Time for action – creating an Android build

Follow these steps to create a new Android build in the Corona SDK:

  1. Launch the Corona Simulator and select Simulator.
  2. Navigate to your Hello World application and select your main.lua file.
  3. Once your application is running in the simulator, go to the Corona Simulator menu bar and navigate to File | Build For | Android (Windows) / Shift + Command + B on your keyboard (Mac). The following dialog box will appear:
    Time for action – creating an Android build
  4. Create a name for your app in the Application Name field. We can keep the same name, Hello World. In the Version Code field, set the number to 1 if that is not already the default number. This specific field must always be an integer and is not visible to users. In the Version Name field, keep the number at 1.0. This attribute is the string shown to users. In the Package field, you will need to specify a name that uses the traditional Java scheme, which is basically the reverse format of your domain name; for example, com.mycompany.app.helloworld would work as a package name. Project Path shows the location of your project folder. Minimum SDK Version currently supports Android 2.3.3 and newer devices running the ArmV7 processor. In the Target App Store pull-down menu, the default store can stay as Google Play. In the Keystore field, you will be signing your build with the Debug keystore that is already provided in Corona. In the Key Alias field, select androiddebugkey from the pull-down menu if it's not selected. In the Save to Folder section, click on Browse and choose where you'd like your application to be saved to.
  5. If all the information has been confirmed in the dialog box, click on the Build button.

Tip

For more information on Java package names, see the section on Unique Package Names in the Java documentation at http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/third_edition/html/packages.html#40169.

What just happened?

You have created your very first Android build! See how simple that was? Since the Corona SDK already provides the Debug keystore and androiddebugkey key alias in the engine, most of the signing work is already done for you. The only requirement from you is to fill out the build information for your application and click on the Build button to make a debug build. Your Hello World application will save as an .apk file at the location you designated. The file name will appear as Hello World.apk.