Setup Cordova and Android for App development

Setup the environment

Install software

• Install Cordova (PhoneGap):

  npm install -g cordova

• Install Android-SDK:

  brew install android-sdk

• Install Java 7 and setup JAVA_HOME:

  Install Oracle Java: These instructions are from the Oracle website.

• Install Ant:

  brew install ant

Add exports to .zshrc and update PATH:

export ANDROID_HOME=/usr/local/opt/android-sdk

export JAVA_HOME="$(/usr/libexec/java_home)"

export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools:$ANDROID_HOME/tools

Source the shell:

source ~/.zshrc

Run the Android app to install the platform tools:

android

Install the Android API's for the devices you will run on:

Android 4.4(API 19), 4.3(API 18) and 4.2(API 17); Install others if you need them.

Create an Android Virtual Device:

Create at least one phone and one tablet to test on.

• Galaxy Nexus

  • Y - Hardware Keyboard Present
  • N - Display a skin
  • None to cameras (this can be changed later if need be)
  • 2GB SD Card
  • Snapshot
  • Leave all the others at the defaults

• Nexus 10

  • Y - Hardware Keyboard Present
  • N - Display a skin
  • None to cameras (this can be changed later if need be)
  • Snapshot
  • 2GB SD Card
  • Leave all the others at the defaults

Create an app

Create the cordova environment: These instructions are copied from the Cordova website.

Create a directory for the app

cordova create hello com.example.hello HelloWorld

cd hello

cordova platform add android

cordova build

run "android" from another terminal window and start up one of the emulators

cordova emulate android

This will build a sample app then load and run it on the emulator.