[Guide] How to run Android App on JingPad A1

Maxximo88 · November 22, 2021, 7:35am

Hi everybody,
this is a simple summary of Android compatibility technology and my personal suggestion.

The official tutorial made by JingLing is the following (please refer to it):

[Tutorial] JingPad A1 Android App Support Pre-Alpha Version Release No – JingOS

Install Android compatibility
With JingOS ARM v1.1.1 theAndroid App Support (JAAS) is integrated in the Repo, so you just need to install environmen & japm commands:

sudo apt-get install android-compatible-env
sudo apt-get install japm
sudo reboot

Old Guide for previous version of JingOS ARM

Old Guide for previous version of JingOS ARM
Please go the the following link and download all the packages in the “env-deb” folder:

AndroidCompat - Google 雲端硬碟

After downloaded, open the terminal and follow this order:
1:
sudo dpkg -i jappmanagerd_0.3+p20.04+git20211115.8469-0_arm64.deb
2:
sudo dpkg -i android-compatible-env_1.0.0+20211115-155_all.deb
3:
sudo dpkg -i libjapm_2.2.3+p20.04+git20211019.7813-0_arm64.deb
4:
sudo dpkg -i japm_2.2.3+p20.04+git20211019.7813-0_arm64.deb
5:
sudo reboot
After the reboot you are now able to install and run Android Apps.

Check if the service is working
systemctl status android-compatible-env

And, if it is not started:
systemctl start android-compatible-env

How to install Android APK
Installing Android apk is now really simple, but please remember it’s just a PRE-ALPHA release:
sudo japm install -i App_Name.apk

Example, if i have an apk called “com.facebook.katana_v344.0.0.34.116-308816234_Android-6.0” it will be:
sudo japm install -i com.facebook.katana_v344.0.0.34.116-308816234_Android-6.0.apk
So, yeah it’s better to RENAME the APK file.

Other commands:

Uninstall Android Apps:
sudo japm uninstall <package name>
List Android Apps:
sudo japm list -a
Purge Android App Support:
sudo apt purge android-compatible-env

Suggestions
Ok, due to pre-alpha stage, some features are missing, so don’t worry and just wait patiently.
In order to properly use some Apps, you have to input info using a Keyboard, so go to the following link and find a keyboard:

Find an Android Keyboard on APKMirror

Second point, you probably need to manage files under the Android apps (eg. open file for Office…), so find a good File Manager:

Find a good File Manager on APKMirror

In alternative, as said by @Codes4Fun, you can install F-Droid to simply find and download APK:

Aurora Store | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

Perfect, this is a “on the way” guide, I will update it as soon as new features will be released.

If you like my guide please click on <3

Codes4Fun · November 22, 2021, 4:23pm

I recommend installing Aurora Store for getting APKs directly from google servers without your own google account:

I worry about websites like APKMirror could be compromised with viruses/spyware/etc.

Aurora Store allows you to spoof different hardware, I tested different ones, I recommend one with API 27 like sirius Xiaomi. I am able to see a lot more apps with that one. To change that you need tap the top left icon next to “Aurora Store” title at the top, and tap “Spoof manager” and pick the one you want and then re-login with the anonymous account by going to “Accounts” on the same panel as “Spoof manager”.

On one rare occasion, I trouble logging in and restarting the JingPad fixed it.

Codes4Fun · November 22, 2021, 4:27pm

It’s nice to also have a launcher, they can allow you to uninstall apps installed with the store. I’ve tried out different ones and this is the one I’ve been using:

Another one is the nova launcher that you would need to get from the Aurora Store.

When you open any launcher (all the ones I tested), the screen will look messed up, but if you swipe up from the middle of the screen, a panel will slide up and reveal the installed apps. Long press an app, gives you options to either remove the app, or to look at info about the app which includes a button to remove it.

tonton · December 12, 2021, 12:44am

thanks @Maxximo88 and @Codes4Fun for the guide and tips !

When installing app from android (using fdroid aurora…), the .desktop shortcuts are not created in the jingos desktop, it is kind of annoying. You can use a launcher like said before.

You can also create a .desktop files from scratch, quite simple, here is how :

-use japm list command to find the package, its name is composed by identifier, then name of the app and version
-the identifier is “com.something” or things like that. Seems to stopped at the first space you encounter, followed by name and version
-create a new .desktop file in /usr/share/applications
-edit it with vim or nano by copying this and replacing things between <>

[Desktop Entry]  
Name=<Application Name>
Comment=Android application <Application Identifier> optionnal
Version=<version of the app>
Exec=<Application identifier>
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Icon=<icon path>
Categories=Android;

-then reboot to see the changes

Cheers

tonton · December 12, 2021, 5:46pm

Hi guys, I just wrote a little python script to add missing android app shortcut to jingos desktop

github.com

samytichadou/jingpad_a1_scripts/blob/main/jingpad_create_android_shortcuts.py

import subprocess
import os

def format_console_output(output):
    clean_output = output.replace("b'", "")
    list=[]
    for ent in clean_output.split(r"\n"):
        list.append(ent.strip())
    list.pop()
    return list

def get_android_apps_package():
    return format_console_output(str(subprocess.check_output(['japm', 'list'])))

def get_android_app_details():
    list=[]
    for package in get_android_apps_package():
        list.append(format_console_output(str(subprocess.check_output(['japm', 'show', package]))))
    return list

This file has been truncated. show original

The script will only create needed .desktop files in /usr/share/applications/ folder. By default, icon will be blank but you can add icons in /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/app/ folder, with the app_name.png . The output of the script gives you these details when you run it. To run it, you have to use the python interpreter, and get sudo privileges (sudo python3 script_path.py )

pierreantoine-cheron · December 15, 2021, 9:32am

To have the desktop icon when I download app from aurora, I stop the process after the download but before installation. Then I use an Android file manager (like amaze file manager, open source) to locate the APK in the android/data/aurora folder.
Because I don’t know if we can access the android filesystem from JingOs, I copy the APK file to my samba server, and the from JingOs I copy back the APK in local filesystem.
Then I install the file with the japm command.

Codes4Fun · December 15, 2021, 4:10pm

you can directly copy files as root. to find the files:

cd /opt/compatible/android/data-compat
sudo find -name '*.apk'

if prompted for password, it is your pin.

so for example, out of the results I see one from f-droid cache that I want:

./data/org.fdroid.fdroid/cache/apks/f-droid.org--1/com.simplemobiletools.notes.pro_88.apk

I then can copy to my home directory and change permissions of the file so I can do other stuff with it.

sudo cp ./data/org.fdroid.fdroid/cache/apks/f-droid.org--1/com.simplemobiletools.notes.pro_88.apk ~/
cd
sudo chmod a+rw com.simplemobiletools.notes.pro_88.apk

pierreantoine-cheron · December 15, 2021, 4:34pm

Thank you very much, it will be a lot faster