You''ll said: Native? I tough that Android was Java. Actually no. Android is based on Linux and has of course a physical processor. Most implementations use ARM architecture, but not all.
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| Look at the 4 Delphi for Android default icons |
Every Android application is a Java application. Well, almost. The truth is that the entry point for an Android process must be in a Java application. This application may be minimal, just a simple class with the only role of loading the native code. Android for Delphi will create a shared object Library containing everything you coded in Delphi. This shared object will be loaded by a minimal application - included with Delphi - that will load the shared object. So what the user see is an normal Android application.
Everything is done transparently for you. You write your Delphi application the usual way, you hit F9, after compilation, Delphi automatically creates an APK (an Android Package Application) with all required files (manifest, resources, and the binary), Delphi deploy the application to your device using Platform Tools, and start it.
To deploy your application using Delphi, you must connect your device thru USB and enable USB debugging on it. You can also deploy the application thru GMail by sending a mail to the user which can then accept to install it on his device. No need to send your application to Android Play Store!
To do all this magic, Delphi for Android requires both the NDK and the SDK to be available on the developer machine. The SDK and NDK are free of charge from Google.
