Running a Python application on an Android phone

Question

To develop an Android application using Python, I need to install Python for Android and SL4A on my computer for use with the Android emulator. My question is when I distribute this application to real users / phones, should phones get Python for Android and SL4A explicitly? Or is the supporting infrastructure built into Android devices? Or is there a way to package a Python application where users don’t need to get SL4A and Python for Android to run the application?

Answer 1

Your users must install SL4A and the language plugin (python?) On their phones, this is not built-in functionality.

Since the source code is available, you can create a combined application that includes your scripts and SL4A / python code, but, in my opinion, this primarily jeopardizes the purpose of the scripts.

Answer 2

Instructions for redistributing your script to work on devices other than your development are here:

http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/wiki/SharingScripts

You can wrap them in a template project and create a standalone apk.