Let’s see how to set up the best possible Android development environment in Windows.

Here are the things that we need.

• JDK
• Android SDK
• IntelliJ IDEA
• Geny Motion + Virtualbox
• Most importantly, a good internet connection

 

 

Installation

JDK

Download and install the preferred JDK version from here.

Android SDK

Visit the Android SDK website to download the SDK.

You have a two options to install the SDK.

1. Download the SDK bundled with Eclipse IDE. But you still can bind it with another IDE.
2. Download the SDK alone where you have the freedom of binding it with any other IDE.

I prefer the 2nd option since we’re going to install IntelliJ.

Then download the needed package and install it. And open the SDK manager (in the installation location) and install the APIs for your requirement.

If you downloaded the ADT (Android Developer Tools) bundle, you straight away can start developing. Since we’re using IntelliJ, we need a bit more work.

IntelliJ IDEA

Go to the download page to download the community edition and install it.

After you install the IntelliJ IDEA, you can create a new Android project from File -> New Project. You may need to specify the JDK version and Android SDK path.

Now you’re ready. You simply can use the InjelliJ to do the coding and use the default emulator to run the apps. And that’s where the burden comes. I don’t have to tell you more how painful the Android emulator is. So Geny Motion is a cure.

GenyMotion + Virtual Box

GenyMotion is not actually a emulator, it is an interface to access an Android VM (hosted in Virtual Box). So it is super fast compared to the default emulator.

If you already have Virtualbox installed, you only need the GenyMotion. If you don’t have Virtualbox, you have to install the ready-to-run package. You have to register in order to download and these login credentials is needed to run GenyMotion.

Visit the download page and download the relevant package.

You also can download the IntelliJ and Eclipse plugins from there.

Then run GenyMotion. If it says that Virtualbox service is not running, simply run VirtualBox first and then run GenyMotion afterwards. (You have to login before you download a VM.)

Then select a VM and download it. And it’s ready. Run the VM and see the time it takes to start. 😉

Connecting IntelliJ with GenyMotion

Start IntelliJ. Get the plugins manager window from File -> Settings -> (under IDE settings) Plugins .

Install the downloaded GenyMotion plugin. (for more info, visit here)

Then goto GenyMotion settings via File -> Settings and select GenyMotion under IDE settings. Then locate GenyMotion installation location in there. Usually it is “C:\Program Files\Genymobile\Genymotion”.

Click  icon in the toolbar. (If the toolbar is not visible, enable it from View -> Toolbar).

You should be able see the GenyMotion Device Manager along with installed VMs list. Select the needed VM and start it.

Then in your project, add a “Android Application” configuration and select “show chooser dialog” in Target Device section.

Then hit on Run. Then you will be prompted to select the VM and you’ll see the running GenyMotion VM there.  Select that and click OK.

Tadaaa.. !! Now experience the super fast Android Emulator (or rather VM). 😀

 

References :

https://cloud.genymotion.com/page/doc/

http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html