Setting Up Android Studio & Your First App

What is Android Studio?

Android Studio is the official tool (an IDE — Integrated Development Environment) for building Android apps. It bundles everything you need: a code editor, the Android SDK (the libraries and tools), an emulator to test on a virtual phone, and the Gradle build system that turns your code into an installable app.

Installing it

1. Download Android Studio from the official Android developer website.
2. Run the installer and accept the default components (this includes the SDK and an emulator image).
3. Open it once and let it finish downloading the SDK — this can take a few minutes.

Creating your first project

1. Click New Project.
2. Choose Empty Views Activity (XML-based) for this course.
3. Set a Name (e.g. “MyFirstApp”), a package name (like com.yourname.myfirstapp, a unique ID for your app), and language Kotlin.
4. Pick a Minimum SDK — this is the oldest Android version you support. API 24 (Android 7.0) is a safe choice that still reaches almost every device.
5. Click Finish and wait for Gradle to build.

Running the app

You have two options:

• Emulator — open Device Manager, create a virtual phone, then press the green ▶ Run button.
• Real device (faster) — on your phone, enable Developer Options (tap “Build number” 7 times in Settings), turn on USB debugging, plug it in, and press Run.

What the starter code does

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)
    }
}

Line by line: MainActivity is your first screen. onCreate runs when the screen is created. setContentView(R.layout.activity_main) tells Android to draw the layout file activity_main.xml. R is an auto-generated class that gives every resource a unique ID.

Changing something

Open res/layout/activity_main.xml, find the TextView, and change its text:

<TextView
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="Welcome to my first app!" />

Press Run again and watch it update on the device.

Common setup problems

• “SDK not found” — open SDK Manager and install the latest SDK platform.
• Emulator is slow — enable hardware acceleration, or just use a real phone.
• Gradle sync failed — check your internet; Gradle downloads dependencies the first time.

Summary: Android Studio + the SDK + an emulator or phone is all you need. onCreate + setContentView draws your first screen. Run early and often.