What is open source code android

What is the Android Open Source project?

Source: Jerry Hildenbrand / Android Central

Best answer: The Android Open Source Project is the core of the Android software that runs on your phone. It’s free and anyone can modify it but it isn’t enough to power a device on its own.

Open and free

Source: Google

Android is a free open-source operating system. The AOSP (Android Open Source Project) is free to download, free to alter, free to build into a product that can power just about anything. But it’s not something you’ve ever used when you picked up a phone or other gizmo that runs «Android» because it’s not really a complete operating system.

The AOSP isn’t everything you need to power a device but it’s a huge chunk of it.

At its heart, Android is nothing more than a platform that anyone can use to run applications plus the bits and pieces needed for it to talk to standard hardware. We tend to think of Android as an operating system for a phone or tablet (or even a watch or television), but it’s just a part of the software needed to get any device to turn on and do things. That being said, it’s one of the most important parts.

Having a huge library of code that anyone can use is great. Having all the things people build with it able to use the same applications is even better. It’s better for us because we will have a huge list of applications that work out of the box when we buy an Android-powered device. It’s better for the companies making the devices because we’ll want to buy them and they don’t have to put in the work to build their own application platform. It’s also great for Google because it means more devices will be able to use the internet and its services.

Source: Google

That last part is why Google maintains the AOSP. Google has always held the belief that everyone should have access to the internet. While some of the reasons may be altruistic and good-natured, the main reason Google as a company has these goals is because the internet is how it makes money. All companies exist to make money, but with the AOSP, Google has found a new way to make money from everyone while giving away one of its most expensive products: Android.

Google isn’t the only company that builds the AOSP.

This is done through the AOSP. Google maintains the Android source code. That means exactly what you think it does: It keeps things clean and tidy and up-to-date, then makes it available for other people. It also has people working full time to make improvements and add new features to Android.

All of this is made available for anyone to freely use under a liberal license that allows changes to be made to the code and not submitted back to the maintainers. This means Samsung is allowed to do whatever it wants with the AOSP and doesn’t have to share what it has done with anyone. So are you, and so am I. If we do something different, we can keep those changes to ourselves to offer a (hopefully) better product than anyone else can.

Source: Nick Sutrich / Android Central

But the phones and gadgets we buy aren’t running the AOSP as an operating system. What we see is the end result of someone or some company using it to create software that is unique and their own. This can be done by changing the code or by adding more code or even adding applications that aren’t open-sourced like the AOSP is. Every company that sells Android-powered gadgets, including Google itself, is doing this.

Even Google’s own phones aren’t using an open-source version of Android.

This fits into Google’s methods to make money because there are some restrictions when a company wants to use Google’s popular applications and services. If a company wants to include Google’s mobile services (and almost all phone makers do) it has to adhere to rules as a Google partner. Those rules make sure everyone knows about Google’s money-making products.

The process is a circle. Google gives Android away. A company uses it on its phone. As consumers, we want Android phones that can use Google Play and Gmail and Google Photos and all the other things that make Android great. The company making the phone can bundle those features in for free as long as it makes sure its product can use every other application found in the Google Play store. Phone manufacturers, like Samsung, save time and money by not building their own application platform and application storefront; we get the best Android phone with access to all the apps we love plus a market with over a million others, and Google gets a lot of people using its services and being on the internet to see Google’s ads.

By making Android a big piece of an operating system that anyone can use for free, Google’s investment in it pays off.

This couldn’t happen without Android being free to use, so the time and money Google invests in Android makes it a very lucrative part of its business. By providing Android as source code anyone can use instead of a standalone product like Windows, Google can reap the benefits while another company does the work of building and maintaining a living operating system. AOSP means everyone wins, and that’s the way we like it.

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Jerry Hildenbrand

Jerry is an amateur woodworker and struggling shade tree mechanic. There’s nothing he can’t take apart, but many things he can’t reassemble. You’ll find him writing and speaking his loud opinion on Android Central and occasionally on Twitter.

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Android
Open Source Project

Android unites the world. Use the open source Android operating system to power your device.

