Develop Reference

How can my friends test my Android application?

I am developing an Android application and it is not finished. I would like to test it on multiple devices, locations with various users that are not near me. How can I achieve this? Is there an APK I can send them? Is there a way that is as simple as plugging my phone in and then running the application from Eclipse? Or would I have to make an installer of some sort (I don't know)?

Obviously you can plug your phone(s) into the machine you are developing on and run it from eclipse. This will allow you to test and debug on the devices you have access to.
You can also export an apk from eclipse (see the android pages for instructions). You could put this up on a file sharing site and make it available to your friends. They could then install it, as long as they have authorised "unsigned" apks to be installed in their phone settings.

Assuming you have deployed the app at least once from within Eclipse to debug and test yourself, you will most likely have an APK under the bin directory in your Eclipse project. The file should be .apk. This APK will have been signed automatically by Eclipse with your debug key. This is obviously not the key you use for publishing but for testing among friends I think it's fine.
What I often do is just e-mail that APK file as an attachment to my friends to an e-mail account they have setup on their phone. Then all they need to do on their phone is make sure they have the system setting to allow installation of non-market apps (i.e. not from Google Play), which maybe named something slightly different like "allow 3rd party apps". Then they can simply click on the app attachment in their e-mail, download it and run it and they should automatically be prompted with instructions to install it.

I just used MyAppSharer. (I believe there are other similar apps out there - this is just the one I've used and is very simple/easy:
...you can share by market link or directly share APK (App's full
package)
I just used that, and sent my app via apk file to my coworkers. Can't get much simpler.
Just install the app on your phone via Eclipse, then run this AppSharer, and voila - share it w/ anyone!

You can can easily export your project as an APK in eclipse
File -> Export -> Export Android Project

How to run an Android app which will run in any system without using Eclipse

I have created an Android Calculator app in Eclipse. If I want to run my app I need run it through Eclipse. But I want to run my app without Eclipse in any system as normal apps run, just download it and run.
If any one knows how to do this, please help me.

You probably want to take the .apk file in your bin folder. This file is your entire app packaged together.
You can run & install this on other Android phones, but they will have to have enabled "unknown sources" in application settings.
Otherwise, you'll have to publish to the app store, from where the entire world that owns an Android device can download it directly.

app run without eclipse in any system as a normal apps run
may I know how the normal apps run?
it need any emulator or device.
you can run the .apk file without eclipse also!.
download the Android SDk and create an emulator thru avd command and install any app.
the other way you can do by 3rd party software called BlueStacks App Player
this software is only for mac and Windows download here

Inside bin folder of your Calculator app project located on Hard disk there will be .apk file which you can transfer to your device then open file browser whichever you have that will allow you to install and run your application cheers.

Do you mean you want to install it on any device from your system, without the need to run Eclipse?
The command would be something like "adb install bin/MyCalculator.apk". Once you do that, your app is installed just like any other.
Do you mean you want anybody to install your app on their device? Your best bet is to just put it on the Android Market. Don't forget to generate a real signing key (don't use the Eclipse debug key) and sign your app properly before uploading it to the market.
If you don't want to use the market, then you can put the apk file on any web page, and have people download it with their browser. Then they go to their device settings and enable "Unknown sources". After that, they can run their browser, go to "Menu > Download" and select the apk they just downloaded.
Or, you can send the apk file to someone directly, and have them attach their device to their computer, enable USB, and copy the apk to their /sdcard directory somewhere. Then they launch a file browser (they'll have to install that first) and navigate to the apk file. I think that will allow them to install the apk on their device.
I think that should cover it.

You should generate the .apk file, and install it on any device you want..
http://www.technobitez.com/how-to/create-apk-files-for-android-phone
How to build an APK file in Eclipse?

Android and Unity 3D game development

I am starting to explore the game development using unity 3d for android. I have downloaded the trial version of unity 3.3. I went through few tutorials.
I have one question that is not answered. In the normal apps which we develop using eclipse, we can deploy onto mobile by copying the apk file. What about unity 3d? How do I get the game onto my phone. I don't want to publish on market.

It is possible to transfer your assets to Eclipse. When it's integrated you can debug via your android phone. Be sure to read the tutorial on Unity's homepage. There is a step by step start-up guide and some more. Following links are worth looking at:
Getting started with Unity and Android
Official - Integrating Unity with Eclipse
Alternative link - Integrating Unity with Eclipse
It would seem that the official "integration" link is broken so I updated with a forum post that covers the same topic. However I recommend to try with the official link first.

Yes, you can simply copy the apk to your device and install it. Unity builds an apk file (and will optionally sign it using a keystore that you provide or let it generate for you). Once it has built that apk you can deploy it normally. You can even have it include a customized manifest in the apk that it builds if you want to (but it generates a nice one from your settings in the unity project by default).

