React Native Android Sandbox

Краткое описание проекта: песочница для экспериментов с нативной частью Android в React Native.

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Requirements Installation

• Install requirements on Windows:
  Required for emulator to work and for project to be flashed onto the virtual/physical device

  • Java Development Kit

    • Download java installer and run:
      https://download.oracle.com/java/25/latest/jdk-25_windows-x64_bin.msi

  • Android Command Line Tools

    • Create a directory dedicated to Android sdk. Recommended path: C:/Users/<user>/Android/sdk. All the follwing instructions assume that you used the recommended path.
    • Download Command Line Tools package for Windows from https://developer.android.com/tools
    • Extract the archive into the sdk directory
    • Create a latest subdirectory and rearrange the files to forn the following structure:
      

      C:/Users/<user>/Android/sdk/cmdline-tools/latest
      ├── NOTICE.txt
      ├── bin
      ├── lib
      └── source.properties
      

  • Environment

    • Get into Windows Environment Variables Settings (naming might vary)
    • In User variables section create new variable named ANDROID_HOME and put the path to sdk folder as its value (e.g. %USERPROFILE%\Android\sdk)
    • Double click on Path variable to edit its contents. Add three entries in the list:
      
      • %ANDROID_HOME%\cmdline-tools\latest\bin
      • %ANDROID_HOME%\platform-tools
      • %ANDROID_HOME%\emulator

  • Android Platform Tools (adb)

    • Use sdkmanager (part of cmdline-tools) in windows terminal to install platform-tools:
      sdkmanager "platform-tools"

  • Emulator

    • Use sdkmanager (part of cmdline-tools) in windows terminal to install emulator:
      sdkmanager "emulator"
    • User advmanager (android virtual device manager) to install kernel for emulator:
      sdkmanager "system-images;android-36;google_apis;x86_64"
      where:
      
      • android-36 - depicts Android 16
      • x86_64 - depicts the hardware architecture (PC in our case)
      • google_apis - if google services have to be included
    • Create system image for the emulator based on the downloaded kernel:
      avdmanager create avd -n "<name>" -k "system-images;android-36;google_apis;x86_64" --device "pixel_9"
      where:
      
      • -n "<name>" - gives the image a name
      • -k "system-images;android-36;google_apis;x86_64" - selected the kernel
      • --device "pixel_9" - selects the hardware profile, in this case the one used for Google Pixel 9
    • To run the emulator use:
      emulator -avd <name>

• Install requirements on WSL:
  Required for project building and flashing utilities to work

  • Java Development Kit
    

    • Run sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y openjdk-17-jdk to install java
    • Make sure openjdk-17 is used by running java --version
    • If some other version shows up use sudo update-alternatives --config java to select the proper version

  • Android Command Line Tools

    • Create a directory dedicated to Android sdk. Recommended path: /home/<user>/Android/sdk. All the follwing instructions assume that you used the recommended path.
    • Download Command Line Tools package for Linux from https://developer.android.com/tools
    • Extract the archive into the sdk directory
    • Create a latest subdirectory and rearrange the files to forn the following structure:
      

      /home/<user>/Android/sdk/cmdline-tools/latest
      ├── NOTICE.txt
      ├── bin
      ├── lib
      └── source.properties
      

  • Environment

    • Open ~/.bashrc and add the following lines to its end:
      • export ANDROID_HOME="/home/<user>/Android/sdk"
      • export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin
      • export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools
      • export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/emulator

  • Android Platform Tools (adb)
    required to flash the application from the building side (WSL)

    • Use sdkmanager (part of cmdline-tools) in wsl terminal to install platform-tools:
      sdkmanager "platform-tools"

  • Node.js - javascript compiler
    required for project setup and javascript usage

    • install NVM - node version manager
      wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.3/install.sh | bash.
    • Create new terminal or new shell
    • install nodejs lts througn nvm:
      nvm install --lts

  • Additional requirements
    

    • Make sure you have CMake installed
    • Run sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y ninja-build to install ninja

• Create react-native project using Expo framework

  • Run:
    npx create-expo-app@latest --template bare-minimum
    It will prompt you asking to install create-expo-app package and then will ask you for the project name.
    A new directory will be areated wit the entered name with the following project structure:
    

  .
  ├── App.js
  ├── README.md
  ├── android
  │   ├── app
  │   │   ├── build
  │   │   ├── build.gradle
  │   │   ├── debug.keystore
  │   │   ├── proguard-rules.pro
  │   │   └── src
  │   │       ├── debug
  │   │       ├── debugOptimized
  │   │       └── main
  │   │           ├── AndroidManifest.xml
  │   │           ├── java
  │   │           │   └── com
  │   │           │       └── sandbox
  │   │           │           ├── MainActivity.kt
  │   │           │           └── MainApplication.kt
  │   │           └── res
  │   ├── build
  │   ├── build.gradle
  │   ├── gradle
  │   ├── gradle.properties
  │   ├── gradlew
  │   ├── gradlew.bat
  │   └── settings.gradle
  ├── app.json
  ├── index.js
  ├── metro.config.js
  └── package.json
  

  Further project structure explanation requires more android app lifecycle knowledge that might be covered during the next call meeting discussion.