install android sdk, eclipse, and emulator (avds) _ developer how-to _ android _ konreu.pdf

6
12/11/12 ndroid SDK, Eclipse, and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu 1/6 android.konreu.com/dev eloper-how-to/install-android-sdk-eclipse-and-emulator-av ds/ Android | Konreu Follow me on Twitter Home Applications Developer How-To Finance politics Start-Up technologies « Real-Time, In-Browser Notifications with Node.js and Faye (HTML5 WebSockets) So You Want to Be a Ruby on Rails Developer at a Startup in NYC? » Install Android SDK, Eclipse, and Emulator (AVDs) Android is a large and fast-growing segment of the mobile phone market. With potentially 350,000 users activating a new Android phone every day and multiple Android App Stores popping up (Google’s Android Market was recently revamped, and now other markets are coming online, like Amazon’s Android App Store ), now is a great time to jump into Android development. This walk-through will get you started installing the Android Software Development Kit (Android SDK), installing and configuring the Eclipse IDE for Android development, and choosing and installing Android Virtual Devices (AVDs) to emulate the Android environment right on your local computer. After following these steps, you will be ready to create your first Android application! 1. Download the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html The very first step is to download the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) that will let you emulate Android on your local computer. It is not too large (only ~30MB, compared to the monolithic XCode/iPhone SDK, which is almost 4GB!). From the Android SDK Download Page , make sure to choose the version that is correct for your operating system. After your Android SDK download is complete, unzip and move the new folder to a permanent location (*not* your downloads directory). I use a folder in my home directory (~/Android/android-sdk-mac_x86/) but you can move it anywhere you would like. There is no wrong location. Wherever you choose will hereby known as $ANDROID for future reference. 2. Download Eclipse IDE for Java Developers

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Page 1: Install Android SDK, Eclipse, and Emulator (AVDs) _ Developer How-To _ Android _ Konreu.pdf

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

16androidkonreucomdev eloper-how-toinstall-android-sdk-eclipse-and-emulator-av ds

Android | Konreu

Follow me on Twitter

Home

Applications

Developer How-To

Financepolitics

Start-Up

technologies

laquo Real-Time In-Browser Notifications with Nodejs and Faye (HTML5 WebSockets)

So You Want to Be a Ruby on Rails Developer at a Startup in NYC raquo

Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator(AVDs)

Android is a large and fast-growing segment of the mobile phone market With potentially 350000 users

activating a new Android phone every day and multiple Android App Stores popping up (Googlersquos Android

Market was recently revamped and now other markets are coming online like Amazonrsquos Android App Store)

now is a great time to jump into Android development

This walk-through will get you started installing the Android Software Development Kit (Android SDK)

installing and configuring the Eclipse IDE for Android development and choosing and installing Android VirtualDevices (AVDs) to emulate the Android environment right on your local computer After following these steps

you will be ready to create your first Android application

1 Download the Android Software Development Kit (SDK)

httpdeveloperandroidcomsdkindexhtml

The very first step is to download the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) that will let you emulate Android on your local

computer It is not too large (only ~30MB compared to the monolithic XCodeiPhone SDK which is almost 4GB)

From the Android SDK Download Page make sure to choose the version that is correct for your operating

system

After your Android SDK download is complete unzip and move the new folder to a permanent location (not

your downloads directory) I use a folder in my home directory (~Androidandroid-sdk-mac_x86) but you can

move it anywhere you would like There is no wrong location Wherever you choose will hereby known as

$ANDROID for future reference

2 Download Eclipse IDE for Java Developers

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

androidkonreucomdev eloper-how-toinstall-android-sdk-eclipse-and-emulator-av ds

httpwwweclipseorgdownloads

When I develop for Android I choose to use Eclipse as my Integrated Development Environment (IDE) Eclipse

can be suitably adapted for Android development since you can get plugins to help with creating your Android

project launching your Android emulator and preparing your Android application for the Android Market It is

not an ideal IDE but the pros outweigh the cons for Android Development

From the Eclipse Downloads Page choose the ldquoEclipse IDE for Java Developers Make sure you are getting the

correct version for your operating system Eclipse is fairly large (~100MB) but still a lot smaller than the 4GB

XCode for the iPhone

After your Eclipse IDE download is complete unzip and move to a permanent folder I use the applications

directory in my home folder (~Applications)

For OSX users we will want to have access to Eclipseapp from within our Applications folder To do this

Make an alias of the Eclipseapp file (CTRL-Click then ldquoMake Aliasrdquo)

Move the alias into root applications folder (Applications) so that it shows up next to your otherapplications

