I had difficulty finding straightforward instructions on how to install the Google Android SDK onto Apple’s OS X Lion so I could test websites. Eventually I merged the instructions provided by this Ben Hedrington with the instructions provided on the official Google Android SDK page and was successful.

So I’ve written revised instructions below for Apple’s OS X Lion 10.7.3:

1. Download the latest version of the Android SDK.
2. Unzip it and deposit it into your home directory (~/).
3. Open the Terminal app, which should start you in your home directory as well, and type “vi .bash_profile” and press return/enter
4. Paste the following “export PATH=${PATH}:~/android-sdk-macosx/tools” and save and exit from the file by pressing “Command”, “Shift” and “z” twice (so that will be “ZZ”) in that order at the same time.
5. Now type “android” and press return/enter.

You should now see an application called “java” appear on your dock that uses the Android icon. Additionally it will open a window that will allow you to install the additional components required so you can actually use the Android operating system as you would on a regular mobile device.

1. Select “Tools” and whichever versions of the Android OS that you would like to install. Though I recommend only selecting the latest version and verifying it works properly before installing the others.
2. From the “Tools” menu in the OS X toolbar select “Manage AVDs…” (Android Virtual Devices).
3. Select “New”.
4. You may enter the name of your choice, and then select the Android OS version you previously installed from the “Target” list.
5. Select “Create”
6. Then select the AVD from the list and select “Start” -> “Launch” Note: I’m running a MacBook Pro with 8GB’s of RAM and a SSD with 2.4Ghz Intel Core Duo 2 and it took over a minute for the Android 4.0.3 OS to start.

You have now successfully installed and launched the Android SDK simulator application on your Apple Lion OS X.

By Spencer Hill

Categorized in: Uncategorized

This post is related to: Invoicing, Job Descriptions, Lion, mac, macbook, Mail, osx, Productivity, Project Management, sdk, simulator,