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Building Android Applications (.apk) from the Command Line



Creating an app directly from its source code and installing it on a device can often seem like a

daunting task. Take a look at how we make our Android applications with a few easy steps in the

command line!

Prerequisites:


1. Latest Android SDK

2. Latest JAVA JDK

3. Apache ANT

If you don’t have Ant, you can obtain it from the Apache Ant home page. Install it and make sure it is

in your executable PATH. Before calling Ant, you need to declare the JAVA_HOME environment

variable to specify the path to where the JDK is installed.

Also set the PATH to Android SDK

Pre Build Config:


1. Checkout the Latest Code from SVN

2. Navigate to Checkout Directory using Command Line (Terminal)

3. Enter the following command:

android update project -p <PATH TO CHKOUT DIR> -t "Google Inc.:Google APIs:<LEVEL Number>" -n <name that will appear in device>

example : android update project --name desired_apk_name --path .

4. To make sure everything is in place, type ant clean. This will make sure build.xml is proper

and all the required tools are in place.

There are two ways to build your application using the Ant build script: one for testing/debugging

your application — debug mode — and one for building your final package for release — release

mode.

Building in Release Mode

When you’re ready to release and distribute your application to end-users, you must build your

application in release mode. Once you have built it in release mode, it’s a good idea to perform

additional testing and debugging with the final .apk. Never publish an updated build to the Google

Play store.

 To build in release mode:

1. Open a command-line and navigate to the root of your project directory.
2. Use Ant to compile your project in debug mode: ant release.

This creates your release .apk file inside the project bin/ directory, named <name of project>-

release.apk.

Android: How to set the name of the released APK?

Please First Change \android-sdk\tools\ant\build.xml for signed release apk

These changes are onetime in build.xml because of this file every time use with your project

build.xml to generate apk

<property name="out.final.file" location="${out.absolute.dir}/${ant.project.name}-

release.apk" />

By

<property name="out.final.file"location="${out.absolute.dir}/${ant.project.name}.apk"

/>

Installing the App on your Android Device or in the Emulator

Once <name of project>-release.apk is created you can install it on your Device or Emulator, to do

so follow the below steps:

1. Start the desired Emulator or Connect the Development Device

2. Navigate to /bin directory in your Project.

3. Enter adb install <name of project>-release.apk in the command line.

4. This will install the apk in Emulator or Device directly.

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