Part 0 · Before class: install and prepare | Lab 1

Before you start

By the end you can

install Android Studio;
create a virtual phone, and say its size and its Android version (its API level);
create a Java project with your own package name.

At home
Android Studio Welcome · Virtual Device Manager · New Project
Emulator Running Devices

On a Mac What changes 1 min

Cmd replaces Ctrl, and Option+Enter replaces Alt+Enter.
The project folder is ~/AndroidStudioProjects/Notes.
The device wizard offers the right image (arm64) first.
A screenshot of one window: Cmd+Shift+4, then Space, then click it.
The rest is the same. This page is tested on Windows only.

Step 1 of 5

Install Android Studio

20 min + download

Goal Install Android Studio, Rabbit 2 or newer, until its Welcome window opens.

At home developer.android.com/studio
Android Studio Setup Wizard

The installer, on your PC.
1. In your browser, open developer.android.com/studio.
2. Download Android Studio from that page.
3. Run the file you downloaded: the Android Studio installer opens.
Android Studio, installed.
1. Click Next on each page, keeping what it proposes, until the button reads Install.
2. Click Install.
3. When the installation ends, click Next.
4. Click Finish: Android Studio starts.
Its first setup: Standard, and every licence accepted.
1. The Setup Wizard opens: click Next.
2. Click Standard.
3. Click Next until the page License Agreement shows.
4. On License Agreement, click the first licence of the list, then Accept.
5. Do the same for each other licence of the list: click it, then Accept.
Android’s tools, downloaded.
1. Click Finish: the wizard downloads Android’s tools, for several minutes.
2. When the download ends, click Finish again.
The Welcome window, without an account.
1. A Sign in to Android Studio window opens: click Skip for now. The Welcome to Android Studio window opens.
Welcome to Android StudioFull size
1. More Actions: then Virtual Device Manager, for the phone (0.2).
2. New Project: your Notes project starts here (0.3).

Done I see the Welcome to Android Studio window.

Yes

Stuck? 2 symptoms

Finish stays grey on License Agreement A licence of the list is not accepted yet. Click each one in turn, then Accept.
An older Android Studio is already installed Update it: the lab’s projects need Rabbit 2 or newer.

No project file yet: Android Studio writes the whole project at step 0.4.

Step 2 of 5

Create the virtual phone

15 min + download

Goal Create the lab’s phone, a Pixel 7 with Android 17 (API 37), and start it.

Android Studio Virtual Device Manager
Emulator Android Emulator - Pixel_7:5554

The hardware profile: a Pixel 7.
1. In the Welcome window, click More ActionsVirtual Device Manager.
2. A Device Manager window opens: click its +.
3. Add Device opens on Phone: click Pixel 7 (33+, 1080 × 2400), not Pixel 7 Pro or Pixel 7a.
4. Click Next.
Add Device A dialogFull size
1. Pixel 7: the hardware profile.
2. Width × Height: 1080 × 2400 pixels.
3. Density: 420 dpi, the pixels per inch.
The system image: Android 17.
1. Configure virtual device opens. Keep what it proposes: Name Pixel 7, API 37.0, Google Play Store, the selected image.
2. Click Finish.
Configure virtual device A dialogFull size
1. Name: Pixel 7.
2. API: API level 37 is Android 17.
3. Services: Google Play Store.
4. The download icon: this image is not on your PC yet (2.1 GB).
The image, downloaded: 2.1 GB.
1. Confirm Download opens: click Yes.
2. An SDK Quickfix Installation window downloads it. When it ends, click Finish.
Confirm Download A dialogFull size
1. Yes: the download starts.
1. Add Device the hardware profile: Pixel 7, 1080 × 2400 pixels, 420 dpi
2. Configure virtual device the system image: Android 17 (API 37), 2.1 GB
3. A virtual phone “Pixel 7”, in its own window or in Running Devices
A virtual phone = a hardware profile + a system image. Another size reuses the image: no download. Another Android version is a new image, 1 to 2 GB. The API level is Android’s version number for developers: API 37 is Android 17, API 24 is Android 7.
The phone, started once.
1. Back in Device Manager, click ▶ on the Pixel 7 row.
2. After about a minute, the phone opens in its own window, Android Emulator - Pixel_7:5554.
3. When its home screen shows, click the window’s ×: step 0.5 restarts it in the project.

The Pixel 7 emulator after its first start: the Android home screen.

You should see The phone’s home screen.

Done I see the phone’s home screen.

Yes

Stuck? 3 symptoms

No More Actions: the Welcome window lists your projects Click ⋮, next to Clone Repository, then Virtual Device Manager.
The emulator says it cannot use acceleration Turn on Windows Hypervisor Platform in Windows Features, then restart the PC. Same message after the restart: turn on virtualization (Intel VT-x, or SVM on AMD) in the PC’s BIOS/UEFI.
A licence page appears during the download Accept it, then go on.

No project file yet: the phone lives outside any project.

Step 3 of 5

Start a project with No Activity

1 min

Goal Start from No Activity, the template that writes no screen: you write the first one in Part 2.

Android Studio New Project

A project with no screen yet.
1. In the Welcome window, click New Project.
2. A New Project window opens: click the category Phone and large screens.
3. Click the template No Activity, not Empty Activity: that one makes a Compose project, for Lab 2.
4. Click Next: the form of step 0.4 opens.
New Project A dialogFull size
1. Phone and large screens: the category.
2. No Activity: the template to choose.
3. Empty Activity: a Compose project (Lab 2), not this one.

Stuck? 2 symptoms

You chose Empty Activity It makes a Compose project, for Lab 2. Create the project again with No Activity.
Phone and Tablet, not Phone and large screens This Android Studio is older than Rabbit 2. Update it, then start again.

No project file yet: the next step writes them.

Step 4 of 5

Fill in the form

10 min

Goal Create the Notes project in Java, with your own package name.

Android Studio New Project › No Activity

Your package name, on this page first.
1. Choose your package name: com.yourname.notes, with your own name, in lowercase, with no hyphen.
2. Type it in the field below.
Your package name

Without JavaScript, the code says com.yourname.notes: replace yourname by the name you chose.
The form: Notes, your package, Java, API 24.
1. In Name, select the text with Ctrl+A, then type Notes.
2. In Package name, select the text with Ctrl+A, then type your own package, the one in the field above: com.yourname.notes.
3. In Save location, keep the folder it proposes: C:\Users\you\AndroidStudioProjects\Notes.
4. In Language, choose Java: the list starts on Kotlin.
5. In Minimum SDK, choose API 24 (Android 7.0).
6. Click Finish.
New Project › No Activity A dialogFull size

$The No Activity form: Name Notes, Package name com.yourname.notes, Save location C:\Users\PC\AndroidStudioProjects\Notes, Language Java, Minimum SDK API 24 (“Nougat”; Android 7.0).$
1. Package name: com.yourname.notes, with your own name.
2. Save location: keep the proposed folder, C:\Users\you\AndroidStudioProjects\Notes.
3. Language: Java (the list starts on Kotlin).
4. Minimum SDK: API 24 (Android 7.0).
Android Studio, open on Notes.
1. A window downloads Android SDK Platform 37? Wait, then click Finish.
2. The project opens, an Agent window on the right: click its button, the lit one on the right bar, to close it.
3. A balloon, Microsoft Defender may affect IDE, may appear: ignore it.
Agent Tool window · rightFull size
1. Agent: it opens by itself the first time. This lab uses no AI.
2. Its button on the right bar: click it to close the window.

Why Keep Notes exactly: the theme takes its name, and the files you paste later expect it.

Done I see app and Gradle Scripts in the Project window.

Yes

Stuck? 4 symptoms

“The path 'C:\' is not writable. Please choose a new location.” You typed a folder at the root of C:. Keep the folder the form proposes.
No app in the Project window yet The first time, Android Studio downloads Android SDK Platform 37 and prepares the project: 1 to 3 minutes. Wait; click Finish if a window asks.
Kotlin was left selected: the project holds .kt files Delete the project’s folder, then create the project again, in Java.
The package starts with com.example, or holds yourname Create the project again. Chapter 02 shows why the name matters: it is the app’s identity on the phone.

No file of yours yet: Android Studio wrote the whole project. Part 1 shows you around it.

Step 5 of 5

Build once, and keep your ticket

5 min

Goal Build the project once, and keep a screenshot: your entry ticket for the first session.

Android Studio Device Manager · Build
Emulator Running Devices

The phone, inside the project.
1. Click Device Manager, its icon on the window’s right edge.
2. The Device Manager panel opens: click ▶ on the Pixel 7 row.
3. The phone opens in Running Devices, in the tab Pixel 7 API 37.0: wait for its home screen.
A first build.
1. Click BuildMake Project, or press Ctrl+F9.
2. A balloon, “Build Analyzer detected new build performance issues”, may point at the hammer, bottom left: ignore it.
Its result, in the Build window.
1. The Build window stays closed: click its hammer icon, Build, at the bottom left.
2. In Build Output, wait for BUILD SUCCESSFUL. Ignore the line New Minor Gradle Version Available.
Project, Build, Running Devices The whole windowFull size
1. Build (the hammer): opens the Build window if it stays closed.
2. Build Output: BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 8s.
3. Project: app and Gradle Scripts.
4. Running Devices: the phone, Pixel 7 API 37.0.
Your entry ticket: a screenshot of the whole window.
1. Press Win+Shift+S: the screenshot bar opens at the top of the screen.
2. In that bar, click the window mode.
3. Click the Android Studio window.
4. A notification appears at the bottom right: click it. The Snipping Tool window opens.
5. Press Ctrl+S: a Save As window opens.
6. Click Save: your ticket is saved.

You should see BUILD SUCCESSFUL in …s in Build Output, on your screenshot too.

The Build Output at real size: BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 8s, 32 actionable tasks: 32 executed, Configuration cache entry stored. — The proof: BUILD SUCCESSFUL, at real size

Done I have my screenshot: the project, BUILD SUCCESSFUL and the phone.

Yes

Stuck? 4 symptoms

No Device Manager icon on the right edge Open it with ViewTool WindowsDevice Manager.
The phone opened in its own window, not in Running Devices You started it from the Welcome window. Close that window, then start it from the project’s Device Manager.
No Build menu On a narrow window, the last menus fold behind >, at the end of the menu bar. Click it.
A balloon: “Build Analyzer detected new build performance issues” It points at the hammer. It is not an error: ignore it.

No file changes in this step: the build only reads the project.

The shortcuts of this lab

Ctrl+F9: build the project.
Shift+F10: ▶ Run 'app', build and open the app on the phone.
Alt+Enter: the quick fix, for example an import.
Ctrl+Space: completion.
Ctrl+O: override a method (Part 5).
Ctrl+Alt+S: Settings.

Each part uses them. On a Mac, Cmd replaces Ctrl.

Now you

A tablet, from the same image

Create a Medium Tablet with the same system image. Does it download anything? Do not start it.

See the answer

Nothing: only the hardware profile changes, and the image is already on your PC. In the project’s Device Manager, click +, then Create Virtual Device. In Add Device, choose Tablet, then Medium Tablet. Part 3 tries your screen on it.

Go deeper An older Android, API 28 optional

With about 1 GB free, create one more phone on API 28 (Android 9). Pixel 7 starts at API 33 (its API column says 33+): choose Medium Phone (24+), then API 28 in the API menu, under Show All if it is not listed.

What changes? The 3-button navigation bar at the bottom, and the older look of the system.

If it doesn’t work

The laptop freezes with two phones running Stop one: ■ in Device Manager.
No emulator runs on your laptop Plan B: your own Android phone, with USB debugging, as in the Try it of chapter 02.

End of the part

Recap

Every download is done. In class, you reopen Notes, start the phone and write code.

install Android Studio;
create a virtual phone, and say its size and its Android version (its API level);
create a Java project with your own package name.