Ron's WIki

just starting out on Android development; figured i'd gather bits as i learned them.

Install Android Studio
1. https://developer.android.com/studio
2. be sure to check the sha256 just in case; they're in the lower half of the above page with no internal link.

create ~/.local/share/applications/android-studio.desktop

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Android Studio
Comment=Android IDE
Exec=/path/to/android-studio/bin/studio
Icon=/path/to/android-studio/bin/studio.png
Terminal=false
Categories=Development;IDE;
StartupNotify=true

chmod +x ~/.local/share/applications/android-studio.desktop
it will now appear in the Apps list (if you're using Ubuntu + GNOME)

start android-studio
new Project
1. select an Activity
  1. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/android/introduction-to-activities-in-android/
  2. Activity Lifecycle dictates which methods of the Activity are invoked when and why
    1. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/android/activity-lifecycle-in-android-with-demo-app/

Template	UI System	What It Generates	Best For
No Activity	None	Completely empty project; no Activity, no layout, no Compose setup	Custom architectures, manual setup, advanced users
Empty Activity	XML	``MainActivity.kt`` + ``activity_main.xml``; classic ``setContentView()``	Traditional XML apps, tutorials, legacy UI
Gemini API	Compose	Activity wired to Google AI Gemini API client; sample request/response UI	AI‑powered apps, chatbots, LLM demos
Navigation UI Activity	Compose	Activity with Navigation Compose graph, multiple screens, scaffold	Multi‑screen apps, modern navigation patterns
Basic Views Activity	Compose	Starter UI with Material3 theme, sample composables, preview	Compose beginners, quick prototypes
Empty Views Activity	Compose	Minimal Compose setup; empty ``setContent ``{}`` block	Compose experts, custom UI from scratch
Responsive Views Activity	Compose	Adaptive layout scaffolding (window size classes, foldables)	Tablets, foldables, desktop Android, responsive UI
Game Activity	Native/Compose hybrid	Activity with game loop, rendering surface, input handling	2D/3D games, custom rendering engines
Native C++	C++ + XML	Activity + JNI bridge + CMake + native code sample	High‑performance native apps, NDK projects