Android CLI: Build Android apps 3x faster using any agent
by ingve on 4/16/2026, 6:39:59 PM
https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/04/build-android-apps-3x-faster-using-any-agent.html
Comments
by: anabis
The install command shown for Windows is 404.<p>`curl -fsSL <a href="https://dl.google.com/android/cli/latest/windows_x86_64/install.sh" rel="nofollow">https://dl.google.com/android/cli/latest/windows_x86_64/inst...</a> | bash`<p>The URL shown for individual OSs work, but the script errors for me.<p>`curl.exe -fsSL <a href="https://dl.google.com/android/cli/latest/windows_x86_64/install.cmd" rel="nofollow">https://dl.google.com/android/cli/latest/windows_x86_64/inst...</a> -o "%TEMP%\i.cmd" && "%TEMP%\i.cmd"`<p>I manually downloaded the exe, but it say socket error. vibe coding is going strong!
4/17/2026, 3:32:39 AM
by: Ciantic
`android docs` is the superpower we need for everything. NPM / pnpm should have similar `npm docs` that would allow humans and agents to search for type-signatures and JSDocs.<p>It is so annoying that each agent has its own ideas where it tries to get the docs, usually by blindly grepping.
4/17/2026, 9:54:22 AM
by: whstl
I wish the same thing existed for Apple.<p>Everything I do for macOS/iOS is already without Xcode but it's a pain in the ass to keep up with changes, and there are things I haven't figured out yet (like AUv3).
4/16/2026, 10:37:30 PM
by: hemc4
Wow. Thanks for this update. It streamlined a lot of tasks.<p>Apart from this, next step will be to add suport for building android apps on the android phones itself. No desktop needed.Building on the laptop with agents and installing the build in the phone and testing doea not seem AI native. If everything can run on my android phone, development cycle will speed up.
4/17/2026, 3:11:43 AM
by: sunaookami
>Google collects usage data for the Android CLI, such as commands, sub-commands, and flags used. This data does not include custom parameters or identifiable information. This information helps improve the tool and is collected in accordance with Google's Privacy Policy.<p>><a href="https://policies.google.com/privacy" rel="nofollow">https://policies.google.com/privacy</a><p>>Disable Android CLI metrics collection by using the --no-metrics flag.<p>No thanks, is there no env variable for this? Doesn't Google have enough data already?
4/16/2026, 8:57:38 PM
by: hansmayer
> 3x faster<p>Because the real bottleneck is really the velocity of development, right next to keeping the codebase small - right guys?
4/17/2026, 9:21:28 AM
by: rvillberg
This is a good step forward, but keep in mind the claimed gains are about "project and environment setup", not the tasks you deal with on a daily basis in an existing project.
4/17/2026, 3:36:38 AM
by: antirez
Let's see if even mid/big companies with tons of resources, with AI and the right tooling will continue to write webview-apps or, even worse, use some kind of multi target wrapper.
4/16/2026, 10:27:32 PM
by: wiseowise
Android Studio on its deathbed. Just release VSCode plugin and kill it for good, it has been a buggy, slow mess for the last 3 years or so.
4/17/2026, 6:58:05 AM
by: jadar
This is great. We also need a tool to expose source jars to agents so they don’t need to compress. There’s a lot of Compose overloads that Claude just guesses at. I built something internally but it needs polish and Claude really struggled with the deep Gradle integration.
4/17/2026, 3:16:55 AM
by: iririririr
> Your agents perform best when they have a lightweight, programmatic interface to interact with the Android SDK and development environment.<p>F you google. Me too. Why didn't we get a sane way to build android apps before you had to please chatbots?
4/16/2026, 9:38:19 PM
by: mridulmalpani
How can I use this official android skill with Claude code?<p>Is there any step by step process or guidance on it?
4/17/2026, 1:19:50 AM
by: Natfan
great! now let me know when your official app store transparently alerts users when an app they were using was sold to a third-party adtech surveillance company, please :)
4/17/2026, 8:55:48 AM
by: Evidlo
Now please let us install the apps just as easily
4/16/2026, 8:55:37 PM
by: OutOfHere
But can I publish an app without having to share my ID? I want an ecosystem that doesn't require it.
4/16/2026, 9:22:13 PM
by: miroljub
I must say I'm quite disappointed.<p>I expected something useful for application development. All it offers is some wrapper around the basic Android setup command that LLMs are already good at. What, initial empty project creation now takes 5 minutes instead of 10? Big deal, who cares?<p>I had another hope awakening that at least skills might be useful. But except for a few migration recipes, there's nothing of value for day to day Android development.<p>Facit: I'll skip installing another Google app whose only purpose is more spying on me and keep developing Android apps the way I already do.<p>TLDR: Nothing to see here. Move on.
4/17/2026, 8:41:00 AM
by: DeathArrow
Can we have a web development CLI with web development skills?
4/17/2026, 5:47:57 AM
by: user2722
Agents will allow human programmers to get what they've been begging for decades now: proper requirements and flexible, logical, tooling.
4/16/2026, 8:45:08 PM
by: hyhmrright
[dead]
4/17/2026, 3:30:26 AM
by: kevinten10
[dead]
4/17/2026, 2:31:07 AM
by: kdhaskjdhadjk
[flagged]
4/16/2026, 9:14:46 PM
by: winrid
Catching up to Flutter.
4/17/2026, 3:09:43 AM
by: agentifysh
Flutter CLI is what we really need but this is a welcome addition.
4/16/2026, 10:55:01 PM