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Building for Android

  • Ensure that the following environment variables are set:
    • ANDROID_SDK_ROOT
    • ANDROID_NDK_ROOT: $ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/ndk/28.2.13676358/ ANDROID_SDK_ROOT can be any directory (such as ~/android-sdk). All of the Android build dependencies will be installed there.
  • Install the latest version of the Android command-line tools to $ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/cmdline-tools/latest.
  • Run the following command to install the necessary components: 
    sudo $ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/cmdline-tools/latest/bin/sdkmanager --install \
 "build-tools;34.0.0" \
 "emulator" \
 "ndk;28.2.13676358" \
 "platform-tools" \
 "platforms;android-33" \
 "system-images;android-33;google_apis;arm64-v8a"
  • Run ./mach build --android -r

Note: This will install dependencies and build Servo for the aarch64-linux-android platform. In order to build Servo for other Android targets, ensure that you install the appropriate system images via sdkmanager and pass --target with a Rust compatible target to mach when building instead of --android.

Note: If you are not using Android Studio on macOS, you will need to install a JDK. Use brew install opendjdk@21 to install a usable version; newer versions cause java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: 25 when running the gradle build step during the Servo build.

Note: If you are using Nix, you don’t need to install the tools or set up the ANDROID_SDK_ROOT and ANDROID_NDK_ROOT environment variables manually. Simply enable the Android build support running:

export SERVO_ANDROID_BUILD=1

in the shell session before invoking ./mach commands

Building with Android Studio

It’s recommended to build Servo via the command-line for Android, but you can also build it using Android Studio, if you prefer to use the Android IDE.

  • Install Android Studio by downloading the appropriate version from the official website and following the installation instructions.
  • In order to install additional tools run Android Studio, go to Settings and type sdk on the search bar.
  • Select the SDK:
    • Click Android SDK`
    • Navigate to SDK Tools
    • Check Android SDK Command-line tools (latest): image
  • Select the NDK. Note that Servo requires version 28 of the NDK.
    • In the SDK Tools section, select NDK (side by side)
    • Click show package details: image
    • Select the latest version of NDK 28: image
  • Click Ok to install both the NDK and SDK.
  • Find the path to the SDK under Languages & Frameworks then Android SDK Location: image. Then, ensure that the following environment variables are set:
    • ANDROID_SDK_ROOT: The path found above.
    • ANDROID_NDK_ROOT: $ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/ndk/28.2.13676358/
  • Run ./mach build --android -r

Running in the emulator

  1. Create a new AVD image to run Servo: 
    $ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/cmdline-tools/latest/bin/avdmanager create avd \
    --name "Servo" \
    --device "pixel" \
    --package "system-images;android-33;google_apis;arm64-v8a" \
    --tag "google_apis" \
    --abi "arm64-v8a"
  2. Enable the hardware keyboard. Open ~/.android/avd/Servo.avd/config.ini and change hw.keyboard = no to hw.keyboard = yes.
  3. Launch the emulator 
    $ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/emulator/emulator -avd servo -netdelay none -no-snapshot
  4. Install Servo on the emulator: 
     ./mach install -r --android
  5. Start Servo by tapping the Servo icon on your launcher screen.

Installing on a physical device

  1. Set up your device for development.
  2. Build Servo as described above, ensuring that you are building for the appropriate target for your device.
  3. Install Servo to your device by running: 
    ./mach install -r --android
  4. Start Servo by tapping the Servo icon on your launcher screen or run: 
    ./mach run --android https://www.servo.org/

You can request a force-stop of Servo by running:

adb shell am force-stop org.servo.servoshell/org.servo.servoshell.MainActivity

If the above doesn’t work, try this:

adb shell am force-stop org.servo.servoshell

You can uninstall Servo by running:

adb uninstall org.servo.servoshell

Troubleshooting

Be sure to look at the General Troubleshooting section if you have trouble with your build.