ADB

Android Debug Bridge (adb) comprises of a client that runs on developer box for instructing to a component that again runs on the developer box, which in turn communicates with a daemon that runs either on an emulator or a real device.

Anyones-Mac-mini:~ pmacharl$ adb devices
List of devices attached
00a219ae09d05912    device

This is one of the most important tools that I would recommend to spend time on. We will use ADB to communicate with the app on the emulator/real device, install app and many other features.

Below are some that I used extensively

• adb devices - lists all emulators and devices that can communicate with this adb server
• adb install <apk> - install apk on the one emulator/device that is available to the adb server
• adb install -e <serial_number> <apk> - install apk on a targeted emulator or device
• adb kill-server - kill adb server. I use this if the server is in an unstable state
• adb start-server - start adb server

It will be very beneficial to go over the complete list of options that adb provides, especially helps during troubleshooting. I would recommend the official page

We will use the above commands when we build-deploy-test CI pattern