python: Learn How to Build Stunning apps with Kivy & Buildozer

If you are a Python enthusiast who wants to create mobile apps, Kivy and Buildozer are powerful tools that allow you to create Android apps without having to learn a new programming language. Kivy is a Python framework for building cross-platform apps, and Buildozer is an app that supports your Kivy apps for Android (and other platforms, with some modifications). This guide will walk you through the basics of creating an Android app using Kivy and Buildozer.

To begin, make sure you have everything installed correctly. Since Buildozer only works on Linux/Mac (or WSL on Windows), you may need to set up a Linux virtual machine or use the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) if you’re using Windows.

• Install Python (Kivy works best with Python 3.6 or higher).

• Install Kivy and buildozer using pip:

pip install kivy
pip install buildozer

You may need to install additional support depending on the OS. Follow the Buildozer documentation for more details.

Step 2: Create a Simple Kivy App

Let’s create a simple “Hello World” app using Kivy.

• Create a new folder for your project open terminal run:

mkdir MyKivyApp
cd MyKivyApp

• Create a Python file for your application. Make sure the app code must be in main.py file:

import application kivy.app
from kivy.uix.label import Label

class MyApp(App):
    def build(self):
        return Label(text = "Hello, World!")

if __name__ == "__main__":
MyApp().run()

This code generates a basic Kivy app that displays the “Hello, World!” on the screen.

Step 3: Start Buildozer

In the same directory as main.py, start Buildozer to create the necessary configuration files by simply on terminal and run the below command.

buildozer init

This will create a buildozer.spec file on your directory. This file contains the packaging settings for your application, such as application name, package name, version and requirements.

Open buildozer.spec in a text editor and make the following updates:

• Change the application name:
  name = My Kivy App

• Specify the package name (using the same configuration section):
  package.name = mykivyapp
  package.domain = org.example

• Add Kivy as required:
  requirements = python3, kivy

You can configure other settings, but these settings are enough to get you started.

It will be easy for you to debug app if you uncomment the logcat filter option too in buildozer.spec file

# (str) Android logcat filters to use
android.logcat_filters = *:S python:D

Step 4: Create the APK

Now that your buildozer.spec file is ready, you can build the application. Run the following command on your terminal:

buildozer -v android debug
Or
buildozer android debug

This command compiles your app into an APK file that you can install on your Android device. The first time you run this command, Buildozer will download all the required tools and dependencies, which may take some time.
Once installed, you will find the APK file in the directory/bin folder of your project folder.

Step 5: Install the APK on your Android device

Now you can transfer the APK file to your Android device and install it. If you have an Android device connected to your computer via USB in Developer Mode with USB Debugging enabled, then you can skip step 4 and use this command for auto APK run after successful execution.

buildozer android debug deploy run

if you are using logcat filter for debugging use this command for logcat filters.

buildozer android debug deploy run logcat

you can also install the APK directly from Buildozer:

buildozer android add speed

This command installs the APK on your device and runs the app automatically.

The APK file can be found in your current directory on bin folder.

Diagnosing common problems:

• Missing dependencies: If Buildozer reports missing dependencies, check the Buildozer documentation for the packages you need based on your Linux distribution.
• Java/Kotlin Errors: Make sure Java is installed in other Android SDK tools. Buildozer can install them automatically, but you can add them manually if needed.
• Permissions: If your app requires permissions (for example, camera or internet), add them to the buildozer.spec file under android.permissions section.