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Android Emulator Setup

This guide is written for and tested on MacOS 26.5.1. Setup on other systems should work similar, but Android SDK paths might be different.

Step 1: Java​

  1. To build the app you need to have Java 17 available on your system
  2. If you have sdkman installed you can install it by running sdk install java 17.0.19-tem
  3. Confirm that java is available by running java --version
    1. It should show something similar to
    openjdk 17.0.19 2026-04-21
    OpenJDK Runtime Environment Temurin-17.0.19+10 (build 17.0.19+10)
    OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM Temurin-17.0.19+10 (build 17.0.19+10, mixed mode, sharing)

Step 2: Download and Install Android Studio​

  1. Go to the official Android Studio Download page and download the installer
  2. Open the downloaded .dmg file and drag Android Studio into your Applications folder
  3. Open Android Studio from your Applications.
  4. Follow the Android Studio Setup Wizard instructions. This will download and install the mandatory Android SDK, platform tools, and emulator utilities

Step 3: Add Android Studio to your path​

  1. Add
export ANDROID_HOME=$HOME/Library/Android/sdk
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/emulator
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools

to your .zshrc file or similar and restart the terminal. In case you can't find the .zshrc in your home folder, enable the display of hidden files by pressing Command (⌘) + Shift + Period (.)

Step 4: Create an Android Virtual Device (AVD)​

  1. On the Android Studio welcome screen, click on More Actions and select Virtual Device Manager (sometimes called AVD Manager)
  2. Click the Create virtual device button
  3. Select Hardware: Choose a device profile (for example, Pixel 8 or Pixel 7). Make sure to choose a profile that displays the Google Play Store icon if you want access to Google Play Services. Click Next
  4. Select System Image:
    • Choose an Android version (e.g., API 34 / Android 14.0)
    • Crucial for Apple Silicon Macs: Select the Arm64 (or arm64-v8a) system image for native performance.
    • For Intel Macs: Select the x86_64 system image.
  5. Click Finish and download the image.

Step 5: Create the Android Build​

  1. Run npx arc s -p app -n android -e local in the root folder of the repository to create the android build.
    • Make sure to select the tenant you require
  2. The first build will take a while
  3. Once the build is completed the app is installed automatically in the emulator and opened