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Run Apps on a Hardware Device
When building an Android app, it's important that you always test your application on a real device before
releasing it to users. This page describes how to set up your development environment and Androidpowered device for testing and debugging on the device.
You can use any Android-powered device as an environment for running, debugging, and testing your
applications. The tools included in the SDK make it easy to install and run your application on the device
each time you compile. You can install your application on the device directly from Android Studio or from
the command line with ADB. If you don't yet have a device, check with the service providers in your area to
determine which Android-powered devices are available.
If you want a SIM-unlocked phone, then you might consider a Nexus phone. To purchase a Nexus phone,
visit the Google Play store.
Note: When developing on a device, keep in mind that you should still use the Android emulator to test
your application on configurations that are not equivalent to those of your real device. Although the
emulator does not allow you to test every device feature (such as the accelerometer), it does allow you
to verify that your application functions properly on different versions of the Android platform, in
different screen sizes and orientations, and more.
Enabling On-device Developer Options
Android-powered devices have a host of developer options that you can access on the phone, which let you:
Enable debugging over USB.
Quickly capture bug reports onto the device.
Show CPU usage on screen.
Draw debugging information on screen such as layout bounds, updates on GPU views and hardware
layers, and other information.
Plus many more options to simulate app stresses or enable debugging options.
To access these settings, open the Developer options in the system Settings. On Android 4.2 and higher, the
Developer options screen is hidden by default.
To make it visible, go to Settings > About phone
and tap Build number seven times. Return to the
previous screen to find Developer options at the
bottom.
Setting up a Device for
Development
With an Android-powered device, you can
develop and debug your Android applications
just as you would on the emulator. Before you
can start, there are just a few things to do:
1. Verify that your application is "debuggable" in your manifest or build.gradle file.
In the build file, make sure the debuggable property in the debug build type is set to true. The build type
property overrides the manifest setting.
android {
buildTypes {
debug {
debuggable true
}
In the AndroidManifest.xmlfile, add android:debuggable="true"to the <application>element.
Android Studio
Note: If you manually enable debugging in the manifest file, be sure to disable it in your release build
(your published application should usually not be debuggable).
2. Enable USB debugging on your device by going to Settings > Developer options.
Note: On Android 4.2 and newer, Developer options is hidden by default. To make it available, go to
Settings > About phone and tap Build number seven times. Return to the previous screen to find
Developer options.
3. Set up your system to detect your device.
If you're developing on Windows, you need to install a USB driver for adb. For an installation guide and
links to OEM drivers, see the OEM USB Drivers document.
If you're developing on Mac OS X, it just works. Skip this step.
If you're developing on Ubuntu Linux, you need to add a udevrules file that contains a USB
configuration for each type of device you want to use for development. In the rules file, each device
manufacturer is identified by a unique vendor ID, as specified by the ATTR{idVendor}property. For a
list of vendor IDs, see USB Vendor IDs, below. To set up device detection on Ubuntu Linux:
a. Log in as root and create this file: /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules.
Use this format to add each vendor to the file:
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0bb4", MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev"
In this example, the vendor ID is for HTC. The MODEassignment specifies read/write permissions,
and GROUPdefines which Unix group owns the device node.
Note: The rule syntax may vary slightly depending on your environment. Consult the udev
documentation for your system as needed. For an overview of rule syntax, see this guide to
writing udev rules.
b. Now execute:
chmod a+r /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules
Note: When you connect a device running Android 4.2.2 or higher to your computer, the system shows a
dialog asking whether to accept an RSA key that allows debugging through this computer. This security
protects
because it for
ensures
that USB
debugging
otheroptions.
adb commands
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cannot be executed unless you're able to unlock the device and acknowledge the dialog. This requires
OK
that you have adb version 1.0.31 (available with SDK Platform-tools r16.0.1 and higher) in order to debug
on a device running Android 4.2.2 or higher.
When plugged in over USB, you can verify that your device is connected by executing adb devicesfrom
your SDK platform-tools/directory. If connected, you'll see the device name listed as a "device."
If using Android Studio, run or debug your application as usual. You will be presented with a Device Chooser
dialog that lists the available emulator(s) and connected device(s). Select the device upon which you want to
install and run the application.
If using the Android Debug Bridge (adb), you can issue commands with the -dflag to target your connected
device.
USB Vendor IDs
This table provides a reference to the vendor IDs needed in order to add USB device support on Linux. The
USB Vendor ID is the value given to the ATTR{idVendor}property in the rules file, as described above.
Company
USB Vendor ID
Acer
0502
ASUS
0b05
Dell
413c
Foxconn
0489
Fujitsu
04c5
Fujitsu Toshiba
04c5
Garmin-Asus
091e
Google
18d1
Haier
201E
Hisense
109b
HP
03f0
HTC
0bb4
Huawei
12d1
Intel
8087
K-Touch
24e3
KT Tech
2116
Kyocera
0482
Lenovo
17ef
LG
1004
Motorola
22b8
MTK
0e8d
NEC
0409
Nook
2080
Nvidia
0955
OTGV
2257
Pantech
10a9
Pegatron
1d4d
Philips
0471
PMC-Sierra
04da
Qualcomm
05c6
SK Telesys
1f53
Samsung
04e8
Sharp
04dd
Sony
054c
Sony Ericsson
0fce
Sony Mobile Communications
0fce
Teleepoch
2340
Toshiba
0930
ZTE
19d2
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