Mobile: Android

User Setup

Requirements

• Recent Android phone with the ability to side load custom APKs

Install Example / Side Load APK

To run the provided VHToolkit sample on an Android phone, the APK file (binary / executable) needs to be side loaded. The specifics are different for different phones. Broadly speaking:

• Download the VHToolkit APK from the Release page
• In your phone, enable Unknown Sources:
  • Go to your phone's Settings
  • Navigate to Apps (or Apps & notifications)
  • Find Special app access and then Install unknown apps
  • Select the app you'll use to open the APK (e.g., Chrome, My Files, Google Drive) and toggle Allow from this source.
• Locate and install the APK:
  • Open your phone's File Manager or Downloads app
  • Find the .apk file you downloaded and tap on it
  • Follow further instructions

Run Example

• Find and run the VHToolkit sample app from your phone
• Tap any of the Debug menu and UI elements as discussed in the Getting Started section

Known Issues

• The mobile app works best in Landscape mode; Portrait mode may have squished or rotated UI elements
• Not all (AI) services may be available

Developer Setup

Requirements

• Unity with Android Build Support, OpenJDK, Android SDK & NDK Tools installed
• Recent Android phone with the ability to side load custom APKs

Installation and Setup

• Turn on the Development mode in your phone. The specifics are different for different Android phones. It often is tapping the "Build number" in Settings > About phone seven times
• Inside Developer options, enable USB debugging.
• Connect your phone to your computer via a USB cable. When prompted, authorize the connection and allow file transfers.

Run Example

Initial Unity setup:

• Get the VHUnityURP project
• In File > Build Profiles:
  • Set the profile to Android and switch platform
  • Select your connected phone as the Run Device
• Open Scenes > SampleScene

There are two ways to run the scene:

• Play from the Editor, useful for real-time debugging:
  • Hit the Unity Play button at the top
• Build and deploy to the phone useful for testing the app running natively on the device:
  • File > Build Profiles > Build and Run
    • Note: Unity may warn about needing a higher Android API level; if so, click Update Android SDK
  • This will build the APK, deploy it to device, and run it automatically
  • Once deployed, it will stay on the device as any other app
  • Note that every time you rebuild the Unity project through Build and Run, it will automatically overwrite the APK on the device, even if you rename the APK itself