Android Deployment with the Atomic Editor
IMPORTANT: Projects which use C++, JavaScript, and TypeScript can be deployed directly from the Atomic Editor. C# Android projects use the Xamarin mobile stack and must be deployed using Visual Studio, Visual Studio for Mac, or MonoDevelop.
Once the setup steps are completed, the project is ready to be deployed from the editor.
In the Build Settings Dialog box, in order to fill out the Android settings, you must select the Android button on the left side of the dialog. This will switch the contents of the panel to the Android settings. Once switched, at the bottom of the dialog box, press the Set Current Platform button to ensure the next build that is done will be for the Android Platform.
- App Name used to label the app when installed (required)
- App Package the package naming convention is com.companyname.appname (required)
- Company Name deprecated, not used anywhere (optional)
- App Icon path to app icon directories (optional)
- Android SDK Path the SDK location, hosts API levels (required)
- Android API Level Select API level to use (required)
- Ant Path path to the ant command, may be left blank if installed locally.
- JDK Root may be left blank if installed locally.
- APK type type of APK to build (required)
- REL location of release support files, required only if Release APK type is selected.
- NDK the NDK location, required only if a Debug Source APK type is selected.
Settings that are entered in this panel will be saved in the tool preferences, so they only need to be entered once, and will be available in multiple projects.
The App Name is used to label the app, and will appear under the icon when installed on a device. It is a required field.
The App package name is used as a unique identification for your app. The recommended package naming convention formed from 3 components. The first component is often com to denote a commercial app. The second component is the companyname which is used for the publisher of the app. And the third component is the appname, and this is the name of the app, but this appname does not have to be the same as the App Name that is used to label the app. It is a required field.
This is deprecated. It is an optional field.
This is the path to app launcher icon directories. A launcher icon is a graphic that represents your application on the device's home screen and launcher window. The app may be installed on devices with varying resolutions, and providing icons to match a resolution means the launcher icon will be displayed without being scaled. These are the directories and files that should be present in the App Icon path
- drawable/logo_large.png = 512x512
- drawable-ldpi/icon.png = 36x36
- drawable-mdpi/icon.png = 48x48 (if you are only going to do one, this would be it)
- drawable-hdpi/icon.png = 72x72
Supplying an app icon is optional, if not set, you will get the light look Atomic icon for your app. To change the icon, press the Icon button, and select a path to your directory. When set properly, the icon button will change to display your icon. To clear the selection, remove the text from the App Icon text field.
Set this path to the location of the ant command, which is used to build the app APK file. On some platforms, this field may be left blank if it has been installed locally on the OS.
Set this path to the location of the Java JDK, this is used to compile code during the APK generation. On some platforms, this field may be left blank, if it has been installed locally on the OS.
This control allows you to select the type of APK to build. The options are
- Debug
- Debug Source with gdbserver
- Debug Source with libgdbserver.so
- Release
The Debug setting is the default, this produces an APK which gets signed with an automatically generated debug key and can be installed on a device for testing purposes. You can not distribute the app with a debug key.
The Debug Source with gdbserver and Debug Source with libgdbserver.so are two specialized APKs which are debug and have an embedded gdbserver to allow source debugging with an external host. Depending on the support debugging services, the name of the embedded gdbserver can be gdbserver or libgdbserver.so, you have the option to pick the appropriate one for your needs.
The Release setting produces a release mode APK, this will require signing by a public-key certificate. The Release Support path allows you to enter your passwords in a user supplied ant.properties, to allow the release APK to be produced.
Set this path to the location of release support files, and is required only if Release APK type has been selected. The user creates a text file called ant.properties in the selected path. In the ant.properties file, add the signing certificate location and passwords for your certificate, for example:
key.store=/path/to/keystore
key.alias=myalias
key.store.password=itsASecret
key.alias.password=secretToo
Keep this file in a secure location. It is done this way so your passwords will not be in the project itself. If you are going to publish an APK for distribution, it will need to be signed with something other than a debug key. You can purchase certificates, or create a self signed certificate at no cost. Online app stores have guidelines for certificate contents.
Set this path to the location of your Android Native Development Kit, and is required only if a Debug Source APK type is selected. The gdbserver that is embedded in the APK is copied from the NDK.
The Build button can be pressed from the Settings Dialog or Ctrl (Cmd) + B keys can be pressed to open the Build window. Choose a folder to save the deployment. The Android-Build folder will be generated here, this folder contains the application's libraries and serialized assets.
Click Build
If there is an Android device connected to the host computer with a USB cable, at the end of the APK generation process, the APK will be installed on the device and run.
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