How to build SDL for Android - CustomSDL/sdl_android_launcher GitHub Wiki

How to clone Android SDL project properly

  1. Clone sdl_android_launcher project to your local folder:
git clone https://github.com/CustomSDL/sdl_android_launcher.git
  1. Change directory to the clonned folder and checkout POC branch:
git checkout feature/android_sdl_port_poc
  1. Recursively download and update all project submodules at this point:
git submodule update --init --recursive
  1. Project is ready to work

How to setup Android Studio properly

  1. Check if you have the necessary NDK version (now it should be 21.0.6113669 in your Android SDK folder).
  2. Create empty folder for 3rd party libraries: /home/<usr_name>/android_3rd_party_libs
  3. Open .bashrc (depending on terminal you are using) in your home folder and add a new function with all your specific paths:
function start_android_studio {
  export ORG_GRADLE_NDK_DIR=/home/<usr_name>/Android/Sdk/ndk/21.0.6113669
  export THIRD_PARTY_INSTALL_PREFIX=/home/<usr_name>/android_3rd_party_libs
  export THIRD_PARTY_INSTALL_PREFIX_ARCH=/home/<usr_name>/android_3rd_party_libs
  export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$THIRD_PARTY_INSTALL_PREFIX/lib
  cd /home/<path-to-android-studio>
  android-studio # OR for older versions: bin/studio.sh
}

Note, that this is a one-time action. No need to do it every time.

  1. Save the changes and restart the terminal in your system.

  2. Open terminal and type start_android_studio

  3. At this point, your Android Studio will be opened with the all required environment variables set, so gradle will be able to forward them to cmake.

How to build Android APK

  1. Open Android SDL project sdl_android_launcher with the following structure:

project_structure

  1. In the bottom left corner, select tab "Build Variants", and chose "Active Build Variant" and "Active ABI" which fits your test device architecture best. The following options are available:
Build Variant Available ABIs Comment
x86_64 x86_64 Used mostly in Android emulators
x86 x86 Used mostly in Android Automotive emulators and in some physical devices
armeabi_v7a armeabi_v7a Used mostly in physical devices
arm64_v8a arm64_v8a Used mostly in physical devices
universal_build x86_64, x86, armeabi_v7a, arm64_v8a Very large APK, but supported by almost any Android device and emulator

NOTE. In some newer versions of Android Studio there might be not possible to select a certain build variant. If you are faced with such an issue, you can make the following workaround for selecting the required architecture:

  • Select universal_build in "Active Build Variant"
  • Select the ABI you want to build in "Active ABI" (for example x86)
  • Select the corresponding build variant in in "Active Build Variant" which contains the same ABI (for example x86)

  1. Run Gradle (File --> Sync Project with Gradle Files)

  2. Make project as usual (Build --> Make Project)

  3. Run custom task _buildFullSdlApk to add all necessary shared libraries to bundle:

custom_task

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