02 - Android Studio tools - Linux - Android

update 29 aug 2024

1 Installation
2 Environment variables
3 Verification
4 UIAutomatorViewer
- 4.1 Method 1: Launch UIAutomatorViewer without installing Java 1.8
- 4.2 Method 2: Launch UIAutomatorViewer with Java 1.8

Android Studio provides several tools needed in Greenspector Studio, as:

Android Debug Bridge (ADB) and Android Asset Packaging Tool (AAPT) to establish communication between mobile device and computer
UiAutomatorViewer allows to analyse an Android view on a connected device. These information show what Greenspector Studio sees and are useful to create automated users journeys.

Installation

Download the last version on Android website:

Choose Download Android Studio [Version]

Android Studio - Download page

Scroll below and check I have read and agree with the above terms and conditions

Click on Download Android Studio [...] for Linux.The downloaded file has the format android-studio-[version_date]-linux.tar.gz.
Unzip the file with the following command:

tar -xvf android-studio-[version_date]-linux.tar.gz -C $HOME

Launch Android Studio with the following command:

./android-studio/bin/studio.sh

Install Android Studio with default settings and launch it
Keep Do not import settings selected and press ok

We will now install only useful components. On the welcome wizard:

Click on Next and select Custom setup
Confirm and accept all licences agreements
Uncheck the following components:
- Performance (Intel HAXM)
- Performance (Android Emulator hypervisor driver)
- Android Virtual Device

Continue the installation

You should arrive on the welcome page. New components are now downloaded and installed. We need an extra item for UIAutomatorViewer:

Select More actions and SDK Manager
Choose SDK Tools and uncheck Hide Obsolete Packages
Search for Android SDK Tools (Obsolete) 26.1.1 and confirm installation

Environment variables

Android Studio is now installed on computer. However, it’s not known by OS as environment variables: tools are launchable only in their installation folder, which isn’t practical for Greenspector Studio uses.

Open the following folder: $HOME/Android/Sdk

We will now verify if we have every tools we need:

Check for presence of aapt in folder build-tools/35.0.0
Check for presence of adb in folder platform-tools
Check for presence of uiautomatorviewer in folder tools/bin

Please note build-tools version number for a further step.

These tools are now installed, but they are not yet ready to be executed everywhere in the system. We will add their location to the PATH to indicate to our system where they are.

Edit the .bashrc file with the following content:

# Android Studio tools
export ANDROID_HOME=$HOME/Android/Sdk
export JAVA_HOME=$HOME/android-studio/jbr
export PATH=$ANDROID_HOME/build-tools/35.0.0:$PATH
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/tools/bin
export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH

Update the changes with the following command:

Verification

Once environments variables are set, new tools can be tested from everywhere:

Test adb with the following command:

You should see the following result:

Test aapt with the following command:

You should see the following result:

UIAutomatorViewer

Check your java version with the following command:

Method 1: Launch UIAutomatorViewer without installing Java 1.8

Use the following command to launch UIAutomatorViewer:

Method 2: Launch UIAutomatorViewer with Java 1.8

Install Java 1.8:

Launch UIAutomatorViewer:

The following program appears: