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Android Installation on macOS

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for setting up an Android testing environment on macOS. It includes installing Android Studio, Java 8 (JDK 1.8), and configuring essential environment variables such as JAVA_HOME and ANDROID_HOME to support Android development and testing using tools like Appium and ZeuZ.

Pre-requisites​

  • macOS (Catalina or a later version is recommended).
  • Homebrew must be installed (brew).
  • Terminal access with basic command-line knowledge is required.

Install Android Studio​

  1. Visit the official Android Studio website:
    👉 https://developer.android.com/studio
  2. Download and install the macOS version of Android Studio.
  3. Follow the setup wizard to install the Android SDK, SDK Tools, and Platform Tools.

Install Java 8 (JDK 1.8) on the macOS system​

Java 8 can be installed either from Oracle or through Homebrew.

Option A: Install Oracle JDK​

Option B: Install through Homebrew​

brew install openjdk@8

Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable​

  1. Open the terminal and run:
nano ~/.zshrc
  1. Add the following line (modify the version or folder name as necessary):
export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_xxx.jdk/Contents/Home
note

To find the installed JDK path, navigate to /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/, locate the appropriate folder, and then go to Contents/Home.

  1. Save and close the editor:
    Press Ctrl + X, then press Y, and finally press Enter.

Set the ANDROID_HOME variable and update the PATH environment variable accordingly​

In the same ~/.zshrc file, include the following lines:

# Android SDK Setup
export ANDROID_HOME=~/Library/Android/sdk
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools

Apply the changes by running the following command​

Run the following command to reload the shell configuration:

source ~/.zshrc

Verify the setup​

To confirm that the environment variables are set correctly:

echo $JAVA_HOME
echo $ANDROID_HOME

Valid paths for both the Java installation and Android SDK should be visible.

Setup complete. Environment is ready​

macOS is now configured to run Android tests using ZeuZ or other automation frameworks such as Appium.

Troubleshooting Tip​

If the setup does not function as expected:
Uninstall any previous installations of Appium, Android Studio, or SDKs. Remove all associated files and repeat the setup from scratch to avoid potential conflicts.