Buildozer
Buildozer is a development tool for turning Python
applications into binary packages ready for installation on any of a number of
platforms, including mobile devices.
The app developer provides a single "buildozer.spec" file, which describes the
application's requirements and settings, such as title and icons. Buildozer can
then create installable packages for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS and/or Linux.
Buildozer is managed by the Kivy Team. It relies
on its sibling projects:
python-for-android and
Kivy for iOS. It has features to make
building apps using the Kivy framework easier,
but it can be used independently - even with other GUI frameworks.
For Android, buildozer will automatically download and prepare the
build dependencies. For more information, see
Android SDK NDK Information.
[!NOTE]
This tool is unrelated to the online build service,
buildozer.io.
Installation
Buildozer
Installing Buildozer with target Python 3 (default):
Buildozer incorporates a number of technologies, and has a complicated
dependencies, including platform dependencies outside of Python.
This means installation is more than a simple pip install; many of our support
requests are related to missing dependencies.
So, it is important to follow the instructions carefully.
Please see the
Installation documentation
specific to this version.
Buildozer Docker image
A Dockerfile is available to use buildozer through a Docker environment.
docker build --tag=kivy/buildozer .
For macOS, build with:
docker buildx build --platform=linux/amd64 --tag=kivy/buildozer .
docker run --interactive --tty --rm \
--volume "$PWD":/home/user/hostcwd \
kivy/buildozer --version
Example Build with Caching
- Build and keep downloaded SDK and NDK in
~/.buildozer directory:
docker run --interactive --tty --rm \
--volume "$HOME/.buildozer":/home/user/.buildozer \
--volume "$PWD":/home/user/hostcwd \
kivy/buildozer android debug
The image is published to both Docker Hub and GitHub Container Registry and can be pulled from both:
docker pull kivy/buildozer:latest
docker pull ghcr.io/kivy/buildozer:latest
Buildozer GitHub action
Use ArtemSBulgakov/buildozer-action@v1
to build your packages automatically on push or pull request.
See full workflow example.
Usage
Usage:
buildozer [--profile <name>] [--verbose] [target] <command>...
buildozer --version
Available targets:
android Android target, based on python-for-android project
ios iOS target, based on kivy-ios project
Global commands (without target):
distclean Clean the whole Buildozer environment
help Show the Buildozer help
init Create an initial buildozer.spec in the current directory
serve Serve the bin directory via SimpleHTTPServer
setdefault Set the default command to run when no arguments are given
version Show the Buildozer version
Target commands:
clean Clean the target environment
update Update the target dependencies
debug Build the application in debug mode
release Build the application in release mode
deploy Deploy the application on the device
run Run the application on the device
serve Serve the bin directory via SimpleHTTPServer
Target "ios" commands:
list_identities List the available identities to use for signing.
xcode Open the xcode project.
Target "android" commands:
adb Run adb from the Android SDK. Args must come after --, or
use --alias to make an alias
logcat Show the log from the device
p4a Run p4a commands. Args must come after --, or use --alias
to make an alias
Examples of Buildozer commands
# buildozer target command
buildozer android clean
buildozer android update
buildozer android deploy
buildozer android debug
buildozer android release
# or all in one (compile in debug, deploy on device)
buildozer android debug deploy
# set the default command if nothing set
buildozer setdefault android debug deploy run
buildozer.spec
Run buildozer init to have a new buildozer.spec file copied into the current
working directory. Edit it before running your first build.
See buildozer/default.spec for the template.
Default config
You can override the value of any buildozer.spec config token by
setting an appropriate environment variable. These are all of the
form $SECTION_TOKEN, where SECTION is the config file section and
TOKEN is the config token to override. Dots are replaced by
underscores.
For example, here are some config tokens from the [app] section of the
config, along with the environment variables that would override them.
title -> $APP_TITLEpackage.name -> $APP_PACKAGE_NAMEp4a.source_dir -> $APP_P4A_SOURCE_DIR
License
Buildozer is MIT licensed, actively developed by a great
community and is supported by many projects managed by the
Kivy Organization.
Documentation
Documentation for this repository.
Support
Are you having trouble using Buildozer or any of its related projects in the Kivy
ecosystem?
Is there an error you don’t understand? Are you trying to figure out how to use
it? We have volunteers who can help!
The best channels to contact us for support are listed in the latest
Contact Us document.
Contributing
Buildozer is part of the Kivy ecosystem - a large group of
products used by many thousands of developers for free, but it
is built entirely by the contributions of volunteers. We welcome (and rely on)
users who want to give back to the community by contributing to the project.
Contributions can come in many forms. See the latest
Contribution Guidelines
for how you can help us.
Code of Conduct
In the interest of fostering an open and welcoming community, we as
contributors and maintainers need to ensure participation in our project and
our sister projects is a harassment-free and positive experience for everyone.
It is vital that all interaction is conducted in a manner conveying respect,
open-mindedness and gratitude.
Please consult the latest Code of Conduct.
Contributors
This project exists thanks to
all the people who contribute.
[Become a contributor].
Backers
Thank you to all of our backers!
🙏 [Become a backer]
Sponsors
Special thanks to
all of our sponsors, past and present.
Support this project by
[becoming a sponsor].
Here are our top current sponsors. Please click through to see their websites,
and support them as they support us.
