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Thus far we have been running our apps with the emulator from within Android Studio. In this video we'll see how we can launch our apps directly to a device!
Related Links
- Using Hardware Devices - How to test your app on a real phone or tablet
- Connecting Smartphone to Laptop Running Windows 8 - Instructions from a Treehouse student on how to run apps on your phone from Windows 8
Further Reading
- What Employers Are Looking for in a Junior Android Dev - Some advice on getting a job as a junior Android developer
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There's one very important thing
we haven't talked about yet.
0:00
So far, we've only run the app in the
emulator, but how do we run it on a phone?
0:03
It's usually pretty easy, but
it does depend on your phone and
0:08
the computer you're using.
0:12
Even if you don't have a phone to test on,
this will still be useful to know.
0:14
On a Mac, PC or Linux computer,
0:18
start by just connecting your phone
to the computer with the USB cable.
0:20
You may need to disconnect the USB
cable from your charging adapter.
0:24
If you're using a Windows or Linux
computer, this is where it can get tricky.
0:28
You need the appropriate
device drivers for your phone.
0:32
Some standard drivers are included in the
Android development bundle we're using.
0:35
But in some cases,
you'll be prompted to download and
0:39
install the drivers when
you connect your phone.
0:42
Or you might need to visit the website of
the manufacturer to get the right drivers.
0:45
Or maybe you've already installed
some software that includes
0:49
the necessary drivers.
0:51
Each device is different, and
sometimes it can be tricky.
0:53
But if you have any trouble,
check the community or
0:56
Google how to connect your specific
device for testing Android apps.
0:59
I'll also post some helpful notes in
the teacher's notes on this page.
1:02
There's a special place in
the Android Studio that shows us
1:07
all of our connected devices,
including our emulator.
1:10
It's down here in the bottom pane
at the top left of the Logcat tab.
1:13
It should show the phone or
tablet you just connected, and
1:18
maybe the emulator too, like mine does.
1:21
If your device isn't listed here,
then you may need to enable USB debugging.
1:23
Let's take a quick look
at how to set that up.
1:28
On your phone or tablet,
go to the Android settings
1:31
page, Then scroll all
the way to the bottom.
1:33
And open the About Phone or, in my case,
the About emulated device section.
1:41
Then scroll to the bottom again, and
tap seven times on the build number.
1:46
This may seem a bit weird, but
it's what turns on the developer options.
1:54
Now go back and
open the developer options section.
1:58
Then scroll down to USB debugging and
make sure that it's turned on.
2:04
And hit OK to allow USB debugging.
2:11
You might get a notification on the phone
that USB debugging is now activated.
2:15
If your device is listed
here like mine is,
2:21
then that means you're ready
to run apps on your device.
2:23
We can run our app using
the same run button or
2:27
keyboard shortcuts that we've been using.
2:29
I'll use the Run button.
2:31
Wait, we don't see the device chooser.
2:34
If you don't see the device chooser,
we can always click up here.
2:37
And then select Edit Configurations.
2:41
Then, uncheck the Use same device for
future launches check box.
2:45
And click OK.
2:50
Then you'll need to stop the app
running on the current device, and
2:53
then when you run the app again,
we get the device chooser.
2:57
This list shows the device, its name, and
the version of Android that it's running.
3:01
Now select the device you connected, for
3:06
me it's this one, and
click OK to launch the app.
3:09
Then if you see a warning
about Instant Run,
3:14
just click Proceed without Instant Run.
3:16
Once the app loads, we should see
some information here in Logcat.
3:20
And if we look to the top left, we can
see that it's running on our device.
3:26
We can also click over to this Run tab,
and
3:31
we can see information about how
the app was loaded onto the device.
3:35
If there were any problems,
you may see errors here or on the Logcat.
3:39
The app should start
automatically on the phone.
3:45
And success!
3:47
Now you can show off your app
to your friends and family.
3:49
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