Connecting Android Devices | Qt Creator Manual

- Qt Creator Manual
- Connecting Android Devices
- Qt Creator Manual 4.13.3

Connecting Devices ◦ Connecting Bare Metal Devices

# Connecting Android Devices

You can connect Android devices to the development PC using USB cables to build, run, debug, and analyze applications from Qt Creator. Devices with Android version 4.1 (API level 16) or later are supported.

To develop for Android, you must have a tool chain for building applications for Android devices installed on the development PC. Qt Creator can automatically dowload and install the tool chain and create a suitable build and run kit that contains the tool chain and the Qt version for Android for the device's architecture.

Starting from Qt 5.14.0, the Qt for Android package contains all the architectures (ABIs) installed as one.

Note: You can build a 64-bit version of Qt for Android yourself. However, for such a Qt version, the minimum required Android version on devices is 5.0 (API level 21). For more information, see Qt for Android.

The Android Debug Bridge (adb) command line tool is integrated to Qt Creator to enable you to deploy applications to connected Android devices, to run them, and to read their logs. It includes a client and server that run on the development host and a daemon that runs on the emulator or device.

## Requirements

To use Qt Creator to develop Qt applications for Android, you need Qt for Android 5.2, or later, and the tool chain that Qt Creator can automatically download, install, and configure for you. For more information, see Installing the Prerequisites.

## Specifying Android Device Settings

Qt Creator offers to automatically install all the necessary packages and tools and to set up your development environment by creating debuggers, tool chains, and kits. You can use Qt Creator to:

- Download and extract the Android SDK Command-line Tools.
- Install or update the essential packages such as NDKs, build tools, and platform tools.

To set up the development environment for Android:

1. Select Tools > Options > Devices > Android.

2. In the JDK location field, set the path to the JDK. Qt Creator checks the JDK installation and reports errors.

   By default, Qt Creator tries to find a supported AdoptOpenJDK or OpenJDK installation. If none is found, you must set the path manually. If you don't have a supported JDK installed, select to open the JDK download web page in the default browser.

   Note: We recommended using a 64-bit JDK, because the 32-bit one might cause issues with `cmdline-tools`, and some packages might not be listed.

3. In the Android SDK location field, set the path to the folder where you want the Android SDK Command-line Tools to be installed.
4. Select Set Up SDK to automatically download and extract the Android SDK Command-line Tools to the selected path.

   The SDK Manager checks whether the tool chain is installed. If packages are missing or updates are needed, the SDK Manager offers to add or remove those packages. Before taking action, it prompts you to accept the changes it is about to make. In addition, it prompts you to accept Google licenses, as necessary.

5. The installed NDK versions are listed below the SDK path. The locked items were installed by the SDK Manager, and can only be modified from the SDK Manager tab. For more information, see Managing Android NDK Packages.
6. In the Android OpenSSL group, set the path to the prebuilt OpenSSL libraries.

   For Qt applications that require OpenSSL support, Qt Creator allows to quickly add the Android OpenSSL support to your project. For more information, see Adding External Libraries.

7. Select to download the OpenSSL repository to the selected path. If the automatic download fails, the download web page opens for manual download.
8. Select the Automatically create kits for Android tool chains check box to allow Qt Creator to create the kits for you. Qt Creator displays a warning if it cannot find a suitable Qt version.

### Manual Setup

Note: We recommend that you use the latest Android SDK Command-Line Tools. Using Android SDK Tools version 25.2.5 or earlier is not supported, because they cannot be fully integrated with Qt Creator.

However, if the automatic setup does not meet your needs, you can download and install Android SDK Command-line Tools, and then install or update the NDKs, tools and packages needed for development. For more information, see Getting Started with Qt for Android.

### Viewing Android Tool Chain Settings

The Android SDK Command-Line Tools download URL, the essential packages list, and the appropriate NDK for each Qt version are defined in a JSON configuration file. The file is located under the user's Qt Creator resource folder:

     # Linux and macOS
     ~/.config/QtProject/qtcreator/android/sdk_definitions.json

     # Windows
     C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\QtProject\qtcreator\android\sdk_definitions.json

For example, the SDK configuration file defines the NDK version 19.2.5345600 to be used for Qt 5.12.0 to 5.12.5 and Qt 5.13.0 to 5.13.1 versions:

     "specific_qt_versions": [
         {
             "versions": ["5.12.[0-5]", "5.13.[0-1]"],
             "sdk_essential_packages": ["build-tools;28.0.2", "ndk;19.2.5345600"],
             "ndk_path": "ndk/19.2.5345600"
         }
     ]

You can view the latest version of the configuration file that is up-to-date with the Android SDK and NDK changes, sdk_definitions.json, in Git.

### Managing Android NDK Packages

To view the installed Android NDK versions, select Tools > Options > Devices > Android.

The locked versions were installed by the SDK Manager, and can only be modified from the SDK Manager tab. For more information, see Managing Android SDK Packages.

To manually download NDKs, select .

To add custom NDK paths manually to the global list of NDKs, select Add. This creates custom tool chains and debuggers associated to that NDK. However, you have to manually create a kit that uses the custom NDK. For more information, see Adding Kits.

### Managing Android SDK Packages

Since Android SDK Tools version 25.3.0, only a command-line tool, sdkmanager, is provided by Android for SDK package management. To make SDK management easier, Qt Creator provides an SDK Manager for installing, updating, and removing SDK packages. You can still use sdkmanager for advanced SDK management.

To view the installed Android SDK packages, select Tools > Options > Devices > Android > SDK Manager.

To filter the packages, select Available, Installed, or All in Show Packages.

To update the installed Android SDK packages, select Update Installed. Select the packages to update, and then select Apply.

To specify advanced sdkmanager settings, select Advanced Options and enter arguments in the SDK Manager arguments field. The available arguments are listed and described in Available arguments.

## Managing Android Virtual Devices (AVD)

A list of AVDs is shown under Tools > Options > Devices > Android > AVD Manager. This works only if the Android SDK location is set correctly in Android Settings.

The value in System/data partition size is used to set the emulator's system partition size upon execution with Start.

### Creating a New AVD

To create new virtual devices:

1. Select Tools > Options > Devices > Android.
2. In the SDK Manager tab, select Install for an Android version, and then select Apply to install a system image. Alternatively, you can install the system image from Android Studio.
3. In the AVD Manager tab, select Add to open the Create New AVD dialog.

4. Set the name, type, skin, architecture, API level, and SD card size of the device.
5. Select OK to create the AVD.

For more advanced options for creating a new AVD, use the command-line tool avdmanager, or use Android Studio's native AVD Manager's UI.

## Selecting Android Devices

When you deploy an application to an Android device with Android version 4.2 (API 16) or later, the Select Android Device dialog opens. It lists the devices that are connected to the development PC, as well as AVDs, and their status. You can select devices or AVDs from the Compatible Devices list for deployment.

If Qt Creator determines that a device is not ready for deployment, it places the device in the Incompatible Devices list, with information about the issue. For example, you might need to authorize the connection on the device. After you authorize the connection on the device, select Refresh Device List. The device is moved to the Compatible Devices list and you can select it for deployment.

Other reasons for showing a device in Incompatible Devices are that the Android version on the device is too old or that the tool chain used for building does not match the Android architecture on the device (for example, you cannot deploy an ARM build on an x86 device).

To create a new AVD, select Create Android Virtual Device.

To set a device as the default device for a particular Android architecture for the current project, select the Always use this device for architecture check box. The Select Android Devices dialog will not appear until you switch to another project or restart Qt Creator.

## Using the Android Emulator

To run your application on the Android Emulator, you must have an Android virtual device (AVD). For more information about creating a new one, see Creating a New AVD. If you run an application without a device connected to the development PC and without an AVD specified, Qt Creator asks you to add an AVD.

Note: The Android Emulator has a bug that prevents it from starting on some systems. If the Android Emulator does not start, you can try starting it manually by running the following commands:

     cd <ANDROID_SDK>/emulator
     ./emulator -avd <AVD_NAME>

For more information, see Start the emulator from the command line.

## Debugging on Android Devices

Debugging is enabled in different ways on different Android devices. Look for USB Debugging under Developer Options. On some devices Developer Options is hidden and becomes visible only when you tap the Build number field in Settings > About several times. For more information, see Configure on-device developer options.

Select a debug build configuration to build the application for debugging.

Note: Qt Creator cannot debug applications on Android devices if Android Studio is running. If the following message is displayed in the Output pane, close Android Studio and try again:

     Ignoring second debugger -accepting and dropping.

Connecting Devices ◦ Connecting Bare Metal Devices