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= KDE on Android =
== KDE Software on Android ==
Android is currently ''the'' mobile platform regarding market share and number of provided applications. Hence, it is a platform very well suited to increase the availability and usage of applications by the KDE community. In the following, we give an overview of the technical steps required to setup a build system for cross-compiling a Qt5/KF5 based Android application, the necessary steps to deploy it, and a reference list of the porting steps by different applications/people.
Android is currently ''the'' mobile platform regarding market share and number of provided applications. Hence, it is a platform very well suited to increase the availability and usage of applications by the KDE community.


== Tutorial for Building Applications on Android ==
=== Contact ===
For building Qt applications on Android, some extra steps are required in comparison to building directly on Linux. The following instruction expects that KF5/Qt5 based applications can already be built and all necessary tools are installed (gcc, cmake, git,...). The main idea for the setup is that we use precompiled Qt libraries (named NDK and SDK), which are built for the ARM-based Android platform. All building then is done by using these libraries. Still the build-process itself will use the tools from your Linux system (in the following called "host system"; while the Android device is called "target system"). The additional tools mostly are the Java Development Kit and according tools for building Java applications.  
For questions and discussion around KDE software on Android join our [https://matrix.to/#/#kde-android:kde.org Matrix channel] and [https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-android mailing list].


== Prerequisites / Setup of Cross-Compiling Build System ==
=== Getting Applications ===
At first we prepare your system with all necessary packages to build your application for Android.
For this tutorial we assume that everything is done in the folder '''/opt/android/''' (you can adapt the tutorial accordingly when using another folder).


# Some 32 bit system libraries are required:
Stable releases for our Android apps are available on [https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=4758894585905287660 Google Play] and [https://f-droid.org/ F-Droid].
#* libgcc, zlib, libc
# installing on Debian based system:
#* <code>dpkg --add-architecture i386</code>
#* <code>apt-get install zlib1g:i386 libgcc1:i386 libc6:i386</code>
# Extra-CMake-Modules
#* we require at least version >= 5.15 due to https://git.reviewboard.kde.org/r/125183
#* you can also use a smaller version >= 1.7.0 if applying this change directly to your cmake files
# Android SDK
#* Download: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html to /opt/android/
#* Unpack, run "tools/android update sdk" and select the following packages:
#** Android SDK Tools (24.3.4)
#** Android SDK Platform-tools (23.0.1)
#** Android SDK Build-tools (22.0.1)
#** Android 5.1.1 (API 22): SDK Platform (only "SDK Platform" needed, i.e. no docs, samples or sources)
#* result: now the SDK should be installed in /opt/android/android-sdk-linux
# Android NDK
#* Download: https://developer.android.com/ndk/index.html to /opt/android/
#* unpack the package (see the instructions on the download page)
#* result: now the NDK should be installed in /opt/android/android-ndk-r10e
# Qt with support for Android devices
#* Download the Qt 5.5.0 for Android: https://www.qt.io/download-open-source/#section-2  (32-bit or 64-bit as it fits your host system; usually 64-bit)
#* Variant 1: Offline Installers ("Skip" can be used without problem when asked to register an account)
#* Variant 2: Online installer ("Skip" can be used without problem when asked to register an account)
#* install the following components to /opt/android/Qt5.5.0:
#** Android armv7
#** Qt Creator 3.4.2 (cannot be disabled, some of its tools are used from other parts)
#** Recommended components:
#*** Qt Quick Controls
#*** Qt Location
#*** Qt Script
#*** Optional components (there might be KDE software using it):
#*** Qt WebEngine
#*** Qt Canvas 3D
#*** Qt3D
#*** Qt Quick 1
# Install the following software packages on your host system from your package manager (if not yet installed):
#* CMake: >= 2.8.6
#* Java Development Kit 7 (openjdk-7-jdk)
#* Ant


