Develop Reference

How do I build a TWA using #bubblewrap?

I am trying to build my TWA from a PWA, and I am running into an issue after running npx #bubblewrap/cli build:
Installing Android Build Tools. Please, read and accept the license agreement
build Installing Build Tools
Warning: Unknown argument --install
The licenses have all been accepted:
$ ./sdkmanager --licenses
Warning: File /home/user/.android/repositories.cfg could not be loaded.
All SDK package licenses accepted.
done
The sdkmanager I have on my local machine comes with everything installed out-of-the-box, which is why the install command cannot be found. You can only uninstall. So, I thought I could just comment out those lines of code from the local installation of #bubblewrap, but that did not stop this from executing.
Please, help! I am at a loss, and have no idea what to do! lol
I have all of the prerequesists installed. Here is my llama file:
{
"jdkPath":"/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64/jre",
"androidSdkPath":"/home/user/android"
}
This is the android-sdk I have installed: sdk-tools-linux-3859397.zip

It was just an outdated version of the SDK: https://developer.android.com/studio#command-tools
I needed to use the newest Linux distro version instead of an older one I downloaded from a command online that I thought would match Java 8 better...lol smh
It builds just fine now.
Thanks to anyone who attempted to answer!!!!

You can also generate your signed APK for your TWA on https://www.pwabuilder.com. We've been working with Google embedding their Bubblewrap tooling on our servers in a transparent way.
Read more: https://www.davrous.com/2020/02/07/publishing-your-pwa-in-the-play-store-in-a-couple-of-minutes-using-pwa-builder/
David

Can't update \tools - Android SDK Command Line Tools for Windows

I have just downloaded the Android SDK Command Line tools for Windows (26.0.2). I am attempting to download selected SDK components using \tools\bin\sdkmanager.bat, as well as updating \tools. The installation fails with the following message:
Warning: An error occurred during installation: Failed to move away or delete existing target file: C:\testinstall\sdk\tools
Move it away manually and try again..
I don't see how I can remove \tools manually because it contains \bin\sdkmanager.bat.
Screenshot of the sdkmanager command:
All other components appear to install without error. See below for the components specified in my package file:

Yeah that's quite funny. A way to do that is to copy the tools folder to another place (let's say C:\temp\). Then direct into the C:\temp\tools\bin\, open the cmd prompt there and run your update commands as such:
sdkmanager.bat --sdk_root=sdkRootPath --command
Where sdkRootPath is path to your original SDK folder (C:\testinstall\sdk\). Once that is done, delete the C:\temp\tools\ copied folder.

You could temporarily rename to tools.old, run it to install new version in tools and then remove the old one.
cd YOUR-ANDROID-SDK-LOCATION
ren tools tools.old
tools.old\bin\sdkmanager.bat "tools"
dir tools*
del tools.old /q /s
tools\bin\sdkmanager.bat --list

it might be permission issue.Can you try doing sudo or if you on windows try to run terminal as administrator.
I have seen issues where the program is not able to delete the folder either due to lock or some weird reason.

Run cmd in root c:.
c:\>testinstall\sdk\tools\bin\sdkmanager --package_file=c:\testinstall\packx.txt

I've had the same issue on windows, I couldn't even rename the directory that is causing the issue.
I found out that adb was still running and ended the process and update/install worked fine without workarounds.

The below command helped me to extract the SDK
sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-28" --sdk_root=C:\AndroidSDK_RootLocation

It may not be the answer to your question but now, i can't exactly remeber the version, you can't update SDK tools directly or using Eclipse, sdk Manager, sdk.bat or android.bat, only way is to update them using Android Studio. It's Google's new policy, i read it somewhere, if i find the link i will share it

My solution was as following:
Delete the Android SDK Tools via Android Studio (although it might complain it failed).
Close Android Studio
Manually delete tools folder from C:\Users\<MyUsername>\AppData\Local\Android\sdk folder
Start Android Studio and then do the install of the Android SDK Tools via Android Studio.

cannot find zip-align when publishing app

cannot.find.zip.align=The zipalign tool was not found in the SDK.
Please update to the latest SDK and re-export your application
or run zipalign manually.
Aligning applications allows Android to use application resources
more efficiently.
This is the message I received when I tried to publish my app. I'm using the latest revision of Android SDK Tools (23 which was released today) and SDK Platform-tools (20 which was also released today). I got an APK out of it, but if I tried to upload it to Google Play I got an error complaining that it is not zip aligned.
Running zipalign manually fixes the apk, but does anyone know what causes this and how to fix it?

I had the same problem.
And to fix it, I copy the Zipalign file from sdk/build-tools/android-4.4W folder to sdk/tools/
Edited: Since Google updated SDK for Android, new build-tools does fix this problem. So I encouraged everyone to update to Android SDK Build-tools 20 as suggested by Pang in the post below.

I fixed it by installing Android SDK Build-tools 20:
In Eclipse → Pull Down Menu → Window → Android SDK Manager, check Android SDK Build-tools Rev. 20, then click the Install n package(s)… button to start installing.

It becomes usable if you install
Android SDK Build-tools Rev.20

I decided to just make a video for this..I kept pasting it into tools but alas that was not working for me. I moved it to platform-tools and voila publishing right away..must restart eclipse afterwards.
Tutorial for fixing missing zipalign

I used the full path of zipalign. For mac, I found the executable file in Finder and clicked on it. Then, to publish my app I ran
/Users/username/development/sdk/tools/zipalign -v 4 HelloWorld-release-unsigned.apk HelloWorld.apk
instead of
zipalign -v 4 HelloWorld-release-unsigned.apk HelloWorld.apk

Mac / Linux:
This worked for me (you might want to replace 22.0.1 with version of your build tools):
Edit: ~/.bashrc
export ANDROID_HOME=~/Android/Sdk/
export ANDROID_TOOLS=~/Android/Sdk/tools/
export ANDROID_BUILD_TOOLS=~/Android/Sdk/build-tools/22.0.1/
export ANDROID_PLATFORM_TOOLS=~/Android/Sdk/platform-tools/
PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME:$ANDROID_TOOLS:$ANDROID_PLATFORM_TOOLS:$ANDROID_BUILD_TOOLS
And run:
source ~/.bashrc
or just close terminal and start it again.

On a Mac, I did the following:
Find it on o/s (I had already downloaded build tools for 19 and 20)
Press Ctrl-Open to allow apps from the internet
Move it from sdk/build-tools/android-4.4W folder to sdk/tools/. Whew.

With the SDK update to 20, version 20 of the build and platform tools and 23 of the sdk tolls, Google has moved a lot of things.
Gradle (if you are using Android Studio) however has not yet been updated to reflect those changes, as stated in other Answers copying the zipalign binary to /sdk/tools/ should do the trick for now.
UPDATE: since Android Studio 0.8.1 got released the issue seems fixed now…
you only need to update your build.gradle and it should work fine again
compileSdkVersion 20
buildToolsVersion "20.0.0"
targetSdkVersion 20
and if you use any compat or support library
compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:20.+'
compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:20.+'

Check in the SDK manager, that it has installed the "build-tools". Mine in its default state, did not do this.

