Run on a Real Device

If you have a device running Android, here's how to install and run your app.

Set up your device

  1. Plug in your device to your development machine with a USB cable. If you're developing on Windows, you might need to install the appropriate USB driver for your device. For help installing drivers, see the OEM USB Drivers document.

  2. Enable USB debugging on your device.

    • On most devices running Android 3.2 or older, you can find the option under Settings > Applications > Development.

    • On Android 4.0 and newer, it's in Settings > Developer options.

      Note: On Android 4.2 and newer, Developer options is hidden by default. To make it available, go to Settings > About phone and tap Build number seven times. Return to the previous screen to find Developer options.

Run the app from Android Studio

  1. Select one of your project's files and click Run from the toolbar.

  2. In the Choose Device window that appears, select the Choose a running device radio button, select your device, and click OK .

Android Studio installs the app on your connected device and starts it.

Run the app from a command line

Open a command-line and navigate to the root of your project directory. Use Gradle to build your project in debug mode, invoke the assembleDebug build task using the Gradle wrapper script (gradlew assembleRelease).

This creates your debug .apk file inside the module build/ directory, named app-debug.apk.

On Windows platforms, type this command:

    > gradlew.bat assembleDebug

On Mac OS and Linux platforms, type these commands:

$ chmod +x gradlew
$ ./gradlew assembleDebug

After you build the project, the output APK for the app module is located in app/build/outputs/apk/

Note: The first command (chmod) adds the execution permission to the Gradle wrapper script and is only necessary the first time you build this project from the command line.

Make sure the Android SDK platform-tools/ directory is included in your PATH environment variable, then execute:

    $ adb install app/build/outputs/apk/app-debug.apk

On your device, locate MyFirstApp and open it.

That's how you build and run your Android app on a device! To start developing, continue to the next lesson.