Android Open Builder

Android Open Builder is a modular, open-source build environment for compiling Android applications reproducibly on Debian-based servers.

The first supported target is RetroArch for ARM64 Android devices, with an initial focus on the Google Pixel 6 Pro. The project is designed so additional builders can later be added without mixing their dependencies, patches, or build logic.

Project status

Early architecture phase. No stable release is available yet.

Initial objectives

• provide a guided installation for a Debian 12 VPS;
• verify the host with a doctor command;
• compile RetroArch and selected Libretro cores for arm64-v8a;
• produce traceable APKs with checksums, logs, and source manifests;
• keep secrets, signing keys, SDK files, build caches, and generated APKs outside Git;
• support interactive and non-interactive use;
• remain extensible to other open-source Android applications.

Planned usage

./aob doctor
./aob install
./aob build retroarch

An interactive menu will also be available:

./menu.sh

Planned repository layout

android-open-builder/
├── aob
├── menu.sh
├── builders/
│   └── retroarch/
├── config/
├── docs/
├── lib/
├── scripts/
└── tests/

Runtime directories such as cache/, downloads/, logs/, output/, and work/ will be created locally and ignored by Git.

Supported host and target

Initial development target:

• host: Debian 12, x86-64;
• Android target: ARM64 (arm64-v8a);
• Java: OpenJDK 17;
• Android SDK and NDK versions: pinned by the project configuration;
• primary test device: Google Pixel 6 Pro.

Termux is used as a control terminal and APK retrieval client. Compilation is performed on the VPS.

Documentation

• Architecture
• Roadmap

Security principles

• never commit tokens, passwords, private keys, keystores, ROMs, BIOS files, or proprietary assets;
• verify downloaded tool archives when upstream checksums are available;
• separate debug and personal release signing;
• record upstream revisions used for each build;
• avoid executing unverified remote scripts through curl | bash.

License

A project license has not yet been selected. No reuse rights are granted until a license file is added.