An Android app that runs Elm in a webview. And a Python script to build the app or install it on the device.

Requirements

You need to have installed:

• the Android SDK
• Elm
• Python
• git

Starting a project

Clone this repo and cd into it:

$ git clone https://github.com/leforestier/elm-android-app
$ cd elm-android-app

Then run:

$ elm init

That will create an elm.json file in the current directory.

The entry point of your Elm application is src/Main.elm. This file contains a basic counter app that you can try to build to test that everything is working on your system.

To create a great app, modify src/Main.elm and add other Elm source files to the src/ directory .

To install additional elm packages, you can use elm install just like with any normal Elm project.

Build script

The script that enables you to build and/or install the app onto the device is manage.py. It's a single Python script without any dependencies. You can call it like this on the command line:

$ python manage.py (see next section for available commands)

On Linux you should be able to do simply:

$ ./manage.py (see next section for available commands)

To build an Elm application (running in a webview)

Keystore

First, and this is something you only have to do once per project, create a debug Android keystore using the command:

$ ./manage.py create-debug-key

This creates a keystore in the current directory under the file name debug.keystore.

Environment variables

You need to supply three environment variables to the script:

- BUILD_TOOLS_DIR: the directory of the Android SDK where reside tools such as `aapt` and `dx`.
  For example, I use `BUILD_TOOLS_DIR=/home/myusername/Android/build-tools/30.0.3/`

- PLATFORM_DIR: the directory of the Android SDK where reside `android.jar`.
  For example I use `PLATFORM_DIR=/home/myusername/Android/platforms/android-30/`

- KEYSTORE_FILE: the keystore file. If you created it by `manage.py create-debug-keystore`,
  then the file is `debug.keystore` and you should use `KEYSTORE_FILE=debug.keystore`

The rest of this tutorial assume you have exported these 3 environment variables using:

$ export BUILD_TOOLS_DIR=... PLATFORM_DIR=... KEYSTORE_FILE=...

Build the apk

Build an apk with the command:

$ ./manage.py build

The apk is created inside the build directory.

Install the app on an Android device

Make sure your device is connected to your computer in debug mode (you can use the command adb devices to check if your device appear in the list). Then:

$ ./manage.py install

You can also install the app and start it automatically using:

$ ./manage.py install+run

Changing the name of the application

You change the name of the application exactly like you would in a normal Java only android application.

The name of our example application is "Elm App" and our package name is com.example.elmwebviewapp. Here's how to change it, for, say, a bird watching application called "Bird Watch" with package name net.birdwatchers.birdspot.

To change the application name to "Bird Watch":

• in AndroidManifest.xml replace android:label="Elm App" with android:label="Bird Watch"

To change the package name to net.birdwatchers.birdspot:

• rename the directory java/com/example/elmwebviewapp to java/net/birdwatchers/birdspot
• in MainActivity.java, replace the first line package com.example.elmwebviewapp; with package net.birdwatchers.birdspot;
• in AndroidManifest.xml, replace the package="com.example.elmwebviewapp" manifest attribute with package="net.birdwatchers.birdspot"

Changing the icon of the application

Same as with a normal Java only android application. Refer to Android development documentation.

Viewing the app in the browser using elm-live

Before loading the app on the device, you can develop using elm-live and see your changes in the browser of your laptop/desktop. This requires to have installed elm-live.

Then:

$ ./manage.py elm-live

This is just a shortcut for:

$ elm-live src/Main.elm -d assets -- --output=assets/main.js