android install

Installs an Android app (one or more APKs) on a connected device or emulator without activating any components, using incremental optimizations for faster deployment than adb.

Usage

android install [-h] [--apks=PARAM] [--device=PARAM] [--install-options=PARAM] [--use-delta-install] [<apks_or_reference>] [-- <build_args>]

Options

  • --apks=PARAM - The paths to the APKs, comma separated.
  • --device=PARAM - The device serial number.
  • -h,--help - Shows the help message for the specified command.
  • --install-options=PARAM - Additional options or flags to pass to package manager install (for example, -g, -d).
  • --use-delta-install - Use fast delta install (speeds up incremental updates by transferring only modified code and resources; default: true).

android options:

  • --sdk=PARAM - Path to the Android SDK.
  • -v,--verbose - Enable verbose output for troubleshooting.
  • -V,--version - Print version information and exit.

Positional arguments

  • <apks_or_reference> - APK file path(s) or a build reference ([system://][path]?[target]).
  • -- <build_args> - Arguments passed verbatim to the build system. Use -- to separate from other arguments.

Description

android install deploys one or more APK files to a connected Android device or emulator without launching any activities or services.

Pass a build reference ([system://][path]?[target]) to build and deploy from source, or pass pre-built APK file paths (in <apks_or_reference> or with --apks).

Unlike android run, android install only performs the package installation step. By default, it uses incremental delta installation to push only the bytes that changed since the previous deployment, making iterative updates faster than adb install.

Toggle delta installation (--use-delta-install)

Delta installation is enabled by default. Pass --use-delta-install=false to disable incremental patching and perform a full APK installation instead.

Specify a target device (--device)

If multiple physical devices or emulators are connected, pass --device=<serial-number> (as reported by adb devices) to select the target device.

Examples

Build and install the default debug variant of :app in the current Gradle workspace:

android install :app

Build and install the debug variant of :app (:app@debug) from the Gradle workspace at $HOME/my-app, passing extra arguments to Gradle:

android install $HOME/my-app?:app@debug -- --offline

Install a single debug APK onto the connected device:

android install --apks=app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk

Install multiple split APKs onto a specific emulator without delta patching:

android install --use-delta-install=false --device=emulator-5554 --apks=base.apk,config.hdpi.apk