There are two methods for this, as far i understand,
Using Build Settings--> Build, It builds the apk file that can be installed on your device using adb install <apk file path and name>
Using Build Settigs--> Build and Run. Which automatically installs the apk built apk file on your device if connected

go to file
-build
-select android platform(your pc has to have android development kit)
-save your apk

As it is still unanswered I try to close this question
First of all, current version of Unity 5.2 is much more powerfull than version 3.3. mentioned in original question.
What about unity 3d? How do I get the game onto my phone. I don't want to publish on market.
The same way. Unity allows you to publish build as *.apk on ocal machine and then you can just copy it to your phone and install it.
What is more cool, now you can debug your application running on phone. You have to install Unity Remote to the phone and run. Now you can set breakpoints and debug as normally.
If you change your mind and go to publish on Market - Unity will sign your *.apk
Hope this helps someone, good luck!

The Same way you generate the apk through Eclipse like that in unity you need to build the project. For that android sdk and jdk should be installed in your system and u need to show those path in the unity Preferences then u need a google keystore and need to sign in with that key store in the Publisher settings and then u are able to build the apk which will be store in your local system and you can copy that to your mobile and install the apk file.

unsigned APK can not be installed

I am trying to distribute my application to some people for testing.
I have installed it on my Desire directly from eclipse and it works fine.
To create an APK-file, I choose "Export Unsigned Application Package" directly from eclipse, and then an APK file was created. I emailed it to myself and downloaded the file to the SD-card. But when I try to install it (using ES File Browser), I get a message saying "Application not installed".
(I have already checked the "Allow installation of non-Market application" on my phone)
Any ideas?
Yeah I found the problem, see my answer below:
I did not know that even with the "Allow Installation of non-Marked application", I still needed to sign the application.
I self-signed my application, following this link self-sign and release application, It only took 5 minutes, then I emailed the signed-APK file to myself and downloaded it to SD-card and then installed it without any problem.

I did not know that even with the "Allow Installation of non-Marked application", I still needed to sign the application.
I self-signed my application, following this link self-sign and release application, It only took 5 minutes, then I emailed the signed-APK file to myself and downloaded it to SD-card and then installed it without any problem.

You cannot install an unsigned application on a phone. You can only use it to test with an emulator. If you still want to go ahead, you can try self-signing the application.
Also, since you are installing the application from an SD card, I hope you have the necessary permissions set. Do go through stackoverflow.com and look at questions regarding installation of applications from an SD card - there have been many and they have been asked before.
Hope that helps.

You can test the unsigned-apk only on Emulator. And as its step of application deployment and distribution, you should read this article atleast once, i suggest: http://developer.android.com/guide/publishing/app-signing.html.
For your question, you can find the below line in above article:
All applications must be signed. The system will not install an application that is not signed.
so you have to have signed-apk before the distribution of your application.
To generate Signed-apk of your application, there is a simple wizard procedure, click on File -> Export -> Android -> Export Android application.

Just follow these steps to transfer the apk onto the real device(with debugger key) and which is just for testing purpose. (Note: For proper distribution to the market you may need to sign your app with your keys and follow all the steps.)
Install your app onto the emulator.
Once it is installed goto DDMS, select the current running app under the devices window. This will then show all the files related to it under the file explorer.
Under file explorer go to data->app and select your APK (which is the package name of the app).
Select it and click on 'Pull a file from the device' button (the one with the save symbol).
This copies the APK to your system. From there you can copy the file to your real device, install and test it.
Good luck !

I cannot install an apk build with "Export Unsigned Application Package" Android SDK feature, but i can install an apk browsing the bin directory of my project after the project buid. I put this apk on my sd on my HTC Wildfire phone, select it and the application install correctly.
You need to allow your phone to install unsigned apk.
Good Luck.

You could also send your testers the apk that is signed with your debug key. You can find that in the bin folder of your project after building in debug mode.

An unsigned application cannot be installed. When we run directly from eclipse, that apk is signed with debugger key and can be found in bin\ folder of the project. You can use that for test purpose distribution also.

why won't apk file update

I'm developing an android app using Eclipse. I export the app using the Export Android App function. I sign and align the resulting apk file. I then copy this apk to a webserver and try to install it on my phone. It goes though the installation steps, and when I test the app it does not contain my latest changes. It seems to install one of my previous builds.
Is the problem in:
- the way I create the apk?
- a cache on the phone that has not been cleared?
How do I get Eclispe to make a current apk, and how do I get my phone to install it?
How can I verify which version of my code is in a particular apk file?
Thanks,
Gerry

It could be that Eclipse isn't building the new .apk properly, though it sounds like you're exporting correctly. Are you giving the new .apk a different name from the old one? If not, then you could be downloading or installing the old one by accident.
You should be able to go into Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications on your phone, then find your app and open its info page. The version string should be listed near the top, so you can verify that the latest version is installed.

Try running "adb logcat | tee logfile" (or adb logcat > logfile) before you begin the install attempt, then ctrl-C it and go over the file with a fine tooth comb - there's likely some hints of the problem buried within the noise.