Installing the Android Development Tools
You need the following third-party development tools for Android development using RAD Studio:
- JDK
- Android SDK
- Android NDK
To develop Android applications using RAD Studio, you must have the Android development tools installed on your development system and have an Android SDK in the RAD Studio SDK Manager.
You Need to Install Part of the Android SDK Yourself
The installer for RAD Studio installs the current recommended and tested versions of the Android development tools during the RAD Studio installation by default, and adds an Android SDK to the RAD Studio SDK Manager.
The following section, #Separate Install Required for Several Elements of the Android SDK, describes the steps for installing the additional required elements of the Android SDK that are not installed by the RAD Studio installer.
The Android development tools ("Android SDKs"), as installed, are accessible using Start | All Programs | Embarcadero RAD Studio XE8 | Android SDKs, as shown here:
Here are the default installed locations of the Android development tools as installed by the RAD Studio installer:
- Java Development Kit (JDK):
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_25 - Android Software Development Kit (SDK):
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Embarcadero\Studio\16.0\PlatformSDKs\android-sdk-windows- Android SDK 5.0.1 (API 21)
- Android Native Development Kit (NDK):
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Embarcadero\Studio\16.0\PlatformSDKs\android-ndk-r9c- Android NDK (android-ndk-r9c)
Separate Install Required for Several Elements of the Android SDK
Several required elements of the Android SDK are not installed during RAD Studio installation.
Use the following steps:
- There are two different ways that you can acquire the required elements of the Android SDK:
- The first time you attempt to deploy an Android app, RAD Studio prompts you to install the required elements of the Android SDK.
- Select Tools > GetIt and then click the Android SDK package.
- After you accept a standard license agreement, the required elements of the Android SDK are installed.
Here are the required elements of the Android SDK that are installed:
- platform-tools
- build-tools-21.1.2
- android-21 (Lollipop support)
Installing the Android Development Tools Without the RAD Studio Installer
The installer for RAD Studio gives you the option to not install the Android development tools. If you opt out in the installer, do any of the following to install the Android development tools on your development system:
- Install the Android development tools using GetIt. The "AndroidSDK" GetIt package installs the current recommended and tested versions of the Android development tools on your development system, and configures RAD Studio to use them.
- Install the Android development tools manually and add an Android SDK to RAD Studio that points to them.
- If you have a previously-installed Android SDK and NDK and you want to use them, add an Android SDK to RAD Studio that points to them.
- Note: You need to use the recommended versions of the Android development tools. RAD Studio might not support changes that alternate versions introduce. If in doubt, install the AndroidSDK GetIt package.
