Chrome App Developer Tool for Mobile

The Chrome App Developer Tool for Mobile is a distribution of Apache Cordova App Harness that can run Chrome Apps. It is based on the plugins from the cca toolkit.

Installation

Using a Pre-Built Binary (Android only)

1. Enable USB debugging on your device (follow step 2 here).
2. Download an APK from here.
3. Run adb install ChromeAppDeveloperTool-debug.apk (of course, navigating to the appropriate directory first).

• Alternatively, download the .apk using your device's browser.

Building from Source (iOS or Android)

1. Clone this repository:

    git clone https://github.com/MobileChromeApps/chrome-app-developer-tool.git
   

2. Create a Chrome App Developer Tool project using createproject.sh. For instance:

    ./createproject.sh ChromeAppDevTool
   

You can get more info using ./createproject.sh --help.

Using the Chrome App Developer Tool

1. Run the Chrome App Developer Tool on a device or simulator.

2. Navigate to your app directory and deploy using the cca push --target=IP_ADDRESS command.

   Note: You can find more on cca here.

That's it—you're up and running!

Tips and Tricks

• Use cca push --watch to automatically refresh the app when a file is updated.
• Minimize the app using a two-finger double-tap.
• Deploying via USB:
  • Android: Use adb forward tcp:2424 tcp:2424, and then run cca push
  • iOS: Use python tcprelay.py 2424:2424 (available here), and then run cca push

Major Unimplemented Features

Suggestions are always welcome! :)

General

• Applying app settings (DisallowOverscroll, etc)
• Applying app splashscreen
• Applying app's whitelist

In-App Menu

• Inject a JSConsole script tag
• Initiate a weinre session
• Suggestions welcome! :)

Release Notes

v0.8.2 (August 28, 2014)

• Make createproject.sh delete output directory and rm andrew-create-project.sh
• Rename buildharness.sh -> build-android-release.sh
• Make createproject.sh work even when no dependencies are set up ahead of time
• createproject.sh: include ios by default when host=Darwin
• Remove xwalk as a package.json dep. Use the version within cca instead
• Update list of preloaded plugins
• Install plugins from registry when needed

v0.8.1 (July 11, 2014)

• Fix exception on second launch and stop using plugin whitelist
• Fix wrong path in createproject.sh (failed every time)
• Add ArrayBuffer.slice polyfill for Android pre-KK (#22)
• Update link to Chrome Dev Editor
• Fix line-breaking CSS in About page

v0.8.0 (June 25, 2014)

• Add chrome.alarms and org.apache.cordova.media plugins (mistakenly left out)
• Fix Android back button always quitting the app (now does what you'd expect)
• App now loads only the plugins that an app uses (instead of all installed plugins)
• Initial app push is now much faster for apps with lots of files
• First cut at "Details" and "About" pages
• Deleted notification bubble
• Fix apps not launching when you: push App A, then push App B, then push App A again

v0.7.1 (June 17, 2014)

• Fix crash on launch-after-backbutton (#13)

v0.7.0 (June 17, 2014)

• Speed improvements to initial app push (zippush endpoint)
• Implemented details & about page
• Minor UI tweaks

v0.6.0 (June 17, 2014)

• New name: Chrome App Developer Tool for Mobile
• Default WebView for Chrome Apps is now using Crosswalk, currently based on Chrome/36.0.1985.18
• Changed the Android Launch Mode to singleTop so that clicking icon from launcher doesn't restart the app unnecessarily
• Few updates to the set of plugins we bundle by default
• Fix "failed to start server" when you close the app and start it again
• Displayed IP address now updates when your device's IP changes
• Some minor UI updates

v0.5.1 (June 3, 2014)

• Now bundling all core Cordova plugins
• Use relative times for "last updated"
• Deleted in-app menu in favour of showing the main screen on double two-finger tap
• UI