Ubuntu – Will “legacy” Linux/X11 apps run on Ubuntu Touch

You can also run it on the phone via XMir. You need to create a custom launcher for your X11 application, let's say it is called my_x11_app, and the desktop file is ~/.local/share/applications/my_x11_app.desktop, looking like this: down vote favorite

 [Desktop Entry] 
 Name=My X11 App
 X-Ubuntu-Touch=true 
 X-Ubuntu-XMir-Enable=true 
 Exec=/path_to_my_app/my_x11_app
 Icon=/path_to_my_app/my_x11_app.png
 Terminal=false 
 Type=Application

if you cannot see the app icon on the phone among other apps, just use the search feature, it will rescan launchers and after that the icon will be there.

Additionally, if you need an on-screen keyboard support in the x11 app there are 2 conditions you need to fulfill:

1. you need to install maliit-inputcontext-gtk3 and maliit-inputcontext-gtk2 packages into your ubuntu phone
2. you may need to set environment variables in your app, at least export GTK_IM_MODULE=maliitphablet

I wrote an article about this on my blog: http://kriscode.blogspot.tw/2016/09/x-applications-on-ubuntu-phone.html

Alternatively you can install Libertine and use your x11 app with it.

It's all done with the help of a PPA. All you have to do is to open a terminal and run the following command (you will need to be root):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-touch-coreapps-drivers/daily
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install touch-coreapps

When the installation finishes, you can find the application in Unity Dash. According to Alan Pope, the apps have been tested on Ubuntu 13.10 and Ubuntu 14.04.

Source: http://linux.softpedia.com/blog/How-to-Test-and-Use-Ubuntu-Touch-Core-Apps-on-the-Ubuntu-Desktop-433742.shtml