of a pain to set up.
they probably meant desktop. i do browser test automation (selenium, vibium), and the lack of google chrome on arm64 trips up new users frequently. the workaround is to just use chromium, but that's a confusing extra step for some if it's not automated and hidden for you.
on that note, it would have been nice if they also clarified if this means they'll be shipping an official "chrome for testing" for arm64 linux, too.
Maybe Android has its own libc? So they compile it for Android, but not for general Linux.
Also curious about this.
The Chromium project builds many things. The Android version is just one of those things.
What is necessary to run Linux ARM64 binaries on Android ARM64?
To run conda-forge arm64 Linux binaries on Android in termux requires proot-distro because the ABIs are slightly different FWIU.
What is necessary to run Android ARM64 binaries on Linux ARM64?
Android Studio, LineageOS or BlissOS's outdated Android containers, a runtime like vinegarhq/sober that emulates just enough of Android.
An Android binary that makes Linux compatible syscalls only (that doesn't require Android libraries that aren't compiled for Linux) won't work will it?
The reason they didn't release Chrome for arm64 Linux almost certainly wasn't about technical feasibility, but rather about it being worth the support costs.
The android arm64 Chrome build is clearly worth it to them, as was the Chrome build for ARM Chromebooks.
Before this point they probably didn't think that arm64 Linux was a worthwhile target to support (especially since Chromium was available on arm64 Linux anyways).
I'm not sure what has changed in the desktop/laptop ARM Linux market that changed their minds - or maybe they want to put their shoulder behind that market.