How to create a simple app from C++ source code

Question

I have written a very basic program in C++. It only interacts with the user via text from the console.

How can I turn this into an app for my android phone? I just want to do the exact same thing, interact via boring text in a black screen (no graphs, no fancy interface, no nothing)

Is there a simple way to achieve that? I was told that I should translate my program into Java, and then go from there; is that the only way, or better, the simplest way?

As you tagged Android, here is the developer site (tools are free): developer.android.com — Richard Critten
– Richard Critten, Commented Mar 27, 2019 at 0:36

aschepler · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-27 00:57:05Z

1

As far as I know, you will need a Java UI even for "boring text in a black screen". (The project https://github.com/jraska/Console looks like it might help with that. But note I haven't used it, can't vouch for how it works, and might be mistaken about what it does.)

But you probably don't need to translate absolutely all your C++ code to Java. The official Android Developer page https://developer.android.com/studio/projects/add-native-code describes how to include C++ code into an Android app, using the Java Native Interface (JNI). You will need to provide interface functions using JNI so that the Java code can call the C++ functions. And you may need to generalize how your C++ code handles input and output, e.g. to use streams or strings instead of std::cin and std::cout directly.

answered Mar 27, 2019 at 0:57

aschepler

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2 Comments

Chris Stratton Over a year ago

No JNI is actually needed: a simple textual native executable can be wrapped in an Android Java terminal emulator app, and operate via normal methods like stdin/stdout etc. Using JNI is an option, but requires some awareness of the fact that the code is then a library of a process managed in... interesting ways - particularly one where process level state is strongly de-emphasized.

aschepler Over a year ago

@ChrisStratton Sounds like maybe you could write a better answer?

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