Android SDK command line tools only

You can easily find jokes related to Android Studio, the amount of RAM it consumes, and computer overheating. I've always been someone who tries to keep the minimum of installed programs or running on my daily basis. During React Native app development, especially in projects that don't use Expo, it's common to have to install a full package with IDE to open the local emulator.

The truth is, you don't always need Android Studio, just some command-line tools that come with it.

A few years ago, when I discovered this, I looked for a guide on how to configure the environment in this way, but I found scattered information or missing information. It was difficult, but I managed to make it work. Seeing the complexity of the steps and predicting that the next time I needed to do something similar, my future self would probably not remember the steps, I created a guide to help me with these configuration steps.

Time passed, the SDK was updated, some tools and syntaxes changed, and my guide became outdated.

To solve this, I rewrote the guide, created a public project on GitHub, and made it available there.

A PDF version of this guide is available in both English and Brazilian Portuguese on the GitHub repository.

Android SDK install guide

This guide was created to assist in setting up the development environment for Android mobile applications. My current environment is based on GNU/Linux, but I believe the steps described here can be adapted to your reality on other operating systems.

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to contact me through my GitHub (@mesaquen).

Command line tools

• Go to android sdk download page
• Look for "Command line tools only"
• Download the commandline tools for your operating system

Extracting and setting up the environment variables

Create a directory named .android_sdk and extract the command line tools you downloaded earlier:

mkdir .android_sdk
unzip commandlinetools-linux-9477386_latest.zip -d ~/.android_sdk/

Export the following environment variables in your .bashrc file:

export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT="$HOME/.android_sdk"
export PATH="$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/cmdline-tools/latest/bin:$PATH"
export PATH="$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/emulator:$PATH"

Install the latest cmdline-tools

$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/cmdline-tools/bin/sdkmanager \
--sdk_root=$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT "cmdline-tools;latest"

Once you've installed the command line tools, the sdkmanager should be able to recognize the SDK location, and you won't need to provide the sdk_root flag anymore.

Install the platforms, build-tools and extras

sdkmanager "platforms;android-33" "build-tools;33.0.2"
sdkmanager "extras;google;m2repository" "extras;android;m2repository"
sdkmanager "platform-tools" "tools"
sdkmanager --licenses

Installed packages

To see a list of the installed packages, run:

sdkmanager --list_installed

AVD: Android Virtual Device

Before creating an AVD, you'll need to download the system images. To see a list of available images, run:

sdkmanager --list | grep system-images

Install the chosen system image

sdkmanager "system-images;android-33;google_apis_playstore;x86_64"

Creating the AVD

Create an AVD using the following command:

avdmanager create avd -n device \
--device pixel -k "system-images;android-33;google_apis_playstore;x86_64"

To get a list of available virtual devices, run:

avdmanager list avd

Emulator

You can start the emulator by passing the name of the AVD with the
command:

emulator @device

Here "device" is the name of the AVD.