02 - Android Studio tools - Mac - Android

UPDATE 29 AUG 2024

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]

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

• Select the button for your Mac chip. You can find your Mac chip at the following location: Apple menu > About This Mac > Processor

• Double click on the downloaded dmg file

• Drap the Android Studio app to the Applications folder

• Go to the Applications folder and double click on the Android Studio app

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 component:

  • 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/Library/Android/sdk

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

• Check for presence of aapt in folder build-tools/34.0.0

• Check for presence of adb in folder platform-tools

• Check for presence of uiautomatorviewer in folder tools/bin

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 .bash_profile file with the following content:

# Android Studio tools
export ANDROID_HOME=$HOME/Library/Android/sdk
export JAVA_HOME=/Applications/Android\ Studio.app/Contents/jbr
export PATH=$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:

source ~/.bash_profile

Verification

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

• Test adb with the following command:

adb --version

You should see the following result:

• Test aapt with the following command:

aapt v

You should see the following result:

UIAutomatorViewer

On macOS, you need to install Java 1.8.

• On Mac with Intel chip, run the command below, add the line export PATH=/usr/local/opt/openjdk@8/bin:$PATH in the .bash_profile file and run the command "source ~/.bash_profile":

brew install openjdk@8

• On Mac with Mac chip, run the commands below, add the line export PATH=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/temurin-8.jdk/Contents/Home/bin:$PATH in the .bash_profile file and run the command "source ~/.bash_profile"

brew tap homebrew/cask-versions
brew install --cask temurin@8

• Launch UIAutomatorViewer:

uiautomatorviewer

The following program appears: