Android App Template

Minimal Android app template that builds entirely on-device in Termux. No Gradle, no Android Studio — just aapt2, ecj, d8, and apksigner.

Includes a Material Light UI with d-pad/keyboard focus support, a self-update mechanism (GitHub Releases), and an info screen with profile/repo links.

Termux setup

Install the required packages:

pkg install aapt2 ecj dx apksigner zip

You also need these files in ~/.android/:

File	What it is	Where to get it
android.jar	Android API stubs	Extract from an Android SDK (platforms/android-XX/android.jar) or copy from a device at /system/framework/framework.jar
framework-res.apk	System resource definitions	Copy from a device: adb pull /system/framework/framework-res.apk
debug.keystore	Signing key	Generate: keytool -genkey -v -keystore ~/.android/debug.keystore -alias androiddebugkey -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000 -storepass android -keypass android -dname "CN=Debug"

Build

chmod +x build.sh
./build.sh

Output APK name is derived from the name field in project.json (spaces stripped). For example, "name": "My App" produces MyApp.apk.

Project structure

├── project.json            # App identity and constants
├── VERSION                 # Semver string (e.g. 1.0.0)
├── build.sh                # Build pipeline
├── AndroidManifest.xml     # App manifest (synced by build.sh)
├── res/
│   ├── drawable/           # Button/card/focus state drawables
│   ├── layout/             # activity_main.xml, activity_info.xml
│   ├── mipmap-anydpi-v26/  # Adaptive icon
│   └── values/             # colors.xml, themes.xml, strings.xml
├── src/                    # Java source (package path)
├── libs/                   # Optional jars (auto-included in classpath)
├── tmp/                    # Scratch space (gitignored)
└── build/                  # Build artifacts (gitignored)

Configuration

project.json holds app identity — edit this first:

{
    "package": "com.flipphoneguy.app",
    "name": "App Template",
    "min_sdk": 23,
    "target_sdk": 35,
    "repo": "flipphoneguy/app-template",
    "github_profile": "https://github.com/flipphoneguy"
}

VERSION is a single-line semver (1.0.0). Bump this for releases. build.sh reads it to set versionCode and versionName in the manifest and in BuildConfig.java.

Version code formula: major * 10000 + minor * 100 + patch.

Starting a new project from this template

1. Copy the directory
2. Edit project.json (package, name, repo, etc.)
3. Rename src/com/flipphoneguy/app/ to match your package path
4. Find-replace package com.flipphoneguy.app in all .java files
5. Set VERSION to 1.0.0
6. Run ./build.sh

build.sh syncs AndroidManifest.xml with your project.json values automatically on each build (package, version, provider authority).

What's included

UI

• Material Light theme, indigo color palette
• Card-based layout with rounded corners
• D-pad/keyboard focus support: declarative nextFocusUp/Down chains on all interactive elements, visible focus states (white border on buttons, indigo highlight on cards)

Self-update (Info screen)

• Checks GitHub Releases API for a newer version
• Downloads APK, then prompts user to choose install method:
  • Root: copies to /data/local/tmp, runs pm install -r
  • System installer: launches the system package installer via intent

Build system

• build.sh reads project.json + VERSION, generates BuildConfig.java with compile-time constants (VERSION_NAME, REPO, GITHUB_PROFILE, etc.)
• 5-step pipeline: compile resources, link, compile Java, dex, package+sign
• Jars in libs/ are automatically added to the classpath and dexed

Install

# via adb
adb install -r AppTemplate.apk

# on-device
cp AppTemplate.apk /sdcard/ && pm install -r /sdcard/AppTemplate.apk

License

See LICENSE.