Setting up a Device for Development

With an Android-powered device, you can develop and debug your Android applications just as you would on the emulator. There are just a few things to do before you can start.

  1. Declare your application as "debuggable" in your Android Manifest.

    In Eclipse, you can do this from the Application tab when viewing the Manifest (on the right side, set Debuggable to true). Otherwise, in the AndroidManifest.xml file, add android:debuggable="true" to the <application> element.

  2. Turn on "USB Debugging" on your device.

    On the device, go to the home screen, press MENU, select Applications > Development, then enable USB debugging.

  3. Setup your system to detect your device.
    • If you're developing on Windows, you need to install a USB driver for adb. Follow the steps below for Installing the WinUsb Driver.
    • If you're developing on Mac OS X, it just works. Skip this step.
    • If you're developing on Ubuntu Linux, you need to add a rules file:
      1. Login as root and create this file: /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules.

        For Gusty/Hardy, edit the file to read:
        SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idVendor}=="0bb4", MODE="0666"

        For Dapper, edit the file to read:
        SUBSYSTEM=="usb_device", SYSFS{idVendor}=="0bb4", MODE="0666"

      2. Now execute:
        chmod a+rx /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules

You can verify that your device is connected by executing adb devices from your SDK tools/ directory. If connected, you'll see the device name listed as a "device."

If using Eclipse, select run or debug as usual. You will be presented with a Device Chooser dialog that lists the available emulator(s) and connected device(s). Select the device to install and run the application there.

If using the Android Debug Bridge (adb), you can issue commands with the -d flag to target your connected device.