== Setup Build Environment ==
Nightly test builds can be found in the [[Android/FDroid | Nightly F-Droid repo]].
The build environment is the name for the shell in that the application is build. The shell is prepared by exporting a series of environment variables that then are picked up by the build scripts.
<pre>
export ADIR=/opt/android
export ANDROID_NDK=$ADIR/android-ndk-r10e
export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=$ADIR/android-sdk-linux
export Qt5_android=$ADIR/Qt5.5.0/5.5/android_armv7/
export ANDROID_API_VERSION=android-22
export PATH=$ADIR/android-sdk-linux/platform-tools/:$PATH


# adapt the following path to your ant installation
=== Build Environment ===
export ANT=/usr/bin/ant
There are different ways to setup a build environment:
# '''[https://develop.kde.org/docs/packaging/android/building_applications/ Use Ready-to-Build Docker Container with Craft]''' - This is the most convenient way to setup a system. It also brings the advantage to have a clear separation between your Linux build system and your cross-compile system; in particularly when you require several cross-compiled libraries for your application.
# '''[[Android/Environment|Setup your Build Environment Manually]]''' - This tutorial for setting up the cross-compiling environment requires considerably more time and brings the disadvantage to make no clear separation between your system and the cross-compile environment.
# '''DEPRECATED [[Android/Environment_via_Container|Use Ready-to-Build Docker Container with android tooling]]''' - This works very similar to using Craft since it uses a docker environment too. However the tooling is now deprecated and no longer supported. You should use Craft in a container instead.


# adapt the following path to your openjdk location, eg:
You can also get the binaries from binary-factory.kde.org. Here's some explanation about how it works:
# openSUSE:/usr/lib64/jvm/java
# Debian: /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-amd64
# Use "jrunscript -e 'java.lang.System.out.println(java.lang.System.getProperty("java.home"));'" to find the dir if needed
export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk/
</pre>


'''Some notes:'''
https://community.kde.org/Android/BinaryFactory
* /opt/android should be replaced with the custom build folder selected by you
* Java platform 7 is needed (both JRE and JDK). One can select the Java platform versions e.g. with <code>update-alternatives --config java</code> and <code>update-alternatives --config javac</code>


== Build with KDESRC-BUILD ==
=== Building===
TODO
The following examples do not apply if you use Craft to build the software.
==== Example: Building Marble ====
<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
cd /opt/android
git clone kde:marble
mkdir marble/build
cd marble/build
cmake -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=/PATH/TO/ECM/toolchain/Android.cmake -DECM_ADDITIONAL_FIND_ROOT_PATH=${Qt5_android} -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=../export  ..
make install/strip
</syntaxhighlight>
'''Note:'''
* <code>/PATH/TO/ECM/toolchain/Android.cmake</code> must be replaced with the actual path to toolchain/Android.cmake, if using the docker image it probably is at /opt/android/kde/install/share/ECM/toolchain/Android.cmake
* <code>make install/strip</code> strips build symbols from the binaries and reduces sizes considerably
 
==== Building with KDESRC-BUILD ====
For building the below mentioned frameworks on Android, you can use the following kdesrc-buildrc config file:
<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
cd /opt/android
git clone git://anongit.kde.org/scratch/cordlandwehr/kdesrc-conf-android.git
mkdir -p extragear/kdesrc-build
git clone git://anongit.kde.org/kdesrc-build extragear/kdesrc-build
ln -s extragear/kdesrc-build/kdesrc-build kdesrc-build
ln -s kdesrc-conf-android/kdesrc-buildrc kdesrc-buildrc
./kdesrc-build extra-cmake-modules frameworks-android
</syntaxhighlight>


== Packaging and Deployment of APKs ==
== Packaging and Deployment of APKs ==
TODO
 
See [https://api.kde.org/ecm/toolchain/Android.html ECM Android Toolchain] documentation.
 
