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Android Development Environment Mac

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Note: Before the release of Android Studio, SDK was a standalone part of the Android Application development tools that could be integrated with other IDE's like Eclipse with the help of Android ADT Bundle. Later on, Google made Android SDK as a part of the Android Studio, which is the official IDE for Android development. In my example I will use 'C: Development android-sdk-windows' as the directory the SDK is installed in. Append the following text into the text box:;C: Development android-sdk-windows platform-tools;C: Development android-sdk-windows tools. Close the Environment Variables dialog. Easily setup an Android development environment on a Mac - androidinstructions.md. Easily setup an Android development environment on a Mac - androidinstructions.md.

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To run and test your React Native application on the android device you need to set up the Android Environment. Setting up your development environment in Mac OS is easy but can be somewhat tedious if you're new to Android development. Android development primarily takes place with Java and in Eclipse (which itself runs on Java) and therefore is cross platform. Download the SDK for Mac Following the installation instructions This all-in-one post might be easier to follow for you.

You can set environment variables for Android Studio and the command-line tools thatspecify things like where the SDK is installed and where user-specific data is stored.This page describes the most commonly used environment variables.

The following example shows how to use an environment variable to launch an emulator when the SDK installation has been put in E:Androidsdk instead of in its default location of $USER_HOME or $HOME.

Variables reference

The following table describes commonly used environment variables for the Android SDK tools.

Table 1. Environment variables

Android SDK environment variables
ANDROID_SDK_ROOT Sets the path to the SDK installation directory. Once set, the value does not typically change, and can be shared by multiple users on the same machine. ANDROID_HOME, which also points to the SDK installation directory, is deprecated. If you continue to use it, the following rules apply:
  • If ANDROID_HOME is defined and contains a valid SDK installation, its value is used instead of the value in ANDROID_SDK_ROOT.
  • If ANDROID_HOME is not defined, the value in ANDROID_SDK_ROOT is used.
  • If ANDROID_HOME is defined but does not exist or does not contain a valid SDK installation, the value in ANDROID_SDK_ROOT is used instead.
REPO_OS_OVERRIDE Set this variable to windows, macosx, or linux when you use sdkmanager to download packages for an operating system different from the current machine. Note: You can use Android Studio instead of sdkmanager to manage your SDK packages. See Update Your Tools with the SDK Manager.
Android Studio configuration environment variables
The Android Studio configuration variables contain settings that customize the location of configuration files and the JDK. On start-up, Android Studio checks these variables for settings. For more information, see Configure Android Studio.
STUDIO_VM_OPTIONS Sets the location of the studio.vmoptions file. This file contains settings that affect the performance characteristics of the Java HotSpot Virtual Machine. This file can also be accessed from within Android Studio. See Customize your VM options.
STUDIO_PROPERTIESSets the location of the idea.properties file. This file allows you to customize Android Studio IDE properties, such as the path to user installed plugins, and the maximum file size supported by the IDE. See Customize your IDE properties.
STUDIO_JDKSets the location of the JDK with which to run Android Studio. When you launch the IDE, it checks the STUDIO_JDK, JDK_HOME, and JAVA_HOME environment variables in that order.
STUDIO_GRADLE_JDKSets the location of the JDK that Android Studio uses to start the Gradle daemon. When you launch the IDE, it first checks STUDIO_GRADLE_JDK. If STUDIO_GRADLE_JDK is not defined, the IDE uses the value set in the Project Structure dialog.
Emulator Environment Variables
By default, the emulator stores configuration files under $HOME/.android/ and AVD data under $HOME/.android/avd/. You can override the defaults by setting the following environment variables. The emulator -avd command searches the avd directory in the order of the values in $ANDROID_AVD_HOME, $ANDROID_SDK_HOME/.android/avd/, and $HOME/.android/avd/. Note: Starting with Android Studio 4.2, the ANDROID_SDK_HOME environment variable is deprecated and has been replaced with ANDROID_PREFS_ROOT.

For emulator environment variable help, type emulator -help-environment at the command line. For information about emulator command-line options, see Control the Emulator from the Command Line.

ANDROID_EMULATOR_HOMESets the path to the user-specific emulator configuration directory. In Android Studio 4.1 and lower, the default location is $ANDROID_SDK_HOME/.android/.

Starting with Android Studio 4.2, the ANDROID_SDK_HOME environment variable is deprecated and the default location of the emulator configuration directory is $ANDROID_PREFS_ROOT/.android/.

