Can I Make Android App Using Python?

Android, Android Apps

Python is one of the most popular programming languages today, thanks to its simplicity and versatility. It’s widely used in various industries, such as data science, machine learning, web development, and more.

But can you use Python to create Android apps? The answer is yes! In this article, we’ll explore how to make Android apps using Python.

What is Kivy?

Kivy is an open-source Python library that helps developers build multi-touch applications for mobile devices and desktops. It’s a cross-platform framework that supports different operating systems like Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, and Android. Kivy uses OpenGL to create a highly interactive user interface and supports various input methods like mouse, keyboard, and touch.

Why use Kivy for Android app development?

Kivy has several advantages that make it an ideal choice for Android app development:

  • Open-source: Kivy is free to use and distribute under the MIT license.
  • Cross-platform: You can write code once and deploy it on multiple platforms without any changes.
  • Easy-to-learn: Kivy has a straightforward syntax that’s easy to understand even for beginners.
  • Interactive UI: Kivy supports multi-touch gestures like pinch-to-zoom and swipe.
  • Built-in widgets: Kivy has several pre-built UI widgets like buttons, labels, text input fields, etc., that you can use in your app.

How to install Kivy on your system?

Before you start building an Android app with Kivy, you need to install it on your system. Here are the steps:

  1. Install Python: Kivy requires Python 3.5 or higher. You can download and install Python from the official website (https://www.python.org/downloads/).
  2. Install Kivy: Open your terminal/command prompt and type the following command:
    pip install kivy
  3. Check the installation: To verify that Kivy is installed correctly, type the following command in your terminal:
    kivy --version

How to create an Android app using Kivy?

Now that you have installed Kivy on your system let’s create a simple Android app using Python. Here are the steps:

  1. Create a new project: Open your terminal/command prompt and type the following command to create a new project:
    kivy -m app myapp
  2. Edit the main.py file: Open the ‘myapp’ folder that was created in step one, locate the ‘main.py’ file and open it in your text editor. Replace the existing code with this code:
    
    from kivy.app import App
    from kivy.uix.label import Label
    
    class MyApp(App):
        def build(self):
            return Label(text="Hello, World!")
    
    if __name__ == "__main__":
        MyApp().run()
        
  3. Create an APK file: To create an APK file, go to the ‘myapp’ folder in your terminal/command prompt and type:
    buildozer android debug

The Bottom Line

Python is a versatile programming language that can be used to create Android apps using Kivy. Kivy is an open-source framework that makes it easy to build cross-platform applications that support multi-touch gestures and have interactive user interfaces.

With Kivy, you can write code once and deploy it on multiple platforms without any changes. So, if you’re looking to build an Android app using Python, give Kivy a try!