Installing ADT on Aptana Studio 3

 Posted on July 31, 2012  |  3 minutes  |  Richard Fleming  |   10 comments

Since I got my Google Nexus in March, I found myself wanting to play with Android. All you hear these days is the benefits of creating apps for either the iPhone or for Android and I thought to myself that I would like to try.

So after a quick Google search I found myself on the Android SDK page where it didn’t take me long to spot Installing the SDK. I took a look at the instructions and saw that ADP requires Eclipse IDE. I thought to myself that since one of my favourite IDEs is Eclipse based, it would be a piece of cake. Installing ADT on Aptana Studio 3 is easy but requires a couple of extra steps.

To be successful in installing ADT on Aptana Studio 3 you need to meet one very important requirement first; the installation of the Java Developer Tools, or JDT. It seems they are pre-installed on Eclipse IDE, but not on Aptana Studio 3 (at least not 3.2 release I’m using).

But fear not my intrepid friends! Follow these brief instructions below and you’ll be up and developing your first Android app in no time!

Installing JDT into your workspace

  1. Start Aptana Studio, then select Help > Install New Software…
  2. Click on the Available Software Sites link near the Add button
  3. Select the checkbox next to Eclipse Indigo Update Site and click OK
  4. In the Available Software dialogue, change your site to the one enabled above
  5. Either search for Eclipse Java Development Tools or select the check-box next to it under Programming Languages and click Next
  6. Read and accept the license agreements, then click Finish

Once the installation has completed, and you’ve restarted your Aptana Studio Workspace, you can then go back to the Android SDK Installing the Eclipse plugin page and finish installing ADT on Aptana Studio 3.

Installing ADT on Aptana Studio 3

The following is directly from http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/installing-adt.html and is here strictly for reference. The instructions may have changed, so you’re best following along there.

Step 1: Downloading the ADT Plugin

  1. Start Eclipse, then select Help > Install New Software…
  2. Click Add, in the top-right corner.
  3. In the Add Repository dialog that appears, enter ADT Plugin for the Name and the following URL for the Location: https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/
  4. Click OK. If you have trouble acquiring the plugin, try using “http” in the Location URL, instead of “https” (https is preferred for security reasons).
  5. In the Available Software dialog, select the check-box next to Developer Tools and click Next.
  6. In the next window, you’ll see a list of the tools to be downloaded. Click Next.
  7. Read and accept the license agreements, then click Finish. If you get a security warning saying that the authenticity or validity of the software can’t be established, click OK.
  8. When the installation completes, restart Eclipse.

Step 2: Configuring the ADT Plugin

Once Eclipse restarts, you must specify the location of your Android SDK directory:

  1. In the Welcome to Android Development window that appears, select Use existing SDKs.
  2. Browse and select the location of the Android SDK directory you recently downloaded.
  3. Click Next.

Before I wrap this up, let me recommend going through the Android SDK tutorial Building Your First App. I found it a nice ice-breaker.

Happy coding!

ADT  Android  Android SDK  Aptana  Aptana Studio 3  JDK 

10 comments

Cedric Simon

I was fighting with Eclipse all the morning due to CMD+S issues and XML fields not being updated… Everything seems fine with Aptana, a big thank you for your explanations!

Flloyd

How I wish this worked for me. All I get is “Error while reading from repository: http://download.eclipse.org/releases/indigo/site.xml." or “This repository is not available”. I’m having similar problems with Eclipse, from the ADT bundle, which creates projects with no files at all, hence I’m trying Aptana. I have downloaded JDT separately, but being a newbie have no idea how to get them installed within the programs. Any suggestions would be most welcome. I’ve trawled Stackflow for days.

Richard Fleming

I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. I’ve just installed Aptana on a new machine and can see the Eclipse Indigo repository just fine.

What OS are you using? I saw something on Stack Overflow that shows this error on a Mac:

Rich

Flloyd

Thanks for responding, Richard. I found the source of the problem. It’s the Australian Tax Office website, who insist we download a security key called AUSkey. This interferes with Java on the OS (I’m on a Macbook Pro with OS X 10.8.4. I think it is partly caused by Apple’s upgrade that removed Java from the OS.

Anyway, apparently the only way to deal with it is to find the .jar file that causes the problem, remove it to somewhere safe so that it can be put back when needed to use the ATO website. I can’t find it, so I’ve uninstalled the Key, and will re-register online when I need to. What a Palaver!!!

Especially because the only reason I needed to register online was because Apple requires (probably at the ATO’s insistence) that to sell an app in the app store you have to be registered for GST, which requires online ATO registration. I have one such app, so I had to register, and now 10% of my pitiful earnings go to the ATO, as well as the tax I have to pay on what’s left as taxable income. Sorry for the whinge. But if you ever hear of anyone else with this problem, if they’re in Australia, this is what’s up. I’m now using Eclipse with no problems, so don’t need Aptana. Although perhaps it has advantages I don’t know about?

My app is called Being in Voice, it provides foundational voice training for speakers, singers et all, with quick and easy warmup programs. The iPhone/iPad version has been very well received by the voice coaching community, but Android users are agitating for their version, hence my attempts to learn how to make it for them.

Thanks again for responding, I appreciate your taking the time.

Cheers Flloyd