Using Hardware Devices to develop software
http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/device.html
When building a mobile application, 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 Android-powered 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 Eclipse 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 either an Android Dev Phone or the Google Nexus S. These are SIM-unlocked so that you can use them on any GSM network using a SIM card. The Android Dev Phones also feature an unlocked bootloader so you can install custom system images (great for developing and installing custom versions of the Android platform). To find a a place you can purchase the Nexus S, visit google.com/phone. To purchase an Android Dev Phone, see the Android Market site (requires a developer account).
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.
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. Declare your application as "debuggable" in your Android Manifest.
In Eclipse, you can do this from the Application tab when viewing the Manifest (on the right side, set Debuggable to true). Otherwise, in the AndroidManifest.xml file, add android:debuggable="true" to the <application> element.
2. Set up your device to allow installation of non-Market applications.
On the device, go to Settings > Applications and enable Unknown sources.
3. Turn on "USB Debugging" on your device.
On the device, go to Settings > Applications > Development and enable USB debugging.
4. Set up your system to detect your device.
* If you're developing on Windows, you need to install a USB driver for adb. If you're using an Android Developer Phone (ADP), Nexus One, or Nexus S, see the Google Windows USB Driver. Otherwise, you can find a link to the appropriate OEM driver in 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 udev rules 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:
1. 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 MODE assignment specifies read/write permissions, and GROUP defines 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.
2. Now execute:
chmod a+r /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules
You can verify that your device is connected by executing adb devices from your SDK platform-tools/ directory. If connected, you'll see the device name listed as a "device."
If using Eclipse, 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 -d flag 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|
|Garmin-Asus 091E|
|Google 18D1|
|HTC 0BB4|
|Huawei 12D1|
|K-Touch 24E3|
|KT Tech 2116|
|Kyocera 0482|
|Lenevo 17EF|
|LG 1004|
|Motorola 22B8|
|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 Ericsson 0FCE
Toshiba 0930
ZTE 19D2
When building a mobile application, 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 Android-powered 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 Eclipse 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 either an Android Dev Phone or the Google Nexus S. These are SIM-unlocked so that you can use them on any GSM network using a SIM card. The Android Dev Phones also feature an unlocked bootloader so you can install custom system images (great for developing and installing custom versions of the Android platform). To find a a place you can purchase the Nexus S, visit google.com/phone. To purchase an Android Dev Phone, see the Android Market site (requires a developer account).
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.
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. Declare your application as "debuggable" in your Android Manifest.
In Eclipse, you can do this from the Application tab when viewing the Manifest (on the right side, set Debuggable to true). Otherwise, in the AndroidManifest.xml file, add android:debuggable="true" to the <application> element.
2. Set up your device to allow installation of non-Market applications.
On the device, go to Settings > Applications and enable Unknown sources.
3. Turn on "USB Debugging" on your device.
On the device, go to Settings > Applications > Development and enable USB debugging.
4. Set up your system to detect your device.
* If you're developing on Windows, you need to install a USB driver for adb. If you're using an Android Developer Phone (ADP), Nexus One, or Nexus S, see the Google Windows USB Driver. Otherwise, you can find a link to the appropriate OEM driver in 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 udev rules 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:
1. 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 MODE assignment specifies read/write permissions, and GROUP defines 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.
2. Now execute:
chmod a+r /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules
You can verify that your device is connected by executing adb devices from your SDK platform-tools/ directory. If connected, you'll see the device name listed as a "device."
If using Eclipse, 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 -d flag 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|
|Garmin-Asus 091E|
|Google 18D1|
|HTC 0BB4|
|Huawei 12D1|
|K-Touch 24E3|
|KT Tech 2116|
|Kyocera 0482|
|Lenevo 17EF|
|LG 1004|
|Motorola 22B8|
|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 Ericsson 0FCE
Toshiba 0930
ZTE 19D2