ANDROID_AVD_HOMESets the path to the directory that contains all AVD-specific files, which mostly consist of very large disk images. The default location is $ANDROID_EMULATOR_HOME/avd/. You might want to specify a new location if the default location is low on disk space.
The Android emulator queries the following environment variables when it starts.
ANDROID_LOG_TAGS See ANDROID_LOG_TAGS.
HTTP_PROXY Contains the HTTP/HTTPS proxy (host name and port) setting for a global http proxy. Uses a colon (:) separator between the host and the port. For example, set HTTP_PROXY=myserver:1981.
ANDROID_VERBOSESee ANDROID_VERBOSE.
ANDROID_SDK_ROOT See ANDROID_SDK_ROOT.
ANDROID_EMULATOR_USE_SYSTEM_LIBS Contains a value of 0 (default) or 1. A value of 1 means to use the system's libstdc++.so file instead of the one that comes bundled with the emulator. Set this enivronment variable only when the emulator does not start on your linux system because of a system library problem. For example, some Linux Radeon GL driver libraries require a more recent libstdc++.so file. Note: There is no guarantee that setting this environment variable to 1 will make the emulator runnable. It is a work-around for system library issues that affect a very small number of Linux users.
Quick emulator (QEMU) audio
QEMU_AUDIO_DRVQEMU_AUDIO_OUT_DRVQEMU_AUDIO_IN_DRV On Linux, you can change the default audio backend of the emulator by setting the QEMU_AUDIO_DRV environment variable to one of the following values:
  • alsa: Use the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) backend
  • esd: Use the Enlightened Sound Daemon (EsounD) backend
  • sdl: Use the Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL) audio backend (no audio input supported)
  • oss:: Use the Open Sound System (OSS) backend
  • none:: Do not support audio

You can also use distinct backends for audio input and audio outputs by selecting one of the QEMU values for the QEMU_AUDIO_OUT_DRV and QEMU_AUDIO_IN_DRV environment variables:

If you want to disable the audio support, use the emulator -no-audio option or set QEMU_AUDIO_DRV to none. You might need to disable the audio in the following situations:

  • In rare cases, audio drivers can cause Windows to reboot while the emulator is running.
  • On some Linux machines, the emulator might get stuck at startup with audio support enabled.
adb environment variables
ANDROID_SERIAL Use this variable to provide an emulator serial number, such as emulator-5555, to an adb command. If you set this variable, but use the -s option to specify a serial number from the command line, the command-line input overrides the value in ANDROID_SERIAL.

The following example sets ANDROID_SERIAL and calls adb install helloworld.apk, which then installs the Android application package on emulator-5555.

adb logcat environment variables
ANDROID_LOG_TAGS Use this environment variable to set a default filter expression when you are running logcat from your development computer. For example:

See Filtering Log Output for more information and examples.

ADB_TRACE Contains a comma-separated list of the debug information to log. Values can be the following: all, adb, sockets, packets, rwx, usb, sync, sysdeps, transport, and jdwp.

Mac mini games download. To display the adb logs for the adb clients and the adb server, set ADB_TRACE to all, and then call the adb logcat command, as follows:

ANDROID_VERBOSEContains a comma-separated list of verbose output options (debug tags) used by the emulator. The following example shows ANDROID_VERBOSE defined with the debug-socket and debug-radio debug tags:

Unsupported debug tags are ignored. For more information about debug tags, use emulator -help-debug-tags.

How to set environment variables

The following examples show how to set environment variables in a terminal window and in a shell script for different operating systems. Variable settings in terminal windows last as long as the window is open. Variable settings in shell scripts persist across login sessions.

Windows: In a terminal window, type the following:

Alternately, add it to a shell script through the Windows UI. Check the documentation for your version of Windows to learn how.

Mac and Linux: In a terminal window, type the following:

Alternately, add it to your ~/.bash_profile file and source the file as follows:

A guide to the 10 best cross platform mobile development tools

It's the mind-wrenching question that never really gets answered … should I develop for iOS or Android?

With all of the articles that have been published on the topic, you'd think the app world would have come to some sort of conclusion by now on iOS and Android development.

But they haven't. And it's because there is no easy answer to the question — both platforms are great, for equal and different reasons.

(For more on the pros and cons of iOS and Android development, check out our previous article on the differences between the two platforms.)

For consumer apps, it's best to choose one platform first and build an amazing native experience for it. There are hundreds of millions of users on each platform, and they have come to expect a fluid experience with their apps.

Cross platform apps have limitations in terms of what they can deliver. However, in a few scenarios, the advantages of cross platform apps might make them a compelling proposition.

If that's the case for you, we've put together a list of the 10 best cross platform mobile development tools currently available.

As you'll see, different cross platform mobile development tools have different specialties: some focus on gaming, some are focused on data security for business purposes, and others specialize in letting you use whatever programming language you like, so you (or your developer team) don't have to learn new ones.

