Build Android

We recommend the use of CapacitorJS for building cross-platform native runtime web apps.

Capacitor features a native Android runtime that enables developers to communicate between JavaScript and Native Java for Android code.

Capacitor Android apps are configured and managed through Android Studio (generally). Follow these guides for more information on each topic:

Getting Started

Developing Android apps requires some Android SDK dependencies to be installed. Make sure to install the Android SDK Tools (26.0.1 or greater required), and a version of the Android SDK Platforms for API 21 or greater.

You can install these easily by opening Android Studio, and going to Tools -> Android -> SDK Manager from the top menu bar:

Creating Android Project

By default, an Android project is already present for every Chatness project. If you are adding Capacitor from scratch to an existing project, you can manually add the Android project using:

npx cap add android
npx cap sync

The sync command updates dependencies, and copies any web assets to your project. Always that you install a new Capacitor plugin you'll need to run this sync command.

npx cap copy

To copy web assets only, which is faster if you know you don't need to update native dependencies.

Opening Android Project

To open the project in Android Studio, run:

npx cap open android

Running Your App

Note: Currently to use an Android Emulator you must use a system image of at least Android version 7.0 on API 24. This is due to the System WebView version not being able to be updated on emulators. Physical devices should work as low as Android 5.0 (API 21) as long as their System WebView is updated.

Once Android Studio is open, you should be able to run your app on a device or emulator. Click Run or Debug:

Troubleshooting

If you encountered any issue above, please let us know by filing an issue on the repo, and then consult the Troubleshooting Android page for solutions to common Android problems.

Next Steps

If your app ran you are now ready to continue developing and building your app. Use the various APIs available, Capacitor or Cordova plugins, or custom native code to build out the rest of your app.