Interfaces and architecture

Android security is essential

Design compatible devices

About the Android Open Source Project

Android is an open source operating system for mobile devices and a corresponding open source project led by Google. This site and the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) repository offer the information and source code needed to create custom variants of the Android OS, port devices and accessories to the Android platform, and ensure devices meet the compatibility requirements that keep the Android ecosystem a healthy and stable environment for millions of users.

As an open source project, Android’s goal is to avoid any central point of failure in which one industry player can restrict or control the innovations of any other player. To that end, Android is a full, production-quality operating system for consumer products, complete with customizable source code that can be ported to nearly any device and public documentation that is available to everyone (in English at source.android.com and in Simplified Chinese at source.android.google.cn).

Just as you can contribute code to AOSP, you can also contribute to AOSP documentation—and we want your input! Android’s flexibility and ever-changing codebase means this site needs your feedback to keep content fresh, accurate, and relevant to Android implementors. We encourage you to check the changelog for details on recent AOSP updates and to report bugs or offer suggestions using the Site Feedback at the bottom of every page (or by visiting g.co/androidsourceissue).

Security and Update Bulletins

Every month, we publish the Android Security Bulletin along with the Android Automotive Bulletin and Pixel Update Bulletin.

Go to any of the following Android and Pixel Bulletins to see links to the fixes and new build numbers associated with the latest security release.

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Open Source Your Android Code — The Complete Guide

ADA | Adam Deconstructs Android

Aug 29, 2017 · 8 min read

9/17/17 Update: JitPack.io appears to be a fast and easy alternative to open source Android code vs. the method below by integrating directly with GitHub. I have not tested JitPack so please share your feedback in the comments if you’ve implemented it.

You’ve spent hours building cool shit. What’s the next step? By open sourcing your work you’ll (hopefully) provide valuable code to the Android community, receive constructive feedback, and collaborate on building something better than what you originally had.

The current state of open sourcing for Android is unintuitive, involving integrating multiple services, waiting for manual approvals, and before this post, spending hours Googling obscure steps. That’s why I created a beginning-to-end guide to expedite the process.

The more open sourced code, the better.

Implementation

I will walk through each step of how I open sourced a CustomRippleView library for Android.

Place code inside an Android Archive Library (AAR) — Step 1 of 6

Besides open sourcing, AARs are useful when building multiple apps or versions with the same components.

About

• Structurally the same as an Android app module
• Includes source code, resource files, manifest (unlike JAR)
• Compiles into Android Archive (AAR) rather than into APK
• Post to some maven repository where devs can pull it as a dependency through Gradle (can also convert an app to a module)
• Code Overlap — The app module will take precedence over a library if a resource ID is defined in both, library defined first will take precedence between libraries.

Implementation

If you’re creating a standalone library outside an existing app you’ll want to both create a new project to host the library module as well as test the library module in an existing app.

1. Build the open sourced library module in an existing project so that you can test the code as you go.

a) Create library module

Click the plus or File > New > Module > Android Library > provide unique Library Module Name ( customrippleview)

b) Ensure local library module shows in project and compile local library in the app module.

build.gradle ( app module)

Add tools:replace=”android:name” to the app module’s Manifest file.

2. Create a new Android project to host the open source code by itself so that it can be uploaded to bintray

Create the default app module with app following the name ( customrippleviewapp) to differentiate the app module name from the open source library module we’ll create in the next step.

• Application name: CustomRippleViewApp
• Company domain: com.ebay.customrippleviewapp ( needs to be a domain you own in order to get approved for open sourcing)
• Package name: com.ebay.customrippleviewapp

3. Add your library module (refer to step 1A above)

4. Place the open source code inside new library module created

5. Remove original app module

Right-click on app module > Open Module Settings > remove original app module.

6. Choose resources to make public (Optional)

All resources default to public: By declaring at least one resource public it makes the rest private

res > values > public.xml

Publish library publicly on GitHub with licensing and Docs — Step 2 of 6

Apache License 2.0 is one of the most popular, similar to the MIT License, but provides grant of patent rights from contributors to users. Apache 2.0 is commonly found in Android, Apache, and Swift.

Make sure library module ( customrippleview/) and build.gradle are not in the ignore list list and edit .gitignore to only contain library module files added.

