element-x-android/docs/install_from_github_release.md

Installing Element X Android from a Github Release

This document explains how to install Element X Android from a Github Release.

• Installing the universal APK
  • Instructions
  • Steps
  • I already have the application on my phone
• Installing from the App Bundle
  • Requirements
  • Steps
  • I already have the application on my phone

Installing the universal APK

Instructions

The easiest way to install the application from a GitHub release is to use the universal APK which is attached to the release. This APK is compatible with all Android devices, but it is not optimized for any of them. So it may not be as fast as it could be on your device, and it may not be as small as it could be.

Alternatively, you can generate an APK that is optimized for your device. This is explained in the next section.

Steps

• Open the GitHub release that you want to install from using the Web browser of your phone.
• Download the APK
• Open the APK file from the download notification, or from the file manager
• Follow the steps to install the application

I already have the application on my phone

If the application was already installed on your phone, there are several cases:

• it was installed from the PlayStore, you can install the universal APK as long as the version is more recent. The existing data should not be lost.
• it was installed from a previous GitHub release, this is like an application upgrade.
• it was installed from a more recent GitHub release, or from the PlayStore with a later version, you will have to uninstall it first.

Installing from the App Bundle

Requirements

The Github release will contain an Android App Bundle (with aab extension) file, unlike in the Element Android project where releases directly provide the APKs. So there are some steps to perform to generate and sign App Bundle APKs. An APK suitable for the targeted device will then be generated.

The easiest way to do that is to use the debug signature that is shared between the developers and stored in the Element X Android project. So we recommend to clone the project first, to be able to use the debug signature it contains. But note that you can use any other signature. You don't need to install Android Studio, you will only need a shell terminal.

You can clone the project by running:

git clone git@github.com:element-hq/element-x-android.git

or

git clone https://github.com/element-hq/element-x-android.git

You will also need to install bundletool. On MacOS, you can run the following command:

brew install bundletool

Steps

1. Open the GitHub release that you want to install from https://github.com/element-hq/element-x-android/releases
2. Download the asset app-release-signed.aab
3. Navigate to the folder where you cloned the project and run the following command:

bundletool build-apks --bundle=<PATH_TO_YOUR_APP-RELEASE-SIGNED.AAB_FILE> --output=./tmp/elementx.apks \
      --ks=./app/signature/debug.keystore --ks-pass=pass:android --ks-key-alias=androiddebugkey --key-pass=pass:android \
      --overwrite

For instance:

bundletool build-apks --bundle=./tmp/Element/0.1.5/app-release-signed.aab --output=./tmp/elementx.apks \ 
      --ks=./app/signature/debug.keystore --ks-pass=pass:android --ks-key-alias=androiddebugkey --key-pass=pass:android \
      --overwrite

4. Run an Android emulator, or connect a real device to your computer
5. Install the APKs on the device:

bundletool install-apks --apks=./tmp/elementx.apks

That's it, the application should be installed on your device, you can start it from the launcher icon.

I already have the application on my phone

If the application was already installed on your phone, there are several cases:

• it was installed from the PlayStore, you will have to uninstall it first because the signature will not match.
• it was installed from a previous GitHub release, this is like an application upgrade, so no need to uninstall the existing app.
• it was installed from a more recent GitHub release, you will have to uninstall it first.