noob : how to build app from source ?

[eyeandroid]

Hi, new to Android here. Running a pixel 6 with grapheneos. Mostly i can find apk packages that are easy to install, but sometimes devs only share the source code as a (zip) or (tar.gz) package. So what needs to be done to be able to install such apps ? Can i only do this on a desktop and then have to transfer to my pixel or can this be compiled on the mobile directly ? Thanks for your help !

 

[Unforgiven]

Where are you getting the app from. This sounds like a bad install package as an apk is really just a zip file.

 

[eyeandroid]

github. Many devs just list the source code and not an apk package.

 

[Unforgiven]

github. Many devs just list the source code and not an apk package.

OK, well, I think that is quite involved, so I moved this to the dev area where hopefully someone can walk you through it.

 

[Six dots Software]

It really depends how they have developed the application. Normally, just open de source with Android Studio, generate the APK and move it to your phone. Beware that faulty software may cause issues. If you are a developer, there are tons of tutorials on the internet about generating an APK with Android studio.

 

[James_Watson]

In general, you should install the official IDE, Android Studio, as well as Android SDK on your PC at first.

Then new a Project from Version Control. Here your version control source is github.

Now you can manage to Build Bundles or APKs. If everything goes well, you can directly generate signed Bundles or APKs.