--- title: Building the LBRY Android App description: Step-by-step build instructions for the LBRY Android App --- ### Introduction This guide provides step-by-step instructions to setup and build the [LBRY Android App](https://lbry.com/android) for development purposes. #### Estimated Time 25 - 40 minutes #### Prerequisites - A computer running Linux with `apt` (otherwise, alter the package installation instructions accordingly) - At least 15GB of free disk space - Internet access ### Environment Setup You can set up your environment via Docker or manually. #### Docker Environment Setup Use [Docker](https://docs.docker.com/install/) and start a container using the `lbry/android-base` image. Run: ``` docker run -it lbry/android-base:latest /bin/bash ``` When this is complete, continue to [Building the App](#building-the-app). #### Manual Environment Setup ##### 1. Install Packages via Apt Install required system packages via `apt`: ``` sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 sudo apt-get -y update sudo apt-get install -y curl ca-certificates software-properties-common gpg-agent wget sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa -y && \ curl -sS https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian/pubkey.gpg | apt-key add - echo "deb https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian/ stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yarn.list sudo apt-get -y update && apt-get -y install autoconf autogen automake libtool libffi-dev \ build-essential python3.7 python3.7-dev python3.7-venv python3-pip ccache git libncurses5:i386 libstdc++6:i386 \ libgtk2.0-0:i386 libpangox-1.0-0:i386 libpangoxft-1.0-0:i386 libidn11:i386 python2.7 python2.7-dev \ python-pip openjdk-8-jdk unzip zlib1g-dev zlib1g:i386 m4 libc6-dev-i386 yarn gawk nodejs npm ``` ##### 2. Setup Python Install required Python packages: ``` sudo -H pip install --upgrade cython==0.28.1 setuptools ``` ##### 3. Setup Buildozer Install buildozer, a tool for creating the apk package using the python for android toolchain: ``` git clone https://github.com/lbryio/buildozer.git cd buildozer && python2.7 setup.py install && cd .. ``` ##### 4. Setup Android SDK The Android SDK needs to be setup for buildozer. This requires creating a few directories and downloading a number of files. Run the following commands to create the buildozer directory, download the required archives and extract them into their proper destination folders: ``` mkdir -p ~/.buildozer/android/platform wget 'https://dl.google.com/android/android-sdk_r23-linux.tgz' -P ~/.buildozer/android/platform/ && \ wget 'https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-28_r06.zip' -P ~/.buildozer/android/platform/ && \ wget 'https://dl.google.com/android/repository/build-tools_r26.0.2-linux.zip' -P ~/.buildozer/android/platform/ tar -xvf ~/.buildozer/android/platform/android-sdk_r23-linux.tgz -C ~/.buildozer/android/platform/ && \ mv ~/.buildozer/android/platform/android-sdk-linux ~/.buildozer/android/platform/android-sdk-23 && \ unzip ~/.buildozer/android/platform/platform-28_r06.zip -d ~/.buildozer/android/platform/android-sdk-23/platforms && \ mv ~/.buildozer/android/platform/android-sdk-23/platforms/android-9 ~/.buildozer/android/platform/android-sdk-23/platforms/android-28 && \ mkdir -p ~/.buildozer/android/platform/android-sdk-23/build-tools && \ unzip ~/.buildozer/android/platform/build-tools_r26.0.2-linux.zip -d ~/.buildozer/android/platform/android-sdk-23/build-tools && \ mkdir -p ~/.buildozer/android/platform/android-sdk-23/licenses && \ echo $'\nd56f5187479451eabf01fb78af6dfcb131a6481e' > ~/.buildozer/android/platform/android-sdk-23/licenses/android-sdk-license ``` ##### 5. Install React Install the react-native-cli npm package: ``` sudo npm install -g react-native-cli ``` When this is complete, continue to [Building the App](#building-the-app). ### Building the App After [preparing your environment](#setup-environment), complete the steps below. ##### 1. Install Crystax Crystax NDK is required for building Python 3.7 for the mobile app and a number of native C / C++ modules and packages used by the app. Run the following commands to download and extract the NDK: ``` wget 'https://www.crystax.net/download/crystax-ndk-10.3.2-linux-x86_64.tar.xz' -P ~/.buildozer/android/ && \ tar -xvf ~/.buildozer/android/crystax-ndk-10.3.2-linux-x86_64.tar.xz -C ~/.buildozer/android/ && \ rm -rf ~/.buildozer/android/crystax-ndk-10.3.2/platforms/android-9 && \ ln -s ~/.buildozer/android/crystax-ndk-10.3.2/platforms/android-21 ~/.buildozer/android/crystax-ndk-10.3.2/platforms/android-9 ``` ##### 2. Clone and Configure the Repository Clone the lbryio/lbry-android git repository: ``` git clone https://github.com/lbryio/lbry-android cd lbry-android cp buildozer.spec.sample buildozer.spec cp p4a/pythonforandroid/bootstraps/lbry/templates/google-services.sample.json p4a/pythonforandroid/bootstraps/lbry/templates/google-services.json ``` The provided `buildozer.spec.sample` contains defaults provided you followed the environment setup exactly as described. If you altered the steps for your environment or you're encountering build trouble, check `buildozer.spec` to ensure everything is pointing in the right places. ##### 3. Install npm packages Install the npm packages required for the app's React Native code, and create the app bundle: ``` cd app npm install ./bundle.sh cd .. ``` ##### 4. Copy Build Files Copy required files from the repository for the build to be successful: ``` cp scripts/build-target-python.sh ~/.buildozer/android/crystax-ndk-10.3.2/build/tools/build-target-python.sh cp scripts/mangled-glibc-syscalls.h ~/.buildozer/android/crystax-ndk-10.3.2/platforms/android-21/arch-arm/usr/include/crystax/bionic/libc/include/sys/mangled-glibc-syscalls.h ``` ##### 5. Build the thing! You're finally ready to build the package! You just have to run a single command to generate the APK: ``` buildozer android debug ``` ### All Set? Now Contribute! Everything built at LBRY is open source. Check out [lbry-android](https://github.com/lbryio/lbry-android) on GitHub to find issues or read our [Contributor's Guide](/contribute) to learn more.