Bintray and Sonatype Setup — Step 3 of 6

You only need to go through this painful steps once to setup your bintray account. Praise the lord! As this isn’t difficult, but the most annoying step.

Bintray Implementation

2. Create new repository

a) Add New Repository → Type: Maven → Default Licenses: Apache 2.0

b) Use lowercase naming convention: customrippleview

3. Enable auto signing

Enter Repository → Edit → General Settings → select GPG sign uploaded files automatically

a) Generate keys (Only done once for bintray account)

In terminal for project:

Fill in Real name, Email address, and passphrase. If command does not work, run following command to install gpg and retry the command above.

View keys created

Upload the public key to keyservers. Call the following command and replace PUBLIC_KEY_ID with value after 2048 in the pub line.

Export both public and private key.

Enter your passphrase when prompted for private key.

Copy and paste public and private keys into bintray: Under profile Edit > GPG Signing. Make sure to copy and paste from beginning and end tags or else bintray will not accept the keys.

Sonatype Implementation

This step requires filling a Jira ticket. If you thought you could escape Jira in your free coding time, you’re mistaken. It’s not too bad, as both times I’ve submitted a ticket they’ve approved it within the same day.

3. Provide bintray your Sonatype OSS username

In your bintray profile Edit > Accounts > Sonatype OSS User: _____________

Prepare Project for Upload — Step 4 of 6

Prepare Library Module With Bintray

1. Add Jcenter and Maven dependency

Add to project’s build.gradle (not app or library build.gradle)

2. Define your bintray username, api key, and GPG Passphrase.

This info should be secure, which is why we’re adding it to local.properties which should not be tracked in GitHub as it is commonly ignored at the start of an Android project in the .gitignore file.

3. Add repository information and build scripts

Update library’s build.gradle with repository information and add scripts for building library files and uploading the built files to bintray.

4. If using Kotlin in your code, disable Javadocs in library’s build.gradle

Upload to jcenter— Step 5 of 6

Why is jcenter better than maven central?

• Delivers library through CDN → faster loading
• Largest Java Repository on earth
• “Friendly” UI (perhaps in comparison)

Implementation

1. Upload to bintray/jcenter (Once Sonatype Open Source Project Repository Hosting request is approved)

Expected Result: BUILD SUCCESSFUL

Expected Result: BUILD SUCCESSFUL

I kept getting the BUILD FAILED response when attempting to upload. After many hours cursing at my terminal I realized even with this message, the package was being uploaded, so check the bintray package UI.

2. Sync to Jcenter for easy one line implementation in Android

3 hrs — How is this not automated too?!

a) Under the uploaded package settings select Add to JCenter

b) Select Host my snapshot…, fill in group id for package, and Select Send

Once approved, you’ll receive an email.

In the meantime you can check by searching on bintray which will also show when your package is hosted.

3. Maintaining library

Linking to jcenter only needs to be done once. Moving forward, any package changes (updates, deletes), will be reflected in jcenter 2–3 min later.

• Updates: Change the libraryVersion in library module and re-upload using Step 5, part 1.
• Deleting: Remove each version from bintray before removing the entire package.

Use In Project — Step 6 of 6

Declare the library in gradle and call the desired files.

build.gradle ( app module)

• Group_Id — com.ebay.customrippleview(package name followed by group name)
• Artifact_Id: customrippleview
• Version: 1.0

Resources

• JitPack.io — JitPack is an Android specific open sourcing solution that appears to work seamlessly with GitHub repositories. For a premium, JitPack also provides private library hosting. I haven’t given it a try, but thanks to Rakshak and Vikarti for calling it out in the comments below!
• The Cheese Factory Blog — How to distribute your own Android library through jCenter and Maven Central from Android Studio. BIG thanks! There were details that changed since this was published in 2015, but it was a great place to start.
• Android Studio — Create an Android Library
• bintray
• sonatype
• sonatype — request to host new open source project ( only works when logged in to sonatype)
• bintray documentation — Including your Package in JCenter
• CustomRippleView GitHub sample and JCenter hosting

I’m Adam Hurwitz — hit the clapping hands icon and check out the rest of my writing if you enjoyed the above | Thanks!

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