Apko and the Google Play Services

Scenario:

You are building an Android image using Apko and need to include Google Play Services in the image. Google Play Services provide access to various Google APIs and services, which are essential for many Android apps.

Solution:

To include Google Play Services in your Apko image configuration, follow these steps:

1. First, ensure you have the necessary dependencies installed. You will need to add the Google Play Services repository to your Alpine image. Create a new file named google-services.yaml in the config/ directory with the following content:

name: google-services
version: latest
repo: https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/repository/google_services_repo-repo-x86_64-linux-3-x.tar.gz

2. Next, create a new file named app.yaml in the config/ directory with the following content:

name: my-app
version: 1.0.0

depends:
- google-services

run:
command: ["/bin/sh"]
args: ["-c", "echo 'Hello, World!'"]

services:
- google-play-services

This configuration file defines a new image named my-app that depends on the google-services repository and includes the google-play-services service.

3. Now, build your image using the updated configuration. Run the following command in the terminal:

apko build my-app

This command will build your image using the new configuration file, including Google Play Services.

Tests:

To verify that Google Play Services have been included in your image, you can run the following tests:

1. Check the image size:

du -h my-app.tar.gz

The size of the image should be larger than the previous image, as Google Play Services add additional dependencies and libraries.

2. Verify the presence of Google Play Services in the image:

tar xvf my-app.tar.gz -C my-app --wildcard '*/usr/lib/*google-play-services*'

This command extracts the contents of the image and searches for any files containing the string “google-play-services”. The presence of these files indicates that Google Play Services have been included in the image.

3. Test the functionality of Google Play Services by installing an app that depends on them. For example, you can install the Google Maps app using F-Droid:

apk add org.fdroidproject.fdroid.repository
apk add org.osmandroid.openmapsforge_map_factor

After installing the dependencies, you can install the Google Maps app:

apk add org.osmandroid.mapsforge_mapfactor

If Google Play Services are present in the image, the installation should succeed. You can then test the app to ensure it functions correctly.