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JARC-APK

The goal of this project is to create a simple and portable APK builder for ARC and ARChon. The current builder is horribly clunky to even try to get installed. This is meant for the average person to just download the apk, set their options, and go.

Command line options:

(Bold arguments are required)

Argument Description
-i Full path to the input file / apk
-o Full path to the output directory
-n Name of the app. Default is the package name
-e Enable ADB support. (You do not need "true", only -e) Default is false
-f Form factor. Either phone or tablet. Default is phone
-r Orientation. Either landscape or portrait. Default is portrait
-k Key number to use. Any number 1 - 4. Default is 0

Important Notes:

  • You will most likely need a special version of Chrome called Chrome Canary for the time being if you are using ARChon.
  • Use the 32 bit version of ARChon if you are using regular Chrome regardless of your actual processor architecture. Use the 64 bit version for Chrome Canary
  • JRE 7 or later is required to run this application.
  • If you have any issues clicking the build button, especially on OS X, try building it yourself from the source. BlueJ packages are included in the source, so you can just open it, add the apk-parser library, then compile and build.

Instructions:

1 . Chrome OS Users: You must download one or more of the newly released Android apps available on the store. They are all currently on the featured ticker, so they should be easy to find. The apps are:

After installing them, you will receive the appropriate runtime that is needed.

UPDATE: Since ARM binaries of ARChon have been released, you can use that if you can't get online or want to be able to have an unlimited number of (unpinnable) apps.

Chrome Browser / ARChon Users:

Follow the instructions for installing ARChon.

2 . Grab your APK file off of the play store by using something like this

3 . Create a new directory somewhere to store your converted apps

4 . Launch JARC-APK

5 . Select which platform you which to build for, your replacement app slot (if you're using Chrome OS), resolution options, and the APK file you wish to use.

6 . Press Build. If all is well, it will prompt you for a location to save your converted folder in. The process will take a few seconds to complete. If it was not possible to automatically get the package name, you must enter it yourself. This is given in the application's URL on the Play Store, after the part where it says ?id. For example, if the url is:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app.vodio&hl=en

then the package name is:

com.app.vodio

7 . Load up chrome://extensions and load your unpacked extension. Press launch and you're done. If you get a "missing or invalid manifest" error, you chose the wrong directory. Go as deep as you can without hitting any files.

Credits:

Vladikoff for the original chromeOS-apk and template file.

Joakime for the Java APK parsing library.

License info is available in the appropriate files.