Deploying your Python application to Android

Shyamnath Premnadh

Hi, there 👋

Shyamnath Premnadh aka Shyam
Qt for Python
Senior Software Engineer @ TQtc

Why is Android an important platform ?🦾

Is Python a good alternative for Java/Kotlin for Android development? 🤔

Currently, NO

Python 🚫 Android

No official support for Android in CPython
No native support for Python with Android SDK
The app should bundle the Python binaries

Python ❤️ Android

No official support for Android in CPython -
PEP 738: Adding Android as a supported platform - Malcolmn Smith
No native support for Python with Android SDK
The app should bundle the Python binaries

GUI frameworks with Android support

Kivy
Flet
PySide6
PyQt6
Toga

GUI frameworks with Android support

Kivy
Flet
PySide6
PyQt6
Toga

Contact Manager Application📱

Basic concepts of an app are tested. - A contact manager application involves various user interactions such as listing contacts, adding new contacts, and removing existing ones. This allows beginners to understand how user input is handled and how information is displayed on the user interface. - Contacts typically have a straightforward data structure, consisting of fields such as name, phone number, email, etc. Working with such a simple data model enables beginners to focus on learning the GUI framework without getting bogged down by complex data structures. - Interactions such as tapping on a contact to view details or selecting an option to delete a contact require event handling. Implementing these interactions provides beginners with hands-on experience in handling user events and responding to them appropriately. - A contact manager application often involves multiple screens for listing contacts, viewing contact details, and adding or editing contacts. This allows beginners to explore navigation patterns and layout management within the GUI framework.

Flet

Since 2023
Server-Driven UI framework based on Flutter
Minimal API - Fully in Python
Deploying as a web app on the browser or a progressive web app (PWA)

Contact Manager Application - Flet

Pros and Cons - Flet

Pros

More modern UI
Easy to get started with
Fully in Python
Minimal API, but hightly customizable
Cross-platform + WebAssembly
Active and responsive community

Cons

Still very new
Limited resources online
No visual designer
No hardware access
Not as mature as PySide6 and Kivy
No localization

Kivy

Since 2012
Two ways to create GUI
- Python code
- Kv language
More suited for games than traditional applications
KivyMD for Material Design

Contact Manager Application - Kivy

Pros and Cons - Kivy

Pros

Visual Designer - KivyMDBuilder
kv language is easy to learn
Both PySide6 and Flet uses `buildozer`
More modules than Flet
Active community

Cons

Need to learn a new language
Not as modern as Flet even with KivyMD
Not as mature as Qt
Not ideal for Desktop platforms
Limited resources as compared to PySide6
Incomplete API reference
Confusing Widget names. eg. Accordion

PySide6

Official bindings for the Qt framework (since 1995 😮)
Two ways to create GUIs
- Qt Widgets - Python and C++
- Qt Quick (Material Design) - QML and Python/C++
Visual Designers
- Qt Widgets - Qt Designer
- Qt Quick - Qt Design Studio