Building SDL2 for Android

First, a lot of information can be found in SDL2/README-android.txt.

The following offers simple walkthroughs to compile SDL Android apps.

Pre-requisites

• Install minimal Java environment. For instance, in Debian/Ubuntu:

  sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jdk ant

• Install NDK (tested with r9d)

• Install the latest SDK, run android and install API 12

Test 1: SDL wrapper for simple programs

• Compile a sample app (calls ndk-build):

   cd /usr/src/SDL2/build-scripts/
   ./androidbuild.sh org.libsdl.testgles ../test/testgles.c

• Follow the instructions to install on your device:

   cd /usr/src/SDL2/build/org.libsdl.testgles/
   ant debug install

Notes:

• triple taret armeabi/armeabi-v7a/x86 compilation!
• application doesn't quit

Test 2: SDL wrapper + SDL_image

First, modify showimage.c to show a simple embedded image (e.g. XPM).

To compile:

 cd /usr/src/SDL2/build-scripts/
 ./androidbuild.sh org.libsdl.showimage /usr/src/SDL2_image/showimage.c
 cd /usr/src/SDL2/build/org.libsdl.showimage/
 ln -s /usr/src/SDL2_image jni/
 ln -s /usr/src/SDL2_image/external/libwebp-0.3.0 jni/webp
 # - Edit jni/Android.mk
 #   LOCAL_SHARED_LIBRARIES := ... SDL2_image
 # - Edit android-project/src/org/libsdl/app/SDLActivity.java:
 #   System.loadLibrary("SDL2_image");
 # - Edit jni/Application.mk: remove x86 where jpeg-9 doesn't build
 ndk-build -j$(nproc)
 ant debug install

Notes:

• application doesn't restart properly