If you are using gradle just update ypur gradle plugin!
Change line in build.gradle from:
classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:0.9.+'
to:
classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:0.11.+'
It works for me.
Note that variable buildToolsVersion (for me "20.0.0") must match your version of build-tools.
Good luck :)

With Android Studio 1.0 you have to use zipAlignEnabled true

My fix worked copying zipalign.exe from sdk\build-tools\android-4.4W to sdk\platform-tools, as shown in video linked by digiboomz, and did not work copying it in sdk\tools

If zipalign command is not found from Command-Line add file path of zipalign to environmental variables. As mentioned above, it's never good to change exe file location.
For Windows users:
Add to User->PATH->"path to zipalign folder"
In my case it path was C:\adt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20140702\sdk\build-tools\android-4.4W.
In that folder is zipalign.exe
This link can help you with setting path and understanding it http://www.voidspace.org.uk/python/articles/command_line.shtml#path

I use Eclipse and this broke during an update. Here's what worked for me as the answers above did not.
I checked where ant's build.xml expected to find zipalign.exe.
In: C:\Development\Android\android-sdk\tools\ant\build.xml
zipalign is defined as:
<property name="zipalign" location="${android.build.tools.dir}/zipalign${exe}" />
which indicates its expected in:
C:\Development\Android\android-sdk\build-tools\18.0.1
This directory corresponds to the highest version of the 'Android SDK Build-tools' displayed as installed in the 'Android SDK Manager'. So, that's where I copied zipalign.exe (which I obtained from an Android Studio installation!) and signed apps are now automatically zipaligned again!

i solved by RUN as Administrator # your SDK Manager.exe in directory C:\Program Files\Android SDK
after that u'll get updated build tools an any repository

Steps to fix this,
Install latest version of Android SDK Build-Tools
Check if zipalign.exe is available in folder android-sdk\build-tools\ e.g. android-sdk\build-tools\21.1.0\
In some older version of android you may not find zipalign.exe. Do not panic, check any other verion in which zipalign is available.
Open your project.properties file and configure build-tools to point to the in which zipalign.exe is present. e.g. sdk.buildtools=21.1.0.
Restart your eclipse and try exporting again. It should work.

On a mac with OSX 10.10.5,Android Studio and SDK installed the path is
/Users/mles/Library/Android/sdk/build-tools/23.0.1/zipalign

Zipalign gradle task is deprecated since Android Plugin for Gradle, Revision 2.2.0 (September 2016).
If you want to keep using it, add android.useOldPackaging=true to your gradle.properties file.
Click here for detailed explanation.
Improves build performance by adopting a new default packaging pipeline which handles zipping, signing, and zipaligning in one task. You can revert to using the older packaging tools by adding android.useOldPackaging=true to your gradle.properties file. While using the new packaging tool, the zipalignDebug task is not available. However, you can create one yourself by calling the createZipAlignTask(String taskName, File inputFile, File outputFile) method.
APK signing now uses APK Signature Scheme v2 in addition to traditional JAR signing. All Android platforms accept the resulting APKs. Any modification to these APKs after signing invalidates their v2 signatures and prevents installation on a device.
Blockquote

zipalign was moved to build-tools\19.1.0 and build-tools\20.0.0, I assume you should use one of them in depend of your target SDK

I fixed it by uninstalling Android SDK Platform (4.4W) and then reinstalling it.
I also restarted Eclipse after the installation.

In my case SDK Build Tools 20 were already installed.
I copied zipalign.exe in Tools folder but without success.
After that I noticed that I updated Eclipse without removing or renaming the old folder.
So I did:
1) Renamed old Eclipse folder
2) Restarted Eclipse
Eclipse asked to correct Android preferences because problem was Eclipse, that was still trying to use the old folder

Google fix this mistake with the build tools version: 23.0.3
Now zipalign is packaged properly, and everything works fine.

