Testing the Android app (API v2 transition work)

[Rich Sage]

Hi folks,

I'm currently making a stab at transitioning the Android app over to API v2, and fixing any obvious bugs/issues as I go.  My plan, at least at the moment, is to get the app into a working state, so any feature additions, design tweaks etc could come later.

If anyone is interested in testing it as I go, here's some steps in order to get the app on your handset (minimum Android 2.3) for testing.  Hopefully these are comprehensive enough...

The code is at git://github.com/richsage/Joind.in-android-app.git - the "api-v2" branch.  This is forked from jaytaph's original repository, as that seemed to be the most up to date. Might be worth pulling the latest changes into the main joind.in Android app repo at some point too.

Steps

--------

JDK - You'll need a Java development kit installed - apt-get, brew install or a downloadable installer will do nicely.

Android SDK - You'll need the Android SDK package installed [1]. Make a note of where this gets installed path-wise; you'll probably need it later on when setting your build environment up (IDE or otherwise).

You will also need to install one or more platforms for testing.  It normally comes with the latest platform enabled, but I'd also recommend installing the 2.3 SDK as well as a minimum.  You can do this by going to the tools directory inside the SDK, and running:

# ./android sdk

(if you use an IDE, they normally have a menu option to get to the Android SDK manager)

I also recommend adding at least the platform-tools directory to your main path; useful when you need to run "adb" later (the Android Debug Bridge).

IDE - I use IntelliJ IDEA for building and deploying but Eclipse is just as good at doing that. If you're using Eclipse, you'll need the Android Developer Tools plugin for it [2].

I've not tried Netbeans for Android dev. I've also not tried command-line building, but it is possible as far as I can see [3].

Your IDE will need configuring with the path of the Android SDK.  Probably best to Google this and see the specific details for adding it in as it can vary.

Phone handset

Your phone handset will need the "USB debugging" option enabled - this is normally in Settings -> Developer Options, but it may differ depending on your Android version.

You also might need to enable the installation of non-Market apps. I have a feeling I had to do this on my old 2.3 device, but I can't see the option on my 4.0 device now...

Handset and computer

First check out the Android guide to setting up hardware devices [4].

Plug your handset in via USB.

Things should work.... you'll normally see the device become listed somewhere in your IDE, or you can run "adb devices" from the SDK's platform-tools directory.

Code!

Clone the repository, and open it in the IDE.  The project has an Eclipse folder from the original repo; I haven't added any IntelliJ-specific stuff in though.  You should be able to build the project and select a destination for deploying - you can create virtual Android devices to deploy to (useful for testing on different Android versions, screen resolutions etc), or deploy to your handset.

Notes

Crashes/exception traces appear in ADB logcat output.  This can normally be found in your IDE, or by running "adb logcat" from the platform-tools directory. Warning: lots of output here!

The changes so far for API v2 are also only for read-only stuff at the moment; I haven't added in any of the OAuth stuff.

This is still work in progress, so things are liable to break. Also I'm in no way a professional Android dev, so any pointers welcome as to better ways to do things....

Cheers,

Rich

[1] http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html

[2] http://developer.android.com/tools/index.html

[3] http://developer.android.com/tools/building/building-cmdline.html

[4] http://developer.android.com/tools/device.html

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Rich Sage
Shoreham-by-Sea, UK
rich...@gmail.com

[Lorna Mitchell]

Rich

Thanks for sending this out, I've been keen to know how you're getting on and to be able to jump in and help out with testing or working on any little kinks particularly at the API end.  I followed your instructions and was able to get the app running on my phone, yay :)

I am on ubuntu and don't have an IDE installed (well, vim!) so I used the ADT bundle which brought in eclipse, then downloaded the various versions of android I want to be able to compile for (in my house, we have 2.3, a handful of 4.1s and a 4.2) - these were pretty big files and this step did take some time even on a fairly fast connection.  I forked and cloned your repo and eventually persuaded eclipse to use this by telling it "New Project" and then there's an option for "Existing Android Project".  Then I plugged in my phone and pressed the "play" button and it just worked!!

Love it when a plan comes together and looking forward to seeing this evolve.  I thought I'd add my experiences here for others who might want to set up the platform (there should be a README at some point ...)

Lorna

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Lorna Mitchell
http://lornajane.net