== KDE Frameworks 5 & Third Party Libraries ==
 
=== KDE Frameworks 5 ===
* supported frameworks are listed at [https://api.kde.org]
 
=== Third Party Libraries ===
* [https://github.com/j-jorge/libintl-lite libintl-lite]: is required for KI18n, since [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bionic_%28software%29 BIONIC] does not fully support gettext


== Further References ==
== Further References ==
References:
=== References: ===
* [https://phabricator.kde.org/project/profile/45/ Phabricator Project]
* Extra-CMake-Modules Toolchain: [http://api.kde.org/ecm/toolchain/Android.html API documentation]
* Extra-CMake-Modules Toolchain: [http://api.kde.org/ecm/toolchain/Android.html API documentation]


Application specific build instructions:
=== Application specific build instructions: ===
* Marble: [https://techbase.kde.org/Projects/Marble/AndroidCompiling build instructions]
* Marble: [[Marble/AndroidCompiling | build instructions]]


Blog posts about building for Android (careful: instructions may be outdated)
=== Blog posts about building for Android (careful: instructions may be outdated) ===
* 2014-06 - Alex Pol: [http://www.proli.net/2014/06/12/kde-software-on-android/ KDE Software on Android]
* 2015-09 - Dennis Nienhüser: [http://nienhueser.de/blog/?p=614 Announcing Marble Maps for Android Open Beta]
* 2015-04 - Péterffy Gábor: [http://pgabor.blogspot.de/2015/05/it-is-official-marble-is-coming-to.html Marble is coming to Android]
* 2015-01 - GCompris Devels: [http://gcompris.net/newsall-en.html#2015-01-06 GCompris is now released on Android]
* 2014-06 - Aleix Pol: [http://www.proli.net/2014/06/12/kde-software-on-android/ KDE Software on Android]

Latest revision as of 01:56, 11 June 2023

KDE Software on Android

Android is currently the mobile platform regarding market share and number of provided applications. Hence, it is a platform very well suited to increase the availability and usage of applications by the KDE community.

Contact

For questions and discussion around KDE software on Android join our Matrix channel and mailing list.

Getting Applications

Stable releases for our Android apps are available on Google Play and F-Droid.

Nightly test builds can be found in the Nightly F-Droid repo.

Build Environment

There are different ways to setup a build environment:

  1. Use Ready-to-Build Docker Container with Craft - This is the most convenient way to setup a system. It also brings the advantage to have a clear separation between your Linux build system and your cross-compile system; in particularly when you require several cross-compiled libraries for your application.
  2. Setup your Build Environment Manually - This tutorial for setting up the cross-compiling environment requires considerably more time and brings the disadvantage to make no clear separation between your system and the cross-compile environment.
  3. DEPRECATED Use Ready-to-Build Docker Container with android tooling - This works very similar to using Craft since it uses a docker environment too. However the tooling is now deprecated and no longer supported. You should use Craft in a container instead.

You can also get the binaries from binary-factory.kde.org. Here's some explanation about how it works:

https://community.kde.org/Android/BinaryFactory

Building

The following examples do not apply if you use Craft to build the software.

Example: Building Marble

cd /opt/android
git clone kde:marble
mkdir marble/build
cd marble/build
cmake -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=/PATH/TO/ECM/toolchain/Android.cmake -DECM_ADDITIONAL_FIND_ROOT_PATH=${Qt5_android} -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=../export  ..
make install/strip

Note:

  • /PATH/TO/ECM/toolchain/Android.cmake must be replaced with the actual path to toolchain/Android.cmake, if using the docker image it probably is at /opt/android/kde/install/share/ECM/toolchain/Android.cmake
  • make install/strip strips build symbols from the binaries and reduces sizes considerably

Building with KDESRC-BUILD

For building the below mentioned frameworks on Android, you can use the following kdesrc-buildrc config file: 

cd /opt/android
git clone git://anongit.kde.org/scratch/cordlandwehr/kdesrc-conf-android.git
mkdir -p extragear/kdesrc-build
git clone git://anongit.kde.org/kdesrc-build extragear/kdesrc-build
ln -s extragear/kdesrc-build/kdesrc-build kdesrc-build
ln -s kdesrc-conf-android/kdesrc-buildrc kdesrc-buildrc
./kdesrc-build extra-cmake-modules frameworks-android

Packaging and Deployment of APKs

See ECM Android Toolchain documentation.

KDE Frameworks 5 & Third Party Libraries

KDE Frameworks 5

  • supported frameworks are listed at [1]

Third Party Libraries

Further References

References:

Application specific build instructions:

Blog posts about building for Android (careful: instructions may be outdated)

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