// Copyright (C) 2023 The Qt Company Ltd. // SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-Qt-Commercial OR GFDL-1.3-no-invariants-only /*! \page creator-developing-android.html \previouspage creator-connecting-mobile.html \nextpage creator-developing-baremetal.html \title Connecting Android Devices You can connect Android devices to the development PC using USB cables to build, run, debug, and analyze applications from \QC. To develop for Android, you must install a tool chain for building applications for Android devices on the development PC. \QC can automatically download and install the tool chain and create a suitable build and run \l{glossary-buildandrun-kit}{kit} that has the tool chain and the Qt version for Android for the device's architecture. To enable helpful code editing features for Java, such as code completion, highlighting, function tooltips, and navigating in code, add a \l{Java Language Server}{Java language server}. \QC integrates the Android Debug Bridge (\c adb) command line tool for deploying applications to Android devices, running them, and reading their logs. The \c adb tool includes a client and server that run on the development host and a daemon that runs on the emulator or device. The following video shows the whole process from installing Qt for Android to debugging an application on an Android device: \youtube 5OiIqFTjUZI \section1 Requirements To use \QC to develop Qt applications for Android, you need \l {Qt for Android} and a tool chain that \QC can automatically download, install, and configure for you. For more information about the requirements for developing with a particular Qt version, see the documentation for that Qt version. The links in this manual lead to the latest released Qt reference documentation. \section1 Specifying Android Device Settings \QC offers to automatically install all the necessary packages and tools and to set up your development environment by creating debuggers, tool chains, and kits. You can use \QC to: \list \li Download and extract the Android SDK Command-line Tools. \li Install or update the essential packages such as NDKs, build tools, and platform tools. \endlist To set up the development environment for Android: \list 1 \li Select \uicontrol Edit > \uicontrol Preferences > \uicontrol Devices > \uicontrol Android on Windows and Linux or \uicontrol {\QC} > \uicontrol Preferences > \uicontrol Devices > \uicontrol Android on \macos. \image qtcreator-options-android-main.png {Android preferences} \li In the \uicontrol {JDK location} field, set the path to the JDK. \QC checks the JDK installation and reports errors. By default, \QC tries to find a supported \l{AdoptOpenJDK} or \l{OpenJDK} installation. If it cannot find one, you must set the path manually. If you have not installed a supported JDK, select \inlineimage icons/online.png to open the JDK download web page in the default browser. \note Use a 64-bit JDK because the 32-bit one might cause issues with \c cmdline-tools, and some packages might not appear in the list. \li In the \uicontrol {Android SDK location} field, set the path to the folder to install the \l{Android SDK Command-line Tools}. \li Select \uicontrol {Set Up SDK} to automatically download and extract the Android SDK Command-line Tools to the selected path. The SDK Manager checks that you have the necessary tools. If you need more packages or updates, the SDK Manager offers to add or remove the appropriate packages. Before taking action, it prompts you to accept the changes. In addition, it prompts you to accept Google licenses, as necessary. \li The \uicontrol {Android NDK list} lists the installed NDK versions. The SDK Manager installed the locked items. You can modify them only from the \uicontrol {Android SDK Manager} dialog. For more information, see \l{Managing Android NDK Packages}. \li Select the \uicontrol {Automatically create kits for Android tool chains} check box to allow \QC to create the kits for you. \QC displays a warning if it cannot find a suitable Qt version. \li Optionally, in the \uicontrol {Android OpenSSL Settings} group, set the path to the prebuilt OpenSSL libraries. For Qt applications that require OpenSSL support, you can quickly add the \l {Android OpenSSL support} to your project. For more information, see \l{Adding External Libraries}. \li Select \uicontrol {Download OpenSSL} to download the OpenSSL repository to the selected path. If the automatic download fails, the download web page opens for manual download. \endlist \section2 Manual Setup \note Use the latest Android SDK Command-Line Tools. \QC does not support Android SDK Tools version 25.2.5 or earlier because it cannot fully integrate them. However, if the automatic setup does not meet your needs, you can download and install Android SDK Command-line Tools, and then install or update the necessary NDKs, tools, and packages. For more information, see \l{Getting Started with Qt for Android}. \section2 Viewing Android Tool Chain Settings A JSON configuration file defines the Android SDK Command-Line Tools download URL, the essential packages list, and the appropriate NDK for each Qt version. The file is in the \QC resource folder: \badcode # Linux and macOS ~/.config/QtProject/qtcreator/android/sdk_definitions.json # Windows C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\QtProject\qtcreator\android\sdk_definitions.json \endcode For example, the SDK configuration file sets the NDK version 19.2.5345600 for use with Qt 5.12.0 to 5.12.5 and Qt 5.13.0 to 5.13.1: \badcode "specific_qt_versions": [ { "versions": ["5.12.[0-5]", "5.13.[0-1]"], "sdk_essential_packages": ["build-tools;28.0.2", "ndk;19.2.5345600"], "ndk_path": "ndk/19.2.5345600" } ] \endcode You can view the latest version of the configuration file that is up-to-date with the Android SDK and NDK changes, \l{sdk_definitions.json}, in Git. \section2 Managing Android NDK Packages To view the installed \l{Android NDK} versions, select \uicontrol Edit > \uicontrol Preferences > \uicontrol Devices > \uicontrol Android on Windows and Linux or \uicontrol {\QC} > \uicontrol Preferences > \uicontrol Devices > \uicontrol Android on \macos. \image qtcreator-options-android-sdk-tools.png {Android NDK and SDK checks} The SDK Manager installed the locked items. You can modify them only in the \uicontrol {Android SDK Manager} dialog. For more information, see \l{Managing Android SDK Packages}. To manually download NDKs, select \inlineimage icons/online.png . To use the selected NDK version for all Qt versions by default, select \uicontrol {Make Default}. To add custom NDK paths manually to the global list of NDKs, select \uicontrol Add. This creates custom tool chains and debuggers associated to that NDK. However, you have to manually create a kit that uses the custom NDK. For more information, see \l{Adding Kits}. \section2 Managing Android SDK Packages Since Android SDK Tools version 25.3.0, Android has only a command-line tool, \l {sdkmanager}, for SDK package management. To make SDK management easier, \QC has an SDK Manager for installing, updating, and removing SDK packages. You can still use \c sdkmanager for advanced SDK management. To view the installed Android SDK packages, select \uicontrol Edit > \uicontrol Preferences > \uicontrol Devices > \uicontrol Android > \uicontrol {SDK Manager} on Windows and Linux or \uicontrol {\QC} > \uicontrol Preferences > \uicontrol Devices > \uicontrol Android > \uicontrol {SDK Manager} on \macos. \image qtcreator-android-sdk-manager.webp {Android SDK Manager} You can show packages for the release channel you select in \uicontrol {Show Packages} > \uicontrol Channel. Common channel IDs include \uicontrol Stable, \uicontrol Beta, \uicontrol Dev, and \uicontrol Canary. To show and update also obsolete packages, select \uicontrol {Include obsolete}. To filter packages, select \uicontrol Available, \uicontrol Installed, or \uicontrol All. To update the installed Android SDK packages, select \uicontrol {Update Installed}. Select the packages to update, and then select \uicontrol Apply. To specify advanced \c sdkmanager settings, select \uicontrol {Advanced Options} and enter arguments in the \uicontrol {SDK Manager arguments} field. \uicontrol {Available arguments} lists the arguments with descriptions. \image qtcreator-android-sdk-manager-arguments.png {Android SDK Manager Arguments dialog} \section1 Managing Android Virtual Devices (AVD) To view the available AVDs, select \uicontrol Edit > \uicontrol Preferences > \uicontrol Devices on Windows and Linux or \uicontrol {\QC} > \uicontrol Preferences > \uicontrol Devices > on \macos. You can add more AVDs. \image qtcreator-android-avd-manager.png {Android device in Devices} You can see the status of the selected device in \uicontrol {Current state}. To update the status information, select \uicontrol Refresh. To start an AVD, select \uicontrol {Start AVD}. Usually, you don't need to start AVDs separately because \QC starts them when you select them in the \l{Building for Multiple Platforms}{kit selector} to \l{Deploying to Android}{deploy applications} to them. To remove an AVD from the list and the kit selector, select \uicontrol {Erase AVD}. To specify options for starting an AVD, select \uicontrol {AVD Arguments}. \image qtcreator-android-avd-arguments.png {Startup options for AVDs} Specify the options in \uicontrol {Emulator command-line startup options}. For available options, see \l{Start the emulator from the command line}. \note The Android Emulator has a bug that prevents it from starting on some systems. If an AVD does not start, you can try starting it manually by running the following commands: \badcode cd /emulator ./emulator -avd \endcode \section2 Creating a New AVD To create new virtual devices: \list 1 \li Select \uicontrol Edit > \uicontrol Preferences > \uicontrol Devices > \uicontrol Add > \uicontrol {Android Device} on Windows and Linux or \uicontrol {\QC} > \uicontrol Preferences > \uicontrol Devices > \uicontrol Add > \uicontrol {Android Device} on \macos to open the \uicontrol {Create New AVD} dialog. \image qtcreator-android-create-avd.png {Create New AVD dialog} \li Set the name, definition, architecture, target API level, and SD card size of the device. \li Select \uicontrol OK to create the AVD. \endlist For more advanced options for creating a new AVD, use the command-line tool \l{avdmanager} or the Android Studio's native AVD Manager UI. \section1 Debugging on Android Devices You enable debugging in different ways on different Android devices. Look for \uicontrol {USB Debugging} under \uicontrol {Developer Options}. On some devices, \uicontrol {Developer Options} is hidden and becomes visible only when you tap the \uicontrol {Build number} field in \uicontrol Settings > \uicontrol About several times. For more information, see \l {Configure on-device developer options}. Select a \l{glossary-build-config}{debug build configuration} to build the application for debugging. \note \QC cannot debug applications on Android devices if Android Studio is running. If the following message appears in \l {Application Output}, close Android Studio and try again: \badcode Ignoring second debugger -accepting and dropping. \endcode */