lbry-android/DOCKER-DEV.md

lbry-android development environment inside docker

scripts/lbry-android.sh is a bash script to create a docker container for lbry-android development.

This is a hybrid approach where the apk is built inside docker, but you run Android Studio, adb, and the app hot-reload bundler, directly on your host.

Features

• Clones lbry-android source code to a directory on the host, and mounts it inside the container.
• Installs all build dependencies inside the container, leaving your host computer clean.
• Mounted .buildozer directory to save container space. (Docker containers should stay under 10GB, and .buildozer is too big, so it has to stay in a mounted host directory instead.)
• The biggest downloads are cached in .buildozer-downloads directory so you can easily remove .buildozer and not have to re-download the large cryostax NDK more than once.
• Instructions for installing on a real Android device, and for setting up hot-reload.
• Only a handful of commands to go from zero->hero.

Requirements

Install all of the following on your host computer:

• Tested on Linux x86_64 with BASH.
• Install Android Studio.
  • The normal install auto-creates a directory in $HOME/Android/Sdk to store SDK downloads in your home directory.
• Install nodejs.
• Install yarn.
• Install Docker.
• Install sudo and give your user account access to run sudo docker.

Install

Clone lbry-android:

LBRY_GIT=$HOME/git/vendor/lbryio/
mkdir -p $LBRY_GIT
git clone https://github.com/lbryio/lbry-android.git $LBRY_GIT
cd $LBRY_GIT/lbry-android
git submodule update --init --recursive

Install a bash alias to the scripts/lbry-android.sh script:

echo "alias lbry-android=$LBRY_GIT/lbry-android/scripts/lbry-android.sh" >> $HOME/.bashrc

source ~/.bashrc

Usage

• First create the base docker image:

lbry-android docker-build

(If anytime you change the docker build scripts in the scripts subdirectory, you should rebuild the image again.)

• Setup buildozer and install dependencies:

lbry-android setup

• Build the apk:

lbry-android build

The apk will be built and end up in the lbry-android/bin/ subdirectory.

Running on a real Android device

Once you have the apk built, you can install it on a real Android device to start testing.

Follow the Android documentation for enabling USB debugging on your device.

Once you have enabled debugging, do the following:

• Plug your device into a USB port on the host computer.
• Run:

~/Android/Sdk/platform-tools/adb devices

• ADB should list your device like so:

[ryan@t440s lbry-android]$ adb devices
List of devices attached
HT71R0000000	device

• The first time you connect, you should see a modal dialog on the device asking to confirm the host id. You must approve it, or adb will fail to connect.

• If after trying several times, adb is still not connecting to your device, and adb lists your device as unauthorized, you may need to follow this advice and delete your $HOME/.android directory.

• Install the apk (whatever the current version is called) to the device:

~/Android/Sdk/platform-tools/adb install ./bin/browser-0.7.5-debug.apk

• Open the app on your device, and follow the initial steps to get to the main lbry-android browser page.

• Create a tcp tunnel over the adb bridge, for the app to handle live-reload:

~/Android/Sdk/platform-tools/adb reverse tcp:8081 tcp:8081

• Start the live-reload server on the host:

cd app/
yarn install
yarn start

• With your device currently running the lbry-android app, shake the device from side to side, and a menu will appear. Choose Enable Hot Reloading.

• The app should reload itself.

• Now make a change to the source code to test hot reload. From the host, open up the main page view source code: app/src/component/uriBar/view.js. Find the line that reads Search movies, music, and more (This is the main search bar at the top of the app.) - Change some of the text and save the file.

• If hot-reload is working, within a few seconds the phone should reload the page automatically and show the change that you made.

• If the hot-reload does not work, try closing the app (dismiss the window from the tab overview, via android square button) and reload the app.