Normally the zipalign.exe is close of the "Android manager"(also, "Android", "Android SDK" etc), so you can search for "Android Manager" in windows search and give a righ-click above the command and open file location.
You probably are in: something\ Android\android-sdk\tools. Then is just necessary return a folder and go to Android\android-sdk\build-tools\23.0.3.
The zipalign is there, you maybe be not able to use it with double-click, so you have to copy all the path of the zipalign file to use in CMD, the final code that you have to input will be something like:
C:\Users\heitor\AppData\Local\Android\android-sdk\build-tools\23.0.1\zipalign.exe -v 4 android.apk android2.apk

When I was completely desperate, I did the following, that allowed me to find official zipalign.exe. The short answer is to use the link from official (but not public :-) part of of the site:
https://dl.google.com/android/repository/build-tools_r28-rc1-windows.zip
If you use this recepy after 2018, you probably need the full explanation:
Open Android Studio and go
Android Studio->Tools->Android->SDK Manager->Android SDK->SDK update site
Write in text editor link and open it in the browser. In my case the first link worked for me:
https://dl.google.com/android/repository/repository2-1.xml
Look for the latest package build-tools. In my case, it was build-tools_r28-rc1-windows.zip, but you can find the latest in your time
Ctrl+F build-tools_
Substitute in the URL the last part with the found package name like I did:
https://dl.google.com/android/repository/build-tools_r28-rc1-windows.zip
Download the package, unzip it and fortunately find official file:
zipalign.exe
If it helps you, your feedback is wellcome.

I've fixed this issue by doing this:
Open Android Studio > Preferences > SDK Tools and check "Android SDK Build-Tools"

Build android release apk on Phonegap 3.x CLI

How can I build an android app locally using the Phonegap 3.x CLI, ready to release? I check the bin folder generated inside the platforms/android directory of the project, and only has .debug APKs.
By the way, I use this command: phonegap local build android

This is for Phonegap 3.0.x to 3.3.x. For PhoneGap 3.4.0 and higher see below.
Found part of the answer here, at Phonegap documentation. The full process is the following:
Open a command line window, and go to /path/to/your/project/platforms/android/cordova.
Run build --release. This creates an unsigned release APK at /path/to/your/project/platforms/android/bin folder, called YourAppName-release-unsigned.apk.
Sign and align the APK using the instructions at android developer official docs.
Thanks to #LaurieClark for the link (http://iphonedevlog.wordpress.com/2013/08/16/using-phonegap-3-0-cli-on-mac-osx-10-to-build-ios-and-android-projects/), and the blogger who post it, because it put me on the track.

In PhoneGap 3.4.0 you can call:
cordova build android --release
If you have set up the 'ant.properties' file in 'platforms/android' directory like the following:
key.store=/Path/to/KeyStore/myapp-release-key.keystore
key.alias=myapp
Then you will be prompted for your keystore password and the output file (myapp-release.apk) ends up in the 'platforms/android/ant-build' directory already signed and aligned and ready to deploy.

In cordova 6.2.0
cd cordova/ #change to root cordova folder
platforms/android/cordova/clean #clean if you want
cordova build android --release -- --keystore="/path/to/keystore" --storePassword=password --alias=alias_name #password will be prompted if you have any
Previous answer:
According to cordova 5.0.0
{
"android": {
"release": {
"keystore": "app-release-key.keystore",
"alias": "alias_name"
}
}
}
and run ./build --release --buildConfig build.json from directory platforms/android/cordova/
keystore file location is relative to platforms/android/cordova/, so in above configuration .keystore file and build.json are in same directory.
keytool -genkey -v -keystore app-release-key.keystore -alias alias_name -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000

Following up to #steven-anderson
you can also configure passwords inside the ant.properties, so the process can be fully automated
so if you put in platform\android\ant.properties the following
key.store=../../yourCertificate.jks
key.store.password=notSoSecretPassword
key.alias=userAlias
key.alias.password=notSoSecretPassword

just wondered around a lot because I got the same issue but in my installation the command "cordova" was never available and "phone gap build android --release" just ignored the platform/android/ant.properties.
so looking inside my platform filter I found a folder named "cordova" and inside of it there was an "build" binary that accepted the --release argument, it asked me for the key chains and I ended with a signed and ready for production APK.
this was never documented in any part of the phone gap site and frankly speaking now I kinda hate phonegap :( it was supposed to make the things easier but everything was just complicated :(

Building PhoneGap Android app for deployment to the Google Play Store
These steps would work for Cordova, PhoneGap or Ionic. The only difference would be, wherever a call to cordova is placed, replace it with phonegap or ionic, for your particular scenario.
Once you are done with the development and are ready to deploy, follow these steps:
Open a command line window (Terminal on macOS and Linux OR Command Prompt on Windows).
Head over to the /path/to/your/project/, which we would refer to as the Project Root.
While at the project root, remove the "Console" plugin from your set of plugins.The command is: cordova plugin rm cordova-plugin-console
While still at the project root, use the cordova build command to create an APK for release distribution.The command is: cordova build --release android
The above process creates a file called android-release-unsigned.apk in the folder ProjectRoot/platforms/android/build/outputs/apk/
Sign and align the APK using the instructions at https://developer.android.com/studio/publish/app-signing.html#signing-manuallyAt the end of this step the APK which you get can be uploaded to the Play Store.
Note: As a newbie or a beginner, the last step may be a bit confusing as it was to me. One may run into a few issues and may have some questions as to what these commands are and where to find them.
Q1. What are jarsigner and keytool?
Ans: The Android App Signing instructions do tell you specifically what jarsigner and keytool are all about BUT it doesn't tell you where to find them if you run into a 'command not found error' on the command line window.
Thus, if you've got the Java Development Kit(JDK) added to your PATH variable, simply running the commands as in the Guide would work. BUT, if you don't have it in your PATH, you can always access them from the bin folder of your JDK installation.
Q2. Where is zipalign?
Ans: There is a high probability to not find the zipalign command and receive the 'command not found error'. You'd probably be googling zipalign and where to find it?
The zipalign utility is present within the Android SDK installation folder. On macOS, the default location is at, user-name/Library/Android/sdk/. If you head over to the folder you would find a bunch of other folders like docs, platform-tools, build-tools, tools, add-ons...
Open the build-tools folder. cd build-tools. In here, there would be a number of folders which are versioned according to the build tool-chain you are using in the Android SDK Manager. ZipAlign is available in each of these folders. I personally go for the folder with the latest version on it. Open Any.
On macOS or Linux you may have to use ./zipalign rather than simply typing in zipalign as the documentation mentions. On Windows, zipalign is good enough.

i got this to work by copy pasting the signed app in the same dir as zipalign. It seems that aapt.exe could not find the source file even when given the path. i.e.
this did not work
zipalign -f -v 4 C:...\CordovaApp-release-unsigned.apk C:...\destination.apk
it reached aapt.exeCordovaApp-release-unsigned.apk , froze and upon hitting return
'aapt.exeCordovaApp-release-unsigned.apk' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
And this did
zipalign -f -v 4 CordovaApp-release-unsigned.apk myappname.apk

I know this question asks about Phonegap 3.X specifically, but just for reference any Phonegap version above 4.0.0 uses Gradle instead of Ant to build by default. To use Ant instead of Gradle you can add this to your config.xml:
<preference name="android-build-tool" value="ant" />
When using Gradle the keystore signing information now needs to go into a new location (as outlined in this post). Create new file called 'release-signing.properties' in the same folder as "build.gradle" file and put inside the following content:
storeFile=..\\..\\some-keystore.keystore
storeType=jks
keyAlias=some-key
// if you don't want to enter the password at every build, you can store it with this
keyPassword=your-key-password
storePassword=your-store-password

You could try this command, it should build and run the app (so .apk should be created) :
phonegap local run android

ERROR: dump failed because no AndroidManifest.xml found

When I try to upload an application to Android Play store I get the following error:
ERROR: dump failed because no AndroidManifest.xml found
Steps that I took:
new HDD, install clean jre, jdk
download Android eclipse bundle - latest version today
make a new project, sample. simple hello world
sign it with the wizard, create a certificate etc.
try to upload it on the market...=ERROR!
I tried many combinations, different eclipse versions. Even to sign it manually. It doesn't work.
If I try to run aapt dump badging I get the same error.

