Unreal Engine (UE) uses Android Studio and the Android SDK Command-Line Tools to download and install the Android SDK components required to develop Android projects.
Installation Summary
To install Android SDK, follow these steps:
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Run Turnkey to automatically download and install the needed version of Android Studio.
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Configure the Android Studio installation to download the Android SDK Command-Line Tools.
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Close Android Studio and let Turnkey continue installing the needed Android SDK components.
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Reboot your computer.
These steps are explained in further detail in the sections below.
If you do not install Android SDK Command-Line Tools, Turnkey will fail to download Android NDK and other needed components. Make sure you do not miss this step!
Required Versions
The following are the required software components needed to develop Android projects in Unreal Engine:
After August 31, 2024, Google Play Store requires apps to target Android 14, which requires API level 34. To publish new apps on the Google Play Store after this date, you must update to UE 5.4.4 or newer for target SDK 34 support. Apps built with previous versions of UE will no longer submit successfully. For more information, see the Android documentation on Google Play's target API level requirement.
- Current UE Version: 5.5
- Android Studio Version: Koala 2024.1.2 August 29, 2024
- Android SDK:
- Recommended: SDK 34
- Minimum for compilation: SDK 34
- Default target SDK for shipping on devices: 34
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Minimum install SDK level: 26
Different stores have their own target SDK minimum requirements, which may differ from that mentioned above.
- NDK Version: r25b
- Build-tools: 34.0.0
- Java runtime: OpenJDK 17.0.6 2023-01-17
- AGDE v23.1.82+ required for AGDE debugging.
Required Setup
To use this installation guide, you must have an installation of Unreal Engine 5.4 or newer. The Android Turnkey installation process is not available in UE 5.3 or earlier. For installation instructions on those versions, see the Advanced Android Studio Setup Guide.
Run Turnkey to Begin Installing Android Studio
UE uses an Unreal Automation Tool script called Turnkey to distribute SDKs throughout teams. Normally, Turnkey requires you to put a platform's SDK installation files in a common location for your team. However, Android Studio is publicly available, therefore Turnkey can automatically download it and begin setup without any extra steps.
For more information about Turnkey, see the Turnkey documentation.
Run Turnkey From Unreal Editor
To run the Android Turnkey installation process from Unreal Editor, follow these steps:
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Open Unreal Editor.
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Click Platforms > Android > Install SDK.
Run Turnkey From a Command Line
To run the Android Turnkey installation process from a command line, follow these steps:
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Open your command line.
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Navigate to your Unreal Engine install directory and run the following command:
Commandline
RunUAT.bat Turnkey -Command=InstallSDK Platform=Android
Set Up Android Studio and Android Command-Line Tools
Regardless of which method you use to run Turnkey, it downloads Android Studio and automatically starts installation. However, before it can continue, you must go through the installation wizard yourself and download the Android SDK Command-Line Tools so that Turnkey can fetch the other components UE needs. To complete installation, follow these steps:
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When prompted to choose components, leave the default components enabled.
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When prompted to choose the install directory, use the default directory.
If you do not use the default install directory, Turnkey will not be able to find files needed in a later step. We strongly recommend keeping the default directory. To target a separate directory, see the advanced Android Studio setup guide.
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When the installation finishes, open Android Studio.
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In the Welcome to Android Studio dialog, click More Actions and click SDK Manager.
This opens the Android Studio Settings menu at Appearance and Behavior > System Settings > Android SDK.
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Click the SDK Tools tab.
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Check Android SDK Command-Line Tools (latest) and then click Apply. This downloads the Command-Line tools, which are needed to automatically configure Android Studio for UE.
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Click OK to close the Settings window, then close the Welcome to Android Studio dialog.
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Close Android Studio and return to either Unreal Editor or your command line.
Finalize and Verify Your SDK Setup
After you close Android Studio, Turnkey resumes downloading and installing other Android SDK components. Once the process is complete, a prompt appears telling you whether it succeeded.
To finalize the Android SDK installation and make sure it works correctly, follow these steps:
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Close Unreal Editor or your command line.
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To finalize your Android environment variables, log out of your machine and then log back in.
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Open Unreal Editor and click Platforms > Android. The allowed version and installed version of the SDK should match, and you should not see a button to install or repair Android SDK.
Troubleshooting
If you installed from a fresh system, the above steps should result in a working SDK setup. However, conflicts can arise from old environment variables and installations. For information on how to diagnose and fix specific issues preventing you from setting up Android SDK, see the advanced Android Studio setup guide.