Now you can use Eclipse just like any other application including adding it to your dock I do this with all of

programs that I download that do not have installers (ie they are just app files) This may not be a necessarystep (I am fairly new to OSX) so please let me know if there is a better way

3 Install the Android Development Tools (ADT) plugin for Eclipse

httpdeveloperandroidcomsdkeclipse-adthtmldownloading

Next we will use Eclipse to install the Android Development Tools (ADT) using Eclipsersquos built-in plug-insystem From within Eclipse

1 Choose ldquoHelprdquo gt ldquoInstall New Softwarehelliprdquo

2 Click the ldquoAddhelliprdquo button and create a new entryName ldquoAndroid ADTrdquo (this space is for your own personal use so name it whatever you want)

Location ldquohttpsdl-sslgooglecomandroideclipserdquo (try just http if the https does not work foryou)

3 Check all the boxes to install all the tools4 Just keep clicking ldquoI agreerdquo ldquoNextrdquo ldquoYesrdquo etc until it asks you to restart5 Go ahead and restart Eclipse when prompted to

4 Connect Android SDK with Eclipse IDE

This next step connects the Android SDK from Step 1 to the Eclipse IDE from Step 2 In Step 3 youshould have restarted Eclipse If you have not done so do that now From within Eclipse

1 Click on the ldquoEclipserdquo menu (next to the apple logo for OSX) and choose ldquoPreferencesrdquo

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

36androidkonreucomdev eloper-how-toinstall-android-sdk-eclipse-and-emulator-av ds

2 Click on ldquoAndroidrdquo heading in the menu-tree to open our Android Eclipse preferences

3 Click the ldquoBrowsehelliprdquo button to the right of the rdquoSDK Locationrdquo box4 Enter the location of your Android SDK (the $ANDROID path from Step 1)

5 (Optional) Additional AndroidEclipse Config

While we are in the Android section of our Eclipse preferences letrsquos change a few more things These steps areentirely optional For these additional preferences we need to expand the menu-tree under the ldquoAndroidrdquo

heading

1 Click on the triangle next to the ldquoAndroidrdquo heading in the preferences tree to expand our options2 Click on the ldquoDDMSrdquo sub-heading and change the ldquoLogging Levelrdquo settings to ldquoVerboserdquo so that we see

everything that goes on while developing3 In the ldquoUsage Statsrdquo sub-heading click the checkbox to allow Google to know how we are using the

SDK (seems fair enough right)

6 Decide Which Android Platforms You Will Support

httpdeveloperandroidcomresourcesdashboardplatform-versionshtml

This graph will help you decide which ones are relevant and worth your time I recommend checking the Android

Platform Versions Graph every month or so to see how rapidly it changes When I first found this graph less thana year ago Android 15 and Android 16 together represented ~50 of the graph Today they are only ~8

For me this dramatic change in Android 1516 deployment means that my efforts will be better spent focusingon Android 21+ For you it may be worth it to support 1516 for those 8 of users Only you can make that

decision

When deciding consider that you will need to test debug and provide customer support for every version ofAndroid that you support and for each individual device that runs those versions For example deciding to

support 21 means that there are a whole host of different hardware devices that you may receive feedbackregarding whereas supporting 233 (for right now) only means the Nexus One and the Nexus S Just keep thatin mind while deciding

From a resources standpoint not only do you need to test and support each version that you plan to release for

but you also need to have those Android SDKs and Android Emulators on your machine (which takes up spacewhich on my smaller SSD is a finite resource) It may not be an issue for your but it is just yet another thing tokeep in mind

Finally no matter which versions you choose to support right now make sure to check the Android Platform

Versions Graph every month or so to see how it is changing and to adjust accordingly This will let you knowwhen you can stop supporting older versions of Android and most importantly will let you know when you need

to start supporting newer versions of Android as they grow and gain traction

7 Install Android SDK Components

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

46androidkonreucomdev eloper-how-toinstall-android-sdk-eclipse-and-emulator-av ds

httpdeveloperandroidcomsdkadding-componentshtml

Android is packaged in such a way that the base Android SDK (downloaded in Step 1) is distinct and separatefrom each API version of the Android SDK This means that for each version we want to support (from Step

6) we need to download a separate Android SDK for that version This can be very annoying when installing

(notice how many steps we have done by now) but in the long-run is a very beneficial design for us Android

Developers As new API versions are added and old API versions are phased out we can installuninstall theAPIs as compnents rather than a single huge download like XCode is for iPhone (4GB I just canrsquot get over

that Who has a 4GB download for a minor version change)

We need to download the Software Development Kits (SDKs) for the Android versions that we want tosupport To do this we can use the Eclipse IDE + Android ADT that we installed in Step 3 From within