Just write in the terminal
flutter clean

Just delete app.apk file from: /build/app/outputs/apk/app.apk.
Visual Studio will create a new correct app.apk file.

I dont know o 'why' of this.
I faced this problem using Visual Studio Code in a Flutter project and Im posting my solution because it can help others.
I just run 'Flutter Clean Project' and then I run the project.
All works again!

In my case the problem was with the filename: I accidentally (subconsciously) renamed it to .apk, when it should be .aab 🤦

following points are need to be taken care of while uploading file on
android market
"android:versionCode" attribute from AndroidManifest.xml is proper.
"android:versionName" attribute from AndroidManifest.xml is proper.
The package name is very unique,. Because all the apps on android market are separated by the package.
see all this is in place....
taken from while uploading file to android market error

I had this issue suddenly as well,
my solution was
flutter clean
flutter build apk
and it started working again

OPTION #1: Slow down an re-read every step. (Source).
Basic Setup for Signing.
Before you begin, make sure that the Keytool utility and Jarsigner
utility are available to the SDK build tools. Both of these tools are
available in the JDK. In most cases, you can tell the SDK build tools
how to find these utilities by setting your JAVA_HOME environment
variable so it references a suitable JDK. Alternatively, you can add
the JDK version of Keytool and Jarsigner to your PATH variable.
...
Eclipse Users
If you are developing in Eclipse/ADT (and have set up Keytool and
Jarsigner as described above in Basic Setup for Signing), signing in
debug mode is enabled by default. When you run or debug your
application, ADT signs the .apk file with the debug certificate, runs
zipalign on the package, then installs it on the selected emulator or
connected device. No specific action on your part is needed, provided
ADT has access to Keytool.
OPTION #2: Test the features required by your application with an unsigned '.apk'. (Source).
You can use the aapt tool, included in the Android SDK, to determine
how Google Play will filter your application, based on its declared
features and permissions. To do so, run aapt with the dump badging
command. This causes aapt to parse your application's manifest and
apply the same rules as used by Google Play to determine the features
that your application requires.
To use the tool, follow these steps:
First, build and export your application as an unsigned .apk. If you
are developing in Eclipse with ADT, right-click the project and select
Android Tools > Export Unsigned Application Package. Select a
destination filename and path and click OK. Next, locate the aapt
tool, if it is not already in your PATH. If you are using SDK Tools r8
or higher, you can find aapt in the /platform-tools/ directory.
Note: You must use the version of aapt that is provided for the latest
Platform-Tools component available. If you do not have the latest
Platform-Tools component, download it using the Android SDK Manager.
Run aapt using this syntax:
$ aapt dump badging <path_to_exported_.apk>

compile it & export the project under Linux (eclipse)
switch to InteliJ Studio (recommended)
It seems that from time to time there is a problem with eclipse under Windows 7,8.

flutter clean && flutter run
also works

I'm using VScode.
What happened:
After dart update, there was a permission error on flutter.bat
Solution:
Locate flutter.bat and give Full controll.
Open a cmd with Admin privileges, locate the folder that you are doing the development.
use 'FLutter clean' command (do not use vscode Terminal)
rerun app using 'Run without debug'

run flutter clean then flutter pub get. Then run your application, it should work

Error while run xamarin.uitest on using android sdk build tools 29.
Problem solved by changing android sdk build tools to 28.

I have same problem and solved by deleting all folders containing apk files in the location -
D:\FLUTTER\MY PROJECTS\SAMPLE\myapp\build\app\outputs.
if any folder is found access denied then force delete the folder or restart your system and try deleting the folder, then rebuild the app. It will work.

Go to the directory build/app/outputs/apk/debug , and the directory build/app/outputs/apk/flutter-apk . Erase the present files, once the compilation has run these files will rebuild and the error will disappear!