Ultimately, which of these cross platform mobile development tools you choose depends on your needs and goals for your app-based business.

Tool #1: Sencha

Senchais a tool that lets you develop your apps in HTML5.

Their main product for app developers, though they have many, is Ext Js 5. Developers choose it because it works across a handful of devices on different platforms and boosts productivity with pre-built components that save teams lots of time when writing code. (So it's not exactly a translation tool, but it is a huge time saver.)

Once you have your HTML5 code developed, you can translate it to both the iOS and Android platforms using a translation tool like PhoneGap (see below).

Tool #2: PhoneGap

Owned by Adobe, PhoneGapis a free resource that first-time app developers can use to translate code from HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript.

They maintain SDKs (software development kits) on their end for each of the platforms you can develop an app for, so it's one less thing you have to worry about. And once your app is completed, you can share it with your team members for review to see if you need to make any improvements.

Beyond iOS and Android, PhoneGap also creates apps for BlackBerry and Windows. So it is truly a cross platform mobile development tool!

Tool #3: Appcelerator Titanium

Android build environment

Using JavaScript, Titanium's SDK creates native iOS and Android apps while reusing anywhere from 60% to 90% of the same code for all the apps you make, thereby saving you a significant amount of time.

And because this is an open-source tool, hundreds of thousands of your fellow developers are constantly contributing to it to make it better and give it more functionality. And if you happen to find a bug in its system, you can too.

Tool #4: Cocos2d

Cocos2d is primarily used in two-dimensional game development. Itgives developers the option of five different forks or platforms to develop on, based on their preferred programming language:

  • Cocos2d-x uses C++
  • Cocos2d-JS uses JavaScript
  • Cocos2dXNA uses C#
  • Cocos2d-Swift uses Xcode and Objective-C
  • Cocos2d(Python) uses Python

Tool #5: Unity 3D

Also focused on creating great games, Unity 3Dis a game engine you can use if you really want to take care of your incredible graphics.

This cross platform mobile development tool goes beyond simple translation. After developing your code in UnityScript, C#, or Boo, you can export your games to 17 different platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, Web, Playstation, Xbox, Wii and Linux.

Once you've got your game on all your chosen platforms, Unity will even help you distribute it to the appropriate stores, get social shares, and track user analytics.

Tool #6: Corona

Corona's SDK comes with the promise that you can start coding your new app in as little as five minutes after the download. It's another cross platform mobile development tool that's optimized for 2D gaming graphics and helps you make games 10 times faster than it would take to code everything from scratch.

Corona's programming language is Lua, which is written in C, making it a cross platform language. Corona chose Lua because they found it to be really robust with a small footprint for mobile apps.

Tool #7: Qt

Qtis a subscription-based service that lets you code in C++, and then export your app to the different platforms on which you want to develop.

Once the apps are exported, the Qt interface lets you access your apps on their respective platforms and devices, so you can see how well the app is operating and make changes if and where needed.

The best part? You don't need to own so many different devices for testing.

Tool #8: Xamarin

With a free starter option, Xamarinis a mobile development tool that includes app store delivery, performance testing and monitoring, and the ability to do virtual tests on more than 1,000 devices to make sure everything is working and displaying like it should.

Using Ruby or C# for code, Xamarin has created a robust cross platform mobile development platform that's been adopted by big names like Microsoft, Foursquare, IBM, and Dow Jones.

Tool #9: Alpha Anywhere

Alpha Anywhere is a tool that gives the developer several options when it comes to programming languages, including: C#, JavaScript, Xbasic, VB.NET, or any other .NET supported language like Cobra and C++.

The site offers step-by-step walkthrough video tutorials to help first-time app developers make sure they're getting everything right, but it does come with a pretty hefty price tag.

Tool #10: 5App

Designed primarily for companies developing apps for their employees to use (or for the people those companies hire to make those apps), 5Appfocuses on data security while using HTML5 and JavaScript coding to export apps to Android and iOS.

The only downside is they require you to get in touch with them before you get started using their platform, but they promise productivity and ease of use once you do.

Android Environment For Windows

… Just Don't Forget About UI and UX!

Keep in mind that cross platform mobile development isn't quite as simple as writing the code once, putting it through a tool for translation, and publishing both an iOS and Android app to the respective app stores.

Android Development Environment Mac Os

Using a cross platform mobile development tool can reduce the time and cost associated with developing apps on both platforms, but the UI needs to be updated to match each system. For example, adjustments are needed between the two so the menu and control commands match the UX of how Android devices and iOS devices operate inherently differently.

(For more on the challenges of cross platform mobile development, check out our previous article on the subject.)

Android Development Environment Windows

What about you? Will you develop for iOS or Android first? Or try one of these 10 cross platform mobile development tools?





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