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android-runner

Build engine for the PyDevices Runner APK (org.pydevices.runner) — the generic, debuggable Android host that pydevices/bin/android.py stages scripts onto.

You almost certainly do not need this repository. android.py downloads and installs a prebuilt Runner from this repo's GitHub Releases:

android.py --install-apk

Using the Runner — staging scripts, the attach REPL, orientation, timers, audio, Android TV — is documented in pydevices/docs/android.md. This repo is only how the APK gets built.

What the APK contains

  • Interpreter: CPython under python-for-android with the SDL2 bootstrap.
  • Payload: native LVGL and pygraphics wheels plus the complete PyDevices library stack.
  • Stdio bridge: p4a_app/stdio_sidecar.py listens on 127.0.0.1:18765 so android.py can attach bidirectional terminal stdio and a MicroPython-style REPL.
  • Startup: boot.py sets up environment, path layout, and the sidecar, then runs whatever android.py staged into run/.

Building it yourself

./build_android.sh -y

Output: p4a_app/bin/runner-0.1.0-arm64-v8a_x86_64-debug.apk

build_android.sh tries to sync p4a_app/utils/ from a sibling ../pydevices-examples checkout (and ../pydevices for mip.py): a clean standalone clone has no such siblings, so the sync is skipped and the checked-in p4a_app/utils/ is used as-is, while a workspace checkout that has those repos as siblings gets freshly-synced helpers on every build — override either source with PYDEVICES_EXAMPLES_UTILS / PYDEVICES_PRODUCT_ROOT.

The build prerequisites, buildozer configuration, p4a recipes, and the getEntryPoint patch are documented once, in android-template/docs/building.md — this repo used to carry a byte-identical copy.

Ownership: this repo (android-runner) owns the shared build machinery — build_android.sh's core, p4a_recipes/, and scripts/. android-template hand-syncs its copies from here; edit here first, then sync to the template. As of this writing p4a_recipes/ and scripts/ are byte-identical between the two repos (this repo additionally carries scripts/android_stdio_attach.py and scripts/patch_p4a_boot_entrypoint.py, which the template does not need).

Toolchain

CI (.github/workflows/release_apk.yml) builds with:

Tool Version
Python 3.12
JDK 17 (temurin)
Android build-tools 34.0.0
Android NDK 25.2.9519653
Android platform android-34

Match these locally for the closest build to CI's. buildozer and python-for-android are not pinned here — requirements-dev.txt only floors buildozer>=1.5.0, and buildozer resolves p4a itself (no p4a.branch / pip pin in buildozer.spec) — so a local build and CI can still land on different buildozer/p4a versions even with the table above matched. Do not describe builds from this repo as reproducible until that gap is closed.

Releases

GitHub Actions builds the multi-ABI (arm64-v8a, x86_64) debug APK on release tags and publishes pydevices-runner-debug.apk to GitHub Releases, which is what android.py --install-apk fetches.