As most Android developers are aware of by now, earlier this year Google had announced that the Android Development Tools (ADT) plug-in for the Eclipse IDE will be reaching its end-of-life at the end of the 2015 calendar year. Accordingly, Google will be focusing their development and support efforts on the Android Studio IDE moving forward as the preferred/official IDE for Android development.
As a result, the BlackBerry ADT Plug-in for Eclipse will also reach its end-of-life in December as we continue our alignment with the broader Android developer community. Meanwhile, the BlackBerry Plug-in for Android Studio will continue to be made available as a free plug-in for Android Studio, allowing Android developers to debug their code on BlackBerry 10 devices/simulators and to repackage their APK file into the BAR file format for distribution via BlackBerry World.
While the download links and documentation will remain live until December, it is suggested that Android developers targeting BlackBerry 10 should migrate their projects from Eclipse to Android Studio to ensure a smooth transition to the new IDE.
Migrating from ADT to Android Studio
The process of transitioning from the legacy ADT Eclipse plug-in to Android Studio is rather simple, as you can simply import your legacy ADT project into Android Studio and let the IDE do the heavy lifting for you. To do so:
- Open Android Studio
- Select File > New > Import Project
- Choose the Eclipse ADT project folder, containing the AndroidManifest.xml file
- Click OK
- Select your destination project folder, and click Finish
After importing your project, Android Studio will also provide you with a project import summary for your reference. This process is elaborated upon in detail within the official Migrating to Android Studio documentation. It is also recommended to reference the Transition Guide for Eclipse ADT.
Adding the BlackBerry Plug-in for Android Studio
To add the ability to debug your Android app on BlackBerry 10 devices or simulators, or to repackage your project into the BAR file format for BlackBerry World distribution, you will need to add the BlackBerry Plug-in for Android Studio. This can be accomplished by the following:
- Download the BlackBerry Plug-in for Android Studio here
- Open Android Studio
- Select File > Settings
- Select Plug-ins from the navigation list on the left
- Click Install plugin from disk
- Select the location of the zip file containing the BlackBerry Plug-in for Android Studio
- Click Apply
Alternatively, OSX or Linux OS users can also extract the zip file containing the BlackBerry Plug-in for Android Studio directly to <your_android_studio_installation_folder>plugins folder.
Detailed instructions on installing the BlackBerry Plug-in for Android Studio, in addition to using the BlackBerry ADB Proxy Manager, can be found here.