Application.mk

This document explains the Application.mk build file used by ndk-build.

We recommend that you read the Concepts page before this one.

Overview

The Application.mk specifies project-wide settings for ndk-build. By default, it is located at jni/Application.mk, in your application's project directory.

Variables

APP_ABI

By default, the NDK build system generates code for all non-deprecated ABIs. You can use the APP_ABI setting to generate code for specific ABIs. Table 1 shows the APP_ABI settings for different instruction sets.

Table 1. APP_ABI settings for different instruction sets.

Instruction set	Value
32-bit ARMv7	`APP_ABI := armeabi-v7a`
64-bit ARMv8 (AArch64)	`APP_ABI := arm64-v8a`
x86	`APP_ABI := x86`
x86-64	`APP_ABI := x86_64`
All supported ABIs (default)	`APP_ABI := all`

You can also specify multiple values by placing them on the same line, delimited by spaces. For example:

APP_ABI := armeabi-v7a arm64-v8a x86

For the list of all supported ABIs and details about their usage and limitations, refer to Android ABIs.

APP_ASFLAGS

Flags to be passed to the assembler for every assembly source file (.s and .S files) in the project.

APP_ASMFLAGS

Flags to be passed to YASM when for all YASM source files (.asm, x86/x86_64 only).

APP_BUILD_SCRIPT

By default, ndk-build assumes that the Android.mk file is located at jni/Android.mk relative to the project root.

To load an Android.mk file from an different location, set APP_BUILD_SCRIPT to the absolute path of the Android.mk file.

APP_CFLAGS

Flags to be passed for all C/C++ compiles in the project.

APP_CLANG_TIDY

Set to true to enable clang-tidy for all modules in the project. Disabled by default.

APP_CLANG_TIDY_FLAGS

Flags to pass for all clang-tidy executions in the project.

APP_CONLYFLAGS

Flags to be passed for all C compiles in the project. These flags will not be used for C++ code.

APP_CPPFLAGS

Flags to be passed for all C++ compiles in the project. These flags will not be used for C code.

APP_CXXFLAGS

Identical to APP_CPPFLAGS, but will appear after APP_CPPFLAGS in the compile command. For example:

APP_CPPFLAGS := -DFOO
APP_CXXFLAGS := -DBAR

The above configuration will result in a compilation command similar to clang++ -DFOO -DBAR rather than clang++ -DBAR -DFOO.

APP_DEBUG

Set to true to build a debuggable application.

APP_LDFLAGS

Flags to be passed when linking executables and shared libraries.

APP_MANIFEST

Absolute path to an AndroidManifest.xml file.

By default, $(APP_PROJECT_PATH)/AndroidManifest.xml) will be used if it exists.

APP_MODULES

An explicit list of modules to build. The elements of this list are the names of the modules as they appear in LOCAL_MODULE within the Android.mk file.

By default, ndk-build will build all shared libraries, executables, and their dependencies. Static libraries will be built only if they are used by the project, the project contains only static libraries, or if they are named in APP_MODULES.

APP_OPTIM

Define this optional variable as either release or debug. Release binaries will be built by default.

Release mode enables optimizations and may produce binaries that are not usable with a debugger. Debug mode disables optimizations so that debuggers may be used.

Note that you can debug either release or debug binaries. Release binaries, however, provide less information during debugging. For example, variables may be optimized out, preventing inspection. Also, code re-ordering can make it more difficult to step through the code; stack traces may not be reliable.

Declaring android:debuggable in your application manifest's <application> tag will cause this variable to default to debug instead of release. Override this default value by setting APP_OPTIM to release.

APP_PLATFORM

APP_PLATFORM declares the Android API level this application is built against and corresponds to the application's minSdkVersion.

If not specified, ndk-build will target the minimum API level supported by the NDK. The minimum API level supported by the latest NDK will always be low enough to support nearly all active devices.

For example, a value of android-16 specifies that your library uses APIs that are not available below Android 4.1 (API level 16) and can't be used on devices running a lower platform version. For a complete list of platform names and corresponding Android system images, see Android NDK native APIs.

When using Gradle and externalNativeBuild, this parameter should not be set directly. Instead, set the minSdkVersion property in the defaultConfig or productFlavors blocks of your module-level build.gradle file. This makes sure your library is used only by apps installed on devices running an adequate version of Android.

Note that the NDK does not contain libraries for every API level of Android. Versions that did not include new native APIs are omitted to save space in the NDK. ndk-build uses, in descending order of preference:

The platform version matching APP_PLATFORM.
The next available API level below APP_PLATFORM. For example, android-19 will be used when APP_PLATFORM is android-20, since there were no new native APIs in android-20.
The minimum API level supported by the NDK.

APP_PROJECT_PATH

The absolute path of the project's root directory.

APP_SHORT_COMMANDS

The project-wide equivalent of LOCAL_SHORT_COMMANDS. For more information, see the documentation for LOCAL_SHORT_COMMANDS in Android.mk.

APP_STL

The C++ standard library to use for this application.

The system STL is used by default. Other choices are c++_shared, c++_static, and none. See NDK C++ Runtimes and Features.

APP_STRIP_MODE

The argument to be passed to strip for modules in this application. Defaults to --strip-unneeded. To avoid stripping all binaries in the module, set to none. For other strip modes, see the strip documentation.

APP_THIN_ARCHIVE

Set to true to use thin archives for all static libraries in the project. For more information, see the documentation for LOCAL_THIN_ARCHIVE in Android.mk.

APP_WRAP_SH

Path to the wrap.sh file to be included with this application.

A variant of this variable exists for each ABI, as does an ABI-generic variant:

APP_WRAP_SH
APP_WRAP_SH_armeabi-v7a
APP_WRAP_SH_arm64-v8a
APP_WRAP_SH_x86
APP_WRAP_SH_x86_64