Bitcoin Core Android QML GUI

This guide will walk you through the steps to build Bitcoin Core QML APKs using WSL Ubuntu 22.04 on Windows 11.

Prerequisites

1. Install WSL Ubuntu 22.04 on Windows 11. You can find a comprehensive guide here.

Installation Steps

Step 1: Update WSL Ubuntu 22.04

After installing Ubuntu, run the following commands to update it:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Step 2: Install Bitcoin Core Dependencies

Next, install the necessary Bitcoin Core dependencies with the following commands:

sudo apt install build-essential libtool autotools-dev automake pkg-config bsdmainutils curl git

Also install the QML specific dependencies:

sudo apt install qtdeclarative5-dev qtquickcontrols2-5-dev

Step 3: Install Android Studio

Follow the instructions below to install Android Studio and Android NDK on your system:

1. Install OpenJDK-11-JDK:

   sudo apt install openjdk-11-jdk

2. Verify the installation by checking the java version:

   java --version

3. Install Android Studio using Snap:

   sudo snap install android-studio --classic

4. Run Android Studio:

   android-studio

You can also follow the full installation guide for Android Studio and Android NDK here.

Step 4: Install Android NDK

To install Android NDK:

1. With a project open in Android Studio, click Tools > SDK Manager.
2. Click the SDK Tools tab.
3. Select the NDK (Side by side) and CMake checkboxes.
4. Click OK.
5. A dialog box will tell you how much space the NDK package consumes on disk.
6. Click OK.
7. When the installation is complete, click Finish.

You can find the full guide here.

Step 5: Check Android Device Architecture

Before you proceed, ensure you check your Android Device's hardware architecture. Use usbip and adb for this. Detailed guide can be found here.

1. Connect your Android device to your PC and enable USB debugging in Developer Options.

2. Once usbip is installed, list all USB devices connected to your PC by running the following command as Administrator in cmd:

   usbipd wsl list

3. Note down the BUSID of the device you want to connect to WSL. Then run the following command, replacing <busid> with the BUSID of your device:

   usbipd wsl attach --busid <busid>

4. Install adb:

   sudo apt install adb

5. Check the hardware architecture of your device:

   adb shell getprop ro.product.cpu.abi

6. Note down the architecture (arm64-v8a, armeabi-v7a, x86_64, x86).

Step 6: Install Gradle

1. Download Gradle 6.6.1:

   VERSION=6.6.1
   wget https://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-${VERSION}-bin.zip -P /tmp

2. Extract the file:

   sudo unzip -d /opt/gradle /tmp/gradle-${VERSION}-bin.zip

3. Set environment variables:

   sudo nano /etc/profile.d/gradle.sh

4. Add the following lines to the file:

   export GRADLE_HOME=/opt/gradle/gradle-${VERSION}
   export PATH=${GRADLE_HOME}/bin:${PATH}

5. Change the permissions:

   sudo chmod +x /etc/profile.d/gradle.sh

6. Load the environment variables:

   source /etc/profile.d/gradle.sh

7. Verify the installation by checking the Gradle version:

   gradle -v

You can follow the full guide to install Gradle here.

Step 7: Build APKs

Before building the APKs, run the following commands:

PATH=$(echo "$PATH" | sed -e 's/:\/mnt.*//g') # strip out problematic Windows %PATH% imported var
sudo bash -c "echo 0 > /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/status" # Disable WSL support for Win32 applications.

More details on this step can be found here.

Now, you can build the APKs using the guide found here.

if you get an error like this:

global/qlogging:1296:13 n = backtrace(...

find the file qlogging.cpp (depends/.../work/.../global/) then you need to edit the function with the follwing:

static QStringList backtraceFramesForLogMessage(int frameCount)
{
    QStringList result;
    if (frameCount == 0)
        return result;

#ifdef Q_OS_ANDROID
    result.append(QStringLiteral("Stack trace generation not supported on Android."));
#else
    // existing code here...
#endif

    return result;
}

Also make sure to add the ANDROID_HOME variable to your .bashrc file:

nano ~/.bashrc

then add the following line to the end of the file:

export ANDROID_HOME=/home/<username>/Android/Sdk
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/tools:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools

Once the APKs are built, install the debug version on your connected device using the following command from within the qt directory:

adb install -r android/build/outputs/apk/debug/android-debug.apk