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Build native Android APKs without Android Studio using raw SDK tools (javac, d8, aapt, apksigner). Produces tiny APKs (~30KB) that build in under 2 seconds.

HermeticOrmus By HermeticOrmus schedule Updated 3/9/2026
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name: android-apk description: Build native Android APKs without Android Studio using raw SDK tools (javac, d8, aapt, apksigner). Produces tiny APKs (~30KB) that build in under 2 seconds.

/android-apk -- Build Native Android APKs Without Android Studio

Build minimal Android APKs using raw SDK tools (javac, d8, aapt, apksigner). No Gradle, no Android Studio, no bloat. Produces tiny APKs (~30KB) that build in <2s.

Origin

Extracted from a real session building a share-sheet APK for posting URLs to a Cloudflare Access-protected API. (Mar 2026)

When to Use

  • Android share sheet integration (ACTION_SEND intent)
  • Lightweight companion APKs for web tools
  • Any Android app that just needs to POST data to an API
  • When you need an APK and don't want 500MB of Gradle overhead

Prerequisites

Android SDK command-line tools installed:

ANDROID_HOME=~/android-sdk
JAVA_HOME=~/android-sdk/jdk-17
Build tools: 34.0.0
Platform: android-34

If missing, install:

# JDK 17 (portable, no sudo)
cd ~/android-sdk
wget https://download.oracle.com/java/17/archive/jdk-17.0.12_linux-x64_bin.tar.gz
tar xf jdk-17.0.12_linux-x64_bin.tar.gz

# Android SDK command-line tools
mkdir -p cmdline-tools/latest
# Download from https://developer.android.com/studio#command-line-tools-only
unzip commandlinetools-linux-*.zip -d cmdline-tools/latest
cmdline-tools/latest/bin/sdkmanager "build-tools;34.0.0" "platforms;android-34"

Procedure

Step 1: Scaffold Project

$PROJECT/
  AndroidManifest.xml
  build.sh
  java/$PACKAGE_PATH/$ACTIVITY.java
  res/
    mipmap-hdpi/ic_launcher.png      (48x48)
    mipmap-xhdpi/ic_launcher.png     (96x96)
    mipmap-xxhdpi/ic_launcher.png    (144x144)
    mipmap-xxxhdpi/ic_launcher.png   (192x192)

Step 2: AndroidManifest.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="$PACKAGE"
    android:versionCode="1"
    android:versionName="1.0">

    <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="21" android:targetSdkVersion="34"/>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>

    <application android:label="$APP_NAME" android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher">
        <activity
            android:name=".$ACTIVITY"
            android:exported="true"
            android:theme="@android:style/Theme.Translucent.NoTitleBar">

            <!-- Share sheet integration -->
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEND"/>
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT"/>
                <data android:mimeType="text/plain"/>
            </intent-filter>

            <!-- App launcher icon -->
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN"/>
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER"/>
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>
</manifest>

Key decisions:

  • Theme.Translucent.NoTitleBar -- no visible window, just toast + finish
  • Both SEND and MAIN intent-filters -- share sheet AND launcher icon
  • LAUNCHER opens web UI via Intent.ACTION_VIEW (no need for a full Android UI)

Step 3: Java Activity

Template for share-to-API pattern:

package $PACKAGE;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.net.Uri;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.widget.Toast;
import java.io.OutputStream;
import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
import java.net.URL;
import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
import java.util.regex.Matcher;
import java.util.regex.Pattern;

public class $ACTIVITY extends Activity {

    private static final String API_URL = "$API_ENDPOINT";
    // Auth headers (if using Cloudflare Access or similar)
    private static final String AUTH_CLIENT_ID = "$AUTH_CLIENT_ID";
    private static final String AUTH_CLIENT_SECRET = "$AUTH_CLIENT_SECRET";
    private static final Pattern URL_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("https?://[^\\s]+");

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        String sharedText = null;
        Intent intent = getIntent();

        if (Intent.ACTION_SEND.equals(intent.getAction())
                && "text/plain".equals(intent.getType())) {
            sharedText = intent.getStringExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT);
        }

        if (sharedText == null || sharedText.isEmpty()) {
            // Launched from app list -- open web UI
            startActivity(new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW,
                Uri.parse("$WEB_UI_URL")));
            finish();
            return;
        }

        // Extract URL from shared text (apps often share "Title - URL")
        String url = sharedText.trim();
        Matcher matcher = URL_PATTERN.matcher(sharedText);
        if (matcher.find()) {
            url = matcher.group();
        }

        String title = intent.getStringExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT);
        if (title == null) title = "";
        String note = sharedText.replace(url, "").trim();

        final String finalUrl = url;
        final String finalTitle = title;
        final String finalNote = note;

        new Thread(() -> {
            boolean success = postData(finalUrl, finalTitle, finalNote);
            runOnUiThread(() -> {
                Toast.makeText(this,
                    success ? "Saved" : "Failed",
                    Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                finish();
            });
        }).start();
    }

    private boolean postData(String linkUrl, String title, String note) {
        HttpURLConnection conn = null;
        try {
            URL url = new URL(API_URL);
            conn = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
            conn.setInstanceFollowRedirects(false);  // CRITICAL for CF Access
            conn.setRequestMethod("POST");
            conn.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "application/json");
            // Auth headers (adapt to your auth system)
            conn.setRequestProperty("CF-Access-Client-Id", AUTH_CLIENT_ID);
            conn.setRequestProperty("CF-Access-Client-Secret", AUTH_CLIENT_SECRET);
            conn.setConnectTimeout(10000);
            conn.setReadTimeout(10000);
            conn.setDoOutput(true);

            String json = "{\"url\":" + jsonString(linkUrl)
                + ",\"title\":" + jsonString(title)
                + ",\"text\":" + jsonString(note) + "}";

            byte[] body = json.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
            OutputStream os = conn.getOutputStream();
            os.write(body);
            os.flush();
            os.close();

            return (conn.getResponseCode() >= 200 && conn.getResponseCode() < 300);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            return false;
        } finally {
            if (conn != null) conn.disconnect();
        }
    }

    private static String jsonString(String s) {
        if (s == null || s.isEmpty()) return "\"\"";
        return "\"" + s.replace("\\", "\\\\")
                        .replace("\"", "\\\"")
                        .replace("\n", "\\n")
                        .replace("\r", "\\r")
                        .replace("\t", "\\t") + "\"";
    }
}

Step 4: build.sh

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail

ANDROID_HOME="${ANDROID_HOME:-$HOME/android-sdk}"
JAVA_HOME="${JAVA_HOME:-$ANDROID_HOME/jdk-17.0.12}"
BUILD_TOOLS="$ANDROID_HOME/build-tools/34.0.0"
PLATFORM="$ANDROID_HOME/platforms/android-34/android.jar"
OUT="build"
APP_NAME="$APP_NAME_KEBAB"    # e.g., "my-app"
KEY_ALIAS="$KEY_ALIAS"        # e.g., "my-app"
PACKAGE_PATH="$PACKAGE_SLASH" # e.g., "com/example/app"

export PATH="$JAVA_HOME/bin:$BUILD_TOOLS:$PATH"

rm -rf "$OUT"
mkdir -p "$OUT/obj" "$OUT/gen"

echo "1/6 Compiling resources..."
"$BUILD_TOOLS/aapt" package -f -m \
    -J "$OUT/gen" -M AndroidManifest.xml -S res -I "$PLATFORM"

echo "2/6 Compiling Java..."
javac --release 11 -classpath "$PLATFORM" -d "$OUT/obj" \
    -sourcepath "$OUT/gen:java" \
    $OUT/gen/$PACKAGE_PATH/R.java \
    java/$PACKAGE_PATH/*.java

echo "3/6 Converting to DEX..."
"$BUILD_TOOLS/d8" --release --lib "$PLATFORM" --output "$OUT/" \
    $(find "$OUT/obj" -name '*.class')

echo "4/6 Packaging APK..."
"$BUILD_TOOLS/aapt" package -f \
    -M AndroidManifest.xml -S res -I "$PLATFORM" \
    -F "$OUT/$APP_NAME.unsigned.apk" "$OUT/"

echo "5/6 Aligning..."
"$BUILD_TOOLS/zipalign" -f -p 4 \
    "$OUT/$APP_NAME.unsigned.apk" "$OUT/$APP_NAME.aligned.apk"

if [ ! -f keystore.jks ]; then
    echo "    Generating signing key..."
    keytool -genkeypair -keystore keystore.jks -alias "$KEY_ALIAS" \
        -dname "CN=Developer, O=Development" -validity 10000 \
        -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -storepass android -keypass android
fi

echo "6/6 Signing..."
"$BUILD_TOOLS/apksigner" sign --ks keystore.jks --ks-key-alias "$KEY_ALIAS" \
    --ks-pass pass:android --key-pass pass:android \
    --out "$OUT/$APP_NAME.apk" "$OUT/$APP_NAME.aligned.apk"

rm -f "$OUT/$APP_NAME.unsigned.apk" "$OUT/$APP_NAME.aligned.apk"
rm -rf "$OUT/obj" "$OUT/gen" "$OUT/classes.dex"

echo ""
echo "Built: $OUT/$APP_NAME.apk"
ls -lh "$OUT/$APP_NAME.apk"

Step 5: Build and Deploy

# Build
chmod +x build.sh
bash build.sh

# Deploy to web server for download
scp build/$APP_NAME.apk yourserver:/path/to/static/
# Or serve directly via any HTTPS endpoint

Step 6: Install on Android

Download APK via browser or adb install build/$APP_NAME.apk.

Gotchas (Discovered in Production)

1. Cloudflare Access 302 Redirect

HttpURLConnection follows redirects by default. CF Access returns 302 to login page, which returns 200 HTML. Your app sees "200 OK" but it's the login page, not your API.

Fix: conn.setInstanceFollowRedirects(false) -- then a 302 means auth failed.

2. CF Service Token Policy

Creating a Service Auth policy via Cloudflare Dashboard may silently fail. Use the API:

CF_TOKEN="your-api-token"
APP_ID="your-access-app-id"
ACCOUNT_ID="your-account-id"

curl -X POST "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$ACCOUNT_ID/access/apps/$APP_ID/policies" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CF_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "APK Service Token",
    "decision": "non_identity",
    "include": [{"service_token": {"token_id": "YOUR_SERVICE_TOKEN_UUID"}}],
    "precedence": 1
  }'

Key: decision: "non_identity" (not "allow"). precedence: 1 to evaluate before identity policies.

3. build.sh Line Endings

If build.sh is created with Write tool or on Windows, it may have \r\n line endings.

Fix: sed -i 's/\r$//' build.sh

4. JAVA_HOME Tilde Expansion

~/android-sdk/jdk-17.0.12 does NOT expand in all contexts. Always use $HOME/android-sdk/jdk-17.0.12 or the absolute path.

5. APK Caching

Cloudflare and browser cache APKs aggressively. When deploying updates, rename the file (e.g., app-v2.apk) to bust cache.

6. Unicode Surrogates in API Payloads

If your app processes text containing emoji (e.g., from Twitter), unpaired Unicode surrogates can break JSON APIs. Strip them:

function sanitizeText(str) {
  if (!str) return "";
  return str.replace(/[\uD800-\uDBFF](?![\uDC00-\uDFFF])/g, "")
            .replace(/(?<![\uD800-\uDBFF])[\uDC00-\uDFFF]/g, "");
}

7. Launcher Visibility

Without android.intent.action.MAIN + android.intent.category.LAUNCHER intent-filter, the app won't appear in app drawers (including minimal launchers like Niagara). Always include both SEND and MAIN filters.

Cloudflare Access Service Token Pattern

For any APK hitting a CF Access-protected API:

  1. Create Service Token in CF dashboard (Access > Service Auth > Create)
  2. Create policy via API with decision: "non_identity"
  3. Add headers to Java HTTP client:
    conn.setRequestProperty("CF-Access-Client-Id", CLIENT_ID);
conn.setRequestProperty("CF-Access-Client-Secret", CLIENT_SECRET);
  4. Store credentials securely (not hardcoded in source for production)

Build Pipeline Summary

aapt package -m   (generate R.java from resources)
    |
javac --release 11  (compile Java to .class files)
    |
d8 --release       (convert .class to DEX bytecode)
    |
aapt package -f    (package DEX + resources into unsigned APK)
    |
zipalign -p 4      (align for memory-mapped access)
    |
apksigner sign     (sign with keystore for Android install)
    |
~30KB APK, builds in <2s

Part of Claude Code Skills -- reusable skills extracted from real AI-assisted development sessions.

Install via CLI
npx skills add https://github.com/HermeticOrmus/claude-code-skills --skill android-apk
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