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/**************************************************************************
**
** Copyright (C) 2015 The Qt Company Ltd.
** Contact: http://www.qt.io/licensing
**
** This file is part of Qt Creator
**
**
** GNU Free Documentation License
**
** Alternatively, this file may be used under the terms of the GNU Free
** Documentation License version 1.3 as published by the Free Software
** Foundation and appearing in the file included in the packaging of this
** file.
**
**
**************************************************************************/
/*!
\contentspage {Qt Creator Manual}
\previouspage creator-deployment.html
\page creator-deploying-android.html
\nextpage creator-deployment-embedded-linux.html
\title Deploying Applications to Android Devices
On Android, applications are distributed in a specially structured type of
ZIP package called an APK. \QC supports the following methods of deployment
for Android applications:
\list
\li As a stand-alone, distributable application package (APK).
\li As a minimal APK that contains a dependency to the Ministro tool.
The Ministro tool downloads the necessary Qt libraries from a
repository of your choice.
\li As an incomplete APK that is suitable for testing and debugging
applications on a device connected to the development host. The APK
relies on the device containing the Qt libraries in the correct
location. \QC copies the libraries to that location the first time
you deploy the application.
\endlist
To specify settings for application packages, select \uicontrol Projects >
\uicontrol {Build Android APK} > \uicontrol Details.
\section1 Creating Distributable APK Packages
To copy Qt libraries and files to the project directory and to bundle them
as part of the APK, select the \uicontrol {Bundle Qt libraries in APK} option.
\note Android 5 devices support only this option.
\section1 Using Ministro to Install Qt Libraries
To minimize the size of your APK, you can package the application with an
external dependency called Ministro. If a user downloads your application,
and it is the first application on their device to depend on Ministro, they
are asked to install Ministro before they can run your application.
Ministro serves as a central repository for Qt libraries. This enables
several applications to share the libraries, which only need to be installed
once. To use this deployment method, you must set up a repository for the
libraries that you want to distribute. To specify the
repository URL, edit the file \c {android/res/values/libs.xml}, which is
created by \QC.
To use Ministro to install the Qt libraries, select the
\uicontrol {Use Ministro service to install Qt} option.
\section1 Deploying Qt Libraries for Debugging
To test your application on a device that is physically connected to the
development host (or on an emulator), you can copy the Qt libraries into a
temporary directory on your device and run the application against them.
An APK built in this way is not distributable, since it relies on the device
containing the Qt libraries in the correct location. However, as the Qt
libraries are only copied into the device once, this method provides a fast
turn-around time, and is therefore convenient for testing the application
during development.
Select the \uicontrol {Deploy local Qt libraries to temporary directory} option to
deploy Qt libraries to the \c{/data/local/tmp/qt} folder on the device and
to run the application against them.
\section1 Packaging Applications
Because bundling applications as APK packages is not
trivial, Qt 5 provides a deployment tool called \c androiddeployqt.
When you deploy an application using a \uicontrol {Qt for Android Kit}, \QC uses
the \c androiddeployqt tool to create the necessary files and to bundle them
into an APK:
\list
\li Java files, which serve as the entry point into your application and
that automatically load Qt and execute the native code in your
application.
\li AndroidManifest.xml, which provides meta-information about your
application.
\li Other XML files, which specify the dependencies of your application.
\li Resource files.
\li Libraries and QML files, which can be included in the project
depending on the deployment method that you select.
\li Gradle wrappers that are needed to download and use Gradle.
\li Gradle script that is needed by Java IDEs, such as Android Studio.
It allows the user to extend the Java part without copying our Java
sources. It also allows the IDEs to provide code completion, syntax
highlighting, and so on.
\endlist
The Gradle wrappers and scripts are bundled only if you use
\l{Selecting the APK Build Tool}{Gradle} to build the application packages.
To view the packages that the \c androiddeployqt tool created, select the
\uicontrol {Open package location after build} check box.
The packages are deployed on the connected Android devices. To switch the
device used as a default device for the selected kit, select
\uicontrol Projects > \uicontrol Run >
\uicontrol {Reset Default Devices}. The setting applies until you restart \QC.
For more information, see \l{Selecting Android Devices}.
For more information about the \c androiddeployqt tool, see
\l{Deploying an Application on Android}.
\section2 Specifying Settings for Packages
You can specify settings for the \c androiddeployqt tool in \QC and in the
project .pro file. To specify settings in \QC, select \uicontrol Projects >
\uicontrol {Build Android APK} > \uicontrol Details.
\image qtcreator-android-deploy-configurations.png "Deploy configurations"
The anddroiddeployqt tool uses the information in the project .pro file to
create APKs. For more information about the qmake variables
that you can set in the .pro file to tailor the APK, see
\l{Deploying an Application on Android}.
You can view information about what the anddroiddeployqt tool is doing in
the \uicontrol {Compile Output} pane. To view additional information, select the
\uicontrol {Verbose output} check box.
\section3 Selecting API Level
In the \uicontrol {Android build SDK} field, you can select the API level to use
for building the application. Usually, you should select the newest API
level available.
This field does not specify the minimum supported API level nor the target
API level, which you can specify in the Android manifest file.
For more information about Android API levels, see
\l{http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/uses-sdk-element.html#ApiLevels}
{What is API Level?}.
\section3 Signing Android Packages
To publish your application, you must sign it by using a \e {public-private
key pair} that consists of a \e certificate and a corresponding
\e {private key} and is identified by an \e alias. The key pair is used to
verify that the future versions of your application are actually created by
you.
\warning Keep the key pair in a safe place and take back up copies, because
you cannot update the application if you lose the key pair.
You can use \QC to generate a keystore and a \e {self-signed} certificate.
The generated certificate has the structure of an X.509 v3 digital
certificate. It contains information about the version, serial number, and
validity period of the certificate, the ID of the algorithm that is used to
encrypt the data, the organization that issued the certificate, and the
\e subject (owner) of the certificate. In case of a self-signed certificate,
the issuer and owner of the certificate are the same. In addition, the
certificate contains information about the algorithm that is used to sign
the certificate, as well as the signature of the certificate.
The keystore is protected by a password. In addition, you can protect each
alias with its individual password.
When you sign an Android application, you must select a keystore that
contains certificates and a certificate alias from the keystore. The public
key (certificate) for the alias is embedded into the APK during signing.
To create a keystore and a self-signed certificate:
\list 1
\li In the \uicontrol Keystore field, select \uicontrol Create to create a new
keystore that contains one key pair in the \uicontrol {Create Keystore and
a Certificate} dialog:
\image qtcreator-android-certificate.png
\li In the \uicontrol Keystore group, enter a password to protect the
keystore.
\li In the \uicontrol Certificate group, specify the key size and validity
period of the certificate. You can specify a separate password to
protect the key pair or use the keystore password.
\li In the \uicontrol {Certificate Distinguished Names} group, enter
information about yourself and your company or organization that
identifies the issuer and the owner of the key pair.
\li Select \uicontrol Save.
\li In the \uicontrol {Keystore File Name} dialog, enter a name for the
keystore and select a location for it.
\li In the \uicontrol Keystore dialog, enter the keystore password to create
the key pair in the keystore.
\endlist
To sign an Android package by using a key pair, specify settings in the
\uicontrol {Sign package} group:
\list 1
\li In the \uicontrol Keystore field, select \uicontrol Choose to select an existing
keystore.
\li In the \uicontrol {Certificate alias} field, select an alias from the list
of key pairs that the keystore contains.
\li Select the \uicontrol {Sign package} check box to use the alias to
sign the Android package.
\endlist
\section3 Adding External Libraries
\QC automatically detects which Qt libraries the application uses and adds
them as dependencies. If the application needs external libraries, specify
them in the \uicontrol {Additional Libraries} field. The libraries are copied into
your application's library folder and loaded on startup.
For example, to enable OpenSSL in your application, add the paths to the
required \c libssl.so and \c libcrypto.so libraries to the
\uicontrol {Additional Libraries} field.
\section3 Editing Manifest Files
You can use the qmake variables to specify all
the settings you need for the \c androiddeployqt tool and you do not need an
Android manifest file until you want to publish the package in an
application store. To specify additional settings for APK packages, you can
create an Android manifest file and edit it in \QC. Select
\uicontrol {Create Templates} to create the file and to open it in the
Android Manifest Editor.
\image qtcreator-android-manifest-editor.png "Android Manifest Editor"
\list 1
\li In the \uicontrol {Package name} field, enter a package name for the application.
The application is launched by an automatically generated Java launcher that
is packaged with the application into an Android package (.apk). For more
information, see
\l{http://developer.android.com/guide/components/fundamentals.html}
{Android Application Fundamentals}.
\li You can specify an internal version number for the package in the
\uicontrol {Version code} field. It is used to determine whether one version of
the application is more recent than another. In the \uicontrol {Version name}
field, specify the version number that is shown to users.
\li In the \uicontrol {Minimum required SDK} field, select the minimum API level
required to run the application. The minimum supported API level is
android-9. \QC does not allow you to select an API
level that the Qt version specified for the kit does not support.
\li In the \uicontrol {Target SDK} field, select the targeted API level of the
application. This affects the activation of some compatibility features in
the OS. The value used by the \c androiddeployqt tool by default is 14, which
means that the overflow button in the system navigation bar will not be
enabled by default.
\li In the \uicontrol Application group, you can give the application a name and
select an icon for it. The three icon fields can contain different versions
of the icon with low, medium, and high DPI values, from left to right.
You can also give an activity a name and select the activity to run.
\li In the \uicontrol Permissions field, you can specify the permissions that your
application needs. Users are asked to grant the permissions when they
install the application. Android OS then grants the application access to
the appropriate data and features.
\li Select the \uicontrol {Include default permissions for Qt modules} and
\uicontrol {Include default features for Qt modules} check boxes to add the
permissions needed by Qt libraries.
\li To add permissions, select them in the list, and then select \uicontrol Add.
\endlist
Select the \uicontrol {XML Source} tab to edit the file in XML format.
\section1 Installing Ministro
The easiest way to install Ministro is to do it on the device via Google
Play. When you run the application for the first time, a dialog pops up and
guides you through the installation.
To use \QC to install Ministro, you must first download the Ministro .apk
from the Google Market or from the
\l{http://necessitas.kde.org/necessitas/ministro.php}{Ministro} home page.
Then select \uicontrol Projects > \uicontrol Run > \uicontrol {Install Ministro from APK}.
You can use this option also to install any Android package (.apk).
You can use this option to install applications on an Android Virtual
Device (AVD).
*/
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