Eclipse

Click on ldquoWindowrdquo then ldquoAndroid SDK and AVD ManagerrdquoIn ldquoAvailable packagesrdquo select the platforms you want to support You can either choose all or pick-

and-choose what you want to develop for For example 21 22 and 233 are all I care about so I am

using API 7 8 and 10 In the ldquoAndroid Repositoryrdquo package I checked the boxes next toAndroid SDK Platform-tools revision 3

SDK Platform Android 233 API 10 revision 1

SDK Platform Android 22 API 8 revision 1

SDK Platform Android 21 API 7 revision 1Samples for SDK API 10 revision 1

Samples for SDK API 8 revision 1

Samples for SDK API 7 revision 1

Android Compatibility package revision 1

In the ldquoThird party Add-onsrdquo decide what you are interested in If you are going to be using Google

Maps (or anything Google beyond Android) you want to install their APIs If you want their licensing billing packages get those too I checked the boxes next to

Google APIs by Google Inc Android API 10 revision 1

Google APIs by Google Inc Android API 8 revision 1

Google APIs by Google Inc Android API 9 revision 1Google Market Licensing package revision 1

Google Market Billing package revision 1

Choose ldquoInstall Selectedrdquo then the ldquoAccept Allrdquo radio button then ldquoInstallrdquo This may take a while If itseems like your download has paused check for any confirmation dialogs that you need to click ldquoAcceptrdquo

to These can sometimes be hiding in the background

8 Create Your Android Virtual Devices (AVDs)

httpdeveloperandroidcomguidepracticesscreens_supporthtmltesting

Last but not least we need to create Android Virtual Devices (AVDs) that will be our Android Emulators for

running and testing our Android applications on our local computer In the same ldquoAndroid SDK and AVD

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

56

Managerrdquo from Step 7 choose ldquoVirtual Devicesrdquo on the left and create ldquoNewhelliprdquo ones I like to create AVDsto represent different Android versions that I want to test as well as different hardware specs and screen

densities my users are likely to be using

The main idea is to test different versions of the Android API as well as different screen resolutions and

densities I tend to pair older versions of Android (most likely running on older hardware) with lower screen

densities and new versions of Android (most likely running on newer hardware) with better screen resolutions

Final Thoughts

These 8 Steps should be enough to get you up and running on your local computer and ready to create and test

your first Android application There are plenty more things to cover regarding testing and packaging of yourapplication but this is at least a start for now If you have any questions issues or suggestions please leave a

comment below

android avd eclipse emulator sdk

Share this post

Twitter

Digg

FacebookDelicious

StumbleUpon

Google

BookmarksLinkedIn

Yahoo

Bookmarks

TechnoratiFavorites

Print

article

This entry was posted by Conroy Whitney on 2011-03-22 at 1416 and is filed

under Developer How-To Follow any responses to this post through RSS 20

You can leave a response or trackback from your own site

Comments (1)

1 written by jim

about 1 year ago

Quote

Hi I made a similar videohellip

httpwwwudemycomwrite-and-publish-an-app-for-your-android-smartphone

You must be logged in to post a comment

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

66androidkonreucomdev eloper-how-toinstall-android-sdk-eclipse-and-emulator-av ds

Popular posts

Archives

TagsCategories

Applications (4)

Developer How-To (4)Finance (1)

politics (1)

Start-Up (4)

technologies (3)

Latest Tweets

followers

about 0 seconds agoRabout 0 seconds ago

Screen Off featured by Android Guys httpwwwandroidguyscom20100914app-review-

screen-2about 2 years ago

Follow me on Twitter

Recent Posts

I T-

So You Want to Be a Ruby on Rails Developer at a Startup in NYCInstall Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs)

Mystique theme by digitalnature | Powered by WordPress

RSS Feeds XHTML 11 TopBlog WebMastered by All in One Webmaster

Page 2: Install Android SDK, Eclipse, and Emulator (AVDs) _ Developer How-To _ Android _ Konreu.pdf

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

androidkonreucomdev eloper-how-toinstall-android-sdk-eclipse-and-emulator-av ds

httpwwweclipseorgdownloads

When I develop for Android I choose to use Eclipse as my Integrated Development Environment (IDE) Eclipse

can be suitably adapted for Android development since you can get plugins to help with creating your Android

project launching your Android emulator and preparing your Android application for the Android Market It is

not an ideal IDE but the pros outweigh the cons for Android Development

From the Eclipse Downloads Page choose the ldquoEclipse IDE for Java Developers Make sure you are getting the

correct version for your operating system Eclipse is fairly large (~100MB) but still a lot smaller than the 4GB

XCode for the iPhone

After your Eclipse IDE download is complete unzip and move to a permanent folder I use the applications

directory in my home folder (~Applications)

For OSX users we will want to have access to Eclipseapp from within our Applications folder To do this

Make an alias of the Eclipseapp file (CTRL-Click then ldquoMake Aliasrdquo)

Move the alias into root applications folder (Applications) so that it shows up next to your otherapplications

Now you can use Eclipse just like any other application including adding it to your dock I do this with all of

programs that I download that do not have installers (ie they are just app files) This may not be a necessarystep (I am fairly new to OSX) so please let me know if there is a better way

3 Install the Android Development Tools (ADT) plugin for Eclipse

httpdeveloperandroidcomsdkeclipse-adthtmldownloading

Next we will use Eclipse to install the Android Development Tools (ADT) using Eclipsersquos built-in plug-insystem From within Eclipse

1 Choose ldquoHelprdquo gt ldquoInstall New Softwarehelliprdquo

2 Click the ldquoAddhelliprdquo button and create a new entryName ldquoAndroid ADTrdquo (this space is for your own personal use so name it whatever you want)

Location ldquohttpsdl-sslgooglecomandroideclipserdquo (try just http if the https does not work foryou)

3 Check all the boxes to install all the tools4 Just keep clicking ldquoI agreerdquo ldquoNextrdquo ldquoYesrdquo etc until it asks you to restart5 Go ahead and restart Eclipse when prompted to

4 Connect Android SDK with Eclipse IDE

This next step connects the Android SDK from Step 1 to the Eclipse IDE from Step 2 In Step 3 youshould have restarted Eclipse If you have not done so do that now From within Eclipse

1 Click on the ldquoEclipserdquo menu (next to the apple logo for OSX) and choose ldquoPreferencesrdquo

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

36androidkonreucomdev eloper-how-toinstall-android-sdk-eclipse-and-emulator-av ds

2 Click on ldquoAndroidrdquo heading in the menu-tree to open our Android Eclipse preferences

3 Click the ldquoBrowsehelliprdquo button to the right of the rdquoSDK Locationrdquo box4 Enter the location of your Android SDK (the $ANDROID path from Step 1)

5 (Optional) Additional AndroidEclipse Config

While we are in the Android section of our Eclipse preferences letrsquos change a few more things These steps areentirely optional For these additional preferences we need to expand the menu-tree under the ldquoAndroidrdquo

heading

1 Click on the triangle next to the ldquoAndroidrdquo heading in the preferences tree to expand our options2 Click on the ldquoDDMSrdquo sub-heading and change the ldquoLogging Levelrdquo settings to ldquoVerboserdquo so that we see

everything that goes on while developing3 In the ldquoUsage Statsrdquo sub-heading click the checkbox to allow Google to know how we are using the

SDK (seems fair enough right)

6 Decide Which Android Platforms You Will Support

httpdeveloperandroidcomresourcesdashboardplatform-versionshtml

This graph will help you decide which ones are relevant and worth your time I recommend checking the Android

Platform Versions Graph every month or so to see how rapidly it changes When I first found this graph less thana year ago Android 15 and Android 16 together represented ~50 of the graph Today they are only ~8

For me this dramatic change in Android 1516 deployment means that my efforts will be better spent focusingon Android 21+ For you it may be worth it to support 1516 for those 8 of users Only you can make that

decision

When deciding consider that you will need to test debug and provide customer support for every version ofAndroid that you support and for each individual device that runs those versions For example deciding to

support 21 means that there are a whole host of different hardware devices that you may receive feedbackregarding whereas supporting 233 (for right now) only means the Nexus One and the Nexus S Just keep thatin mind while deciding

From a resources standpoint not only do you need to test and support each version that you plan to release for

but you also need to have those Android SDKs and Android Emulators on your machine (which takes up spacewhich on my smaller SSD is a finite resource) It may not be an issue for your but it is just yet another thing tokeep in mind

Finally no matter which versions you choose to support right now make sure to check the Android Platform

Versions Graph every month or so to see how it is changing and to adjust accordingly This will let you knowwhen you can stop supporting older versions of Android and most importantly will let you know when you need

to start supporting newer versions of Android as they grow and gain traction

7 Install Android SDK Components

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

46androidkonreucomdev eloper-how-toinstall-android-sdk-eclipse-and-emulator-av ds

httpdeveloperandroidcomsdkadding-componentshtml

Android is packaged in such a way that the base Android SDK (downloaded in Step 1) is distinct and separatefrom each API version of the Android SDK This means that for each version we want to support (from Step

6) we need to download a separate Android SDK for that version This can be very annoying when installing

(notice how many steps we have done by now) but in the long-run is a very beneficial design for us Android

Developers As new API versions are added and old API versions are phased out we can installuninstall theAPIs as compnents rather than a single huge download like XCode is for iPhone (4GB I just canrsquot get over

that Who has a 4GB download for a minor version change)

We need to download the Software Development Kits (SDKs) for the Android versions that we want tosupport To do this we can use the Eclipse IDE + Android ADT that we installed in Step 3 From within

Eclipse

Click on ldquoWindowrdquo then ldquoAndroid SDK and AVD ManagerrdquoIn ldquoAvailable packagesrdquo select the platforms you want to support You can either choose all or pick-

and-choose what you want to develop for For example 21 22 and 233 are all I care about so I am

using API 7 8 and 10 In the ldquoAndroid Repositoryrdquo package I checked the boxes next toAndroid SDK Platform-tools revision 3

SDK Platform Android 233 API 10 revision 1

SDK Platform Android 22 API 8 revision 1

SDK Platform Android 21 API 7 revision 1Samples for SDK API 10 revision 1

Samples for SDK API 8 revision 1

Samples for SDK API 7 revision 1

Android Compatibility package revision 1

In the ldquoThird party Add-onsrdquo decide what you are interested in If you are going to be using Google

Maps (or anything Google beyond Android) you want to install their APIs If you want their licensing billing packages get those too I checked the boxes next to

Google APIs by Google Inc Android API 10 revision 1

Google APIs by Google Inc Android API 8 revision 1

Google APIs by Google Inc Android API 9 revision 1Google Market Licensing package revision 1

Google Market Billing package revision 1

Choose ldquoInstall Selectedrdquo then the ldquoAccept Allrdquo radio button then ldquoInstallrdquo This may take a while If itseems like your download has paused check for any confirmation dialogs that you need to click ldquoAcceptrdquo

to These can sometimes be hiding in the background

8 Create Your Android Virtual Devices (AVDs)

httpdeveloperandroidcomguidepracticesscreens_supporthtmltesting

Last but not least we need to create Android Virtual Devices (AVDs) that will be our Android Emulators for

running and testing our Android applications on our local computer In the same ldquoAndroid SDK and AVD

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

56

Managerrdquo from Step 7 choose ldquoVirtual Devicesrdquo on the left and create ldquoNewhelliprdquo ones I like to create AVDsto represent different Android versions that I want to test as well as different hardware specs and screen

densities my users are likely to be using

The main idea is to test different versions of the Android API as well as different screen resolutions and

densities I tend to pair older versions of Android (most likely running on older hardware) with lower screen

densities and new versions of Android (most likely running on newer hardware) with better screen resolutions

Final Thoughts

These 8 Steps should be enough to get you up and running on your local computer and ready to create and test

your first Android application There are plenty more things to cover regarding testing and packaging of yourapplication but this is at least a start for now If you have any questions issues or suggestions please leave a

comment below

android avd eclipse emulator sdk

Share this post

Twitter

Digg

FacebookDelicious

StumbleUpon

Google

BookmarksLinkedIn

Yahoo

Bookmarks

TechnoratiFavorites

Print

article

This entry was posted by Conroy Whitney on 2011-03-22 at 1416 and is filed

under Developer How-To Follow any responses to this post through RSS 20

You can leave a response or trackback from your own site

Comments (1)

1 written by jim

about 1 year ago

Quote

Hi I made a similar videohellip

httpwwwudemycomwrite-and-publish-an-app-for-your-android-smartphone

You must be logged in to post a comment

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

66androidkonreucomdev eloper-how-toinstall-android-sdk-eclipse-and-emulator-av ds

Popular posts

Archives

TagsCategories

Applications (4)

Developer How-To (4)Finance (1)

politics (1)

Start-Up (4)

technologies (3)

Latest Tweets

followers

about 0 seconds agoRabout 0 seconds ago

Screen Off featured by Android Guys httpwwwandroidguyscom20100914app-review-

screen-2about 2 years ago

Follow me on Twitter

Recent Posts

I T-

So You Want to Be a Ruby on Rails Developer at a Startup in NYCInstall Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs)

Mystique theme by digitalnature | Powered by WordPress

RSS Feeds XHTML 11 TopBlog WebMastered by All in One Webmaster

Page 3: Install Android SDK, Eclipse, and Emulator (AVDs) _ Developer How-To _ Android _ Konreu.pdf

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

36androidkonreucomdev eloper-how-toinstall-android-sdk-eclipse-and-emulator-av ds

2 Click on ldquoAndroidrdquo heading in the menu-tree to open our Android Eclipse preferences

3 Click the ldquoBrowsehelliprdquo button to the right of the rdquoSDK Locationrdquo box4 Enter the location of your Android SDK (the $ANDROID path from Step 1)

5 (Optional) Additional AndroidEclipse Config

While we are in the Android section of our Eclipse preferences letrsquos change a few more things These steps areentirely optional For these additional preferences we need to expand the menu-tree under the ldquoAndroidrdquo

heading

1 Click on the triangle next to the ldquoAndroidrdquo heading in the preferences tree to expand our options2 Click on the ldquoDDMSrdquo sub-heading and change the ldquoLogging Levelrdquo settings to ldquoVerboserdquo so that we see

everything that goes on while developing3 In the ldquoUsage Statsrdquo sub-heading click the checkbox to allow Google to know how we are using the

SDK (seems fair enough right)

6 Decide Which Android Platforms You Will Support

httpdeveloperandroidcomresourcesdashboardplatform-versionshtml

This graph will help you decide which ones are relevant and worth your time I recommend checking the Android

Platform Versions Graph every month or so to see how rapidly it changes When I first found this graph less thana year ago Android 15 and Android 16 together represented ~50 of the graph Today they are only ~8

For me this dramatic change in Android 1516 deployment means that my efforts will be better spent focusingon Android 21+ For you it may be worth it to support 1516 for those 8 of users Only you can make that

decision

When deciding consider that you will need to test debug and provide customer support for every version ofAndroid that you support and for each individual device that runs those versions For example deciding to

support 21 means that there are a whole host of different hardware devices that you may receive feedbackregarding whereas supporting 233 (for right now) only means the Nexus One and the Nexus S Just keep thatin mind while deciding

From a resources standpoint not only do you need to test and support each version that you plan to release for

but you also need to have those Android SDKs and Android Emulators on your machine (which takes up spacewhich on my smaller SSD is a finite resource) It may not be an issue for your but it is just yet another thing tokeep in mind

Finally no matter which versions you choose to support right now make sure to check the Android Platform

Versions Graph every month or so to see how it is changing and to adjust accordingly This will let you knowwhen you can stop supporting older versions of Android and most importantly will let you know when you need

to start supporting newer versions of Android as they grow and gain traction

7 Install Android SDK Components

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

46androidkonreucomdev eloper-how-toinstall-android-sdk-eclipse-and-emulator-av ds

httpdeveloperandroidcomsdkadding-componentshtml

Android is packaged in such a way that the base Android SDK (downloaded in Step 1) is distinct and separatefrom each API version of the Android SDK This means that for each version we want to support (from Step

6) we need to download a separate Android SDK for that version This can be very annoying when installing

(notice how many steps we have done by now) but in the long-run is a very beneficial design for us Android

Developers As new API versions are added and old API versions are phased out we can installuninstall theAPIs as compnents rather than a single huge download like XCode is for iPhone (4GB I just canrsquot get over

that Who has a 4GB download for a minor version change)

We need to download the Software Development Kits (SDKs) for the Android versions that we want tosupport To do this we can use the Eclipse IDE + Android ADT that we installed in Step 3 From within

Eclipse

Click on ldquoWindowrdquo then ldquoAndroid SDK and AVD ManagerrdquoIn ldquoAvailable packagesrdquo select the platforms you want to support You can either choose all or pick-

and-choose what you want to develop for For example 21 22 and 233 are all I care about so I am

using API 7 8 and 10 In the ldquoAndroid Repositoryrdquo package I checked the boxes next toAndroid SDK Platform-tools revision 3

SDK Platform Android 233 API 10 revision 1

SDK Platform Android 22 API 8 revision 1

SDK Platform Android 21 API 7 revision 1Samples for SDK API 10 revision 1

Samples for SDK API 8 revision 1

Samples for SDK API 7 revision 1

Android Compatibility package revision 1

In the ldquoThird party Add-onsrdquo decide what you are interested in If you are going to be using Google

Maps (or anything Google beyond Android) you want to install their APIs If you want their licensing billing packages get those too I checked the boxes next to

Google APIs by Google Inc Android API 10 revision 1

Google APIs by Google Inc Android API 8 revision 1

Google APIs by Google Inc Android API 9 revision 1Google Market Licensing package revision 1

Google Market Billing package revision 1

Choose ldquoInstall Selectedrdquo then the ldquoAccept Allrdquo radio button then ldquoInstallrdquo This may take a while If itseems like your download has paused check for any confirmation dialogs that you need to click ldquoAcceptrdquo

to These can sometimes be hiding in the background

8 Create Your Android Virtual Devices (AVDs)

httpdeveloperandroidcomguidepracticesscreens_supporthtmltesting

Last but not least we need to create Android Virtual Devices (AVDs) that will be our Android Emulators for

running and testing our Android applications on our local computer In the same ldquoAndroid SDK and AVD

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

56

Managerrdquo from Step 7 choose ldquoVirtual Devicesrdquo on the left and create ldquoNewhelliprdquo ones I like to create AVDsto represent different Android versions that I want to test as well as different hardware specs and screen

densities my users are likely to be using

The main idea is to test different versions of the Android API as well as different screen resolutions and

densities I tend to pair older versions of Android (most likely running on older hardware) with lower screen

densities and new versions of Android (most likely running on newer hardware) with better screen resolutions

Final Thoughts

These 8 Steps should be enough to get you up and running on your local computer and ready to create and test

your first Android application There are plenty more things to cover regarding testing and packaging of yourapplication but this is at least a start for now If you have any questions issues or suggestions please leave a

comment below

android avd eclipse emulator sdk

Share this post

Twitter

Digg

FacebookDelicious

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This entry was posted by Conroy Whitney on 2011-03-22 at 1416 and is filed

under Developer How-To Follow any responses to this post through RSS 20

You can leave a response or trackback from your own site

Comments (1)

1 written by jim

about 1 year ago

Quote

Hi I made a similar videohellip

httpwwwudemycomwrite-and-publish-an-app-for-your-android-smartphone

You must be logged in to post a comment

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

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httpdeveloperandroidcomsdkadding-componentshtml

Android is packaged in such a way that the base Android SDK (downloaded in Step 1) is distinct and separatefrom each API version of the Android SDK This means that for each version we want to support (from Step

6) we need to download a separate Android SDK for that version This can be very annoying when installing

(notice how many steps we have done by now) but in the long-run is a very beneficial design for us Android

Developers As new API versions are added and old API versions are phased out we can installuninstall theAPIs as compnents rather than a single huge download like XCode is for iPhone (4GB I just canrsquot get over

that Who has a 4GB download for a minor version change)

We need to download the Software Development Kits (SDKs) for the Android versions that we want tosupport To do this we can use the Eclipse IDE + Android ADT that we installed in Step 3 From within

Eclipse

Click on ldquoWindowrdquo then ldquoAndroid SDK and AVD ManagerrdquoIn ldquoAvailable packagesrdquo select the platforms you want to support You can either choose all or pick-

and-choose what you want to develop for For example 21 22 and 233 are all I care about so I am

using API 7 8 and 10 In the ldquoAndroid Repositoryrdquo package I checked the boxes next toAndroid SDK Platform-tools revision 3

SDK Platform Android 233 API 10 revision 1

SDK Platform Android 22 API 8 revision 1

SDK Platform Android 21 API 7 revision 1Samples for SDK API 10 revision 1

Samples for SDK API 8 revision 1

Samples for SDK API 7 revision 1

Android Compatibility package revision 1

In the ldquoThird party Add-onsrdquo decide what you are interested in If you are going to be using Google

Maps (or anything Google beyond Android) you want to install their APIs If you want their licensing billing packages get those too I checked the boxes next to

Google APIs by Google Inc Android API 10 revision 1

Google APIs by Google Inc Android API 8 revision 1

Google APIs by Google Inc Android API 9 revision 1Google Market Licensing package revision 1

Google Market Billing package revision 1

Choose ldquoInstall Selectedrdquo then the ldquoAccept Allrdquo radio button then ldquoInstallrdquo This may take a while If itseems like your download has paused check for any confirmation dialogs that you need to click ldquoAcceptrdquo

to These can sometimes be hiding in the background

8 Create Your Android Virtual Devices (AVDs)

httpdeveloperandroidcomguidepracticesscreens_supporthtmltesting

Last but not least we need to create Android Virtual Devices (AVDs) that will be our Android Emulators for

running and testing our Android applications on our local computer In the same ldquoAndroid SDK and AVD

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

56

Managerrdquo from Step 7 choose ldquoVirtual Devicesrdquo on the left and create ldquoNewhelliprdquo ones I like to create AVDsto represent different Android versions that I want to test as well as different hardware specs and screen

densities my users are likely to be using

The main idea is to test different versions of the Android API as well as different screen resolutions and

densities I tend to pair older versions of Android (most likely running on older hardware) with lower screen

densities and new versions of Android (most likely running on newer hardware) with better screen resolutions

Final Thoughts

These 8 Steps should be enough to get you up and running on your local computer and ready to create and test

your first Android application There are plenty more things to cover regarding testing and packaging of yourapplication but this is at least a start for now If you have any questions issues or suggestions please leave a

comment below

android avd eclipse emulator sdk

Share this post

Twitter

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Bookmarks

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Print

article

This entry was posted by Conroy Whitney on 2011-03-22 at 1416 and is filed

under Developer How-To Follow any responses to this post through RSS 20

You can leave a response or trackback from your own site

Comments (1)

1 written by jim

about 1 year ago

Quote

Hi I made a similar videohellip

httpwwwudemycomwrite-and-publish-an-app-for-your-android-smartphone

You must be logged in to post a comment

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

66androidkonreucomdev eloper-how-toinstall-android-sdk-eclipse-and-emulator-av ds

Popular posts

Archives

TagsCategories

Applications (4)

Developer How-To (4)Finance (1)

politics (1)

Start-Up (4)

technologies (3)

Latest Tweets

followers

about 0 seconds agoRabout 0 seconds ago

Screen Off featured by Android Guys httpwwwandroidguyscom20100914app-review-

screen-2about 2 years ago

Follow me on Twitter

Recent Posts

I T-

So You Want to Be a Ruby on Rails Developer at a Startup in NYCInstall Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs)

Mystique theme by digitalnature | Powered by WordPress

RSS Feeds XHTML 11 TopBlog WebMastered by All in One Webmaster

Page 5: Install Android SDK, Eclipse, and Emulator (AVDs) _ Developer How-To _ Android _ Konreu.pdf

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

56

Managerrdquo from Step 7 choose ldquoVirtual Devicesrdquo on the left and create ldquoNewhelliprdquo ones I like to create AVDsto represent different Android versions that I want to test as well as different hardware specs and screen

densities my users are likely to be using

The main idea is to test different versions of the Android API as well as different screen resolutions and

densities I tend to pair older versions of Android (most likely running on older hardware) with lower screen

densities and new versions of Android (most likely running on newer hardware) with better screen resolutions

Final Thoughts

These 8 Steps should be enough to get you up and running on your local computer and ready to create and test

your first Android application There are plenty more things to cover regarding testing and packaging of yourapplication but this is at least a start for now If you have any questions issues or suggestions please leave a

comment below

android avd eclipse emulator sdk

Share this post

Twitter

Digg

FacebookDelicious

StumbleUpon

Google

BookmarksLinkedIn

Yahoo

Bookmarks

TechnoratiFavorites

Print

article

This entry was posted by Conroy Whitney on 2011-03-22 at 1416 and is filed

under Developer How-To Follow any responses to this post through RSS 20

You can leave a response or trackback from your own site

Comments (1)

1 written by jim

about 1 year ago

Quote

Hi I made a similar videohellip

httpwwwudemycomwrite-and-publish-an-app-for-your-android-smartphone

You must be logged in to post a comment

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

66androidkonreucomdev eloper-how-toinstall-android-sdk-eclipse-and-emulator-av ds

Popular posts

Archives

TagsCategories

Applications (4)

Developer How-To (4)Finance (1)

politics (1)

Start-Up (4)

technologies (3)

Latest Tweets

followers

about 0 seconds agoRabout 0 seconds ago

Screen Off featured by Android Guys httpwwwandroidguyscom20100914app-review-

screen-2about 2 years ago

Follow me on Twitter

Recent Posts

I T-

So You Want to Be a Ruby on Rails Developer at a Startup in NYCInstall Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs)

Mystique theme by digitalnature | Powered by WordPress

RSS Feeds XHTML 11 TopBlog WebMastered by All in One Webmaster

Page 6: Install Android SDK, Eclipse, and Emulator (AVDs) _ Developer How-To _ Android _ Konreu.pdf

121112Install Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs) | Dev eloper How-To | Android | Konreu

66androidkonreucomdev eloper-how-toinstall-android-sdk-eclipse-and-emulator-av ds

Popular posts

Archives

TagsCategories

Applications (4)

Developer How-To (4)Finance (1)

politics (1)

Start-Up (4)

technologies (3)

Latest Tweets

followers

about 0 seconds agoRabout 0 seconds ago

Screen Off featured by Android Guys httpwwwandroidguyscom20100914app-review-

screen-2about 2 years ago

Follow me on Twitter

Recent Posts

I T-

So You Want to Be a Ruby on Rails Developer at a Startup in NYCInstall Android SDK Eclipse and Emulator (AVDs)

Mystique theme by digitalnature | Powered by WordPress

RSS Feeds XHTML 11 TopBlog WebMastered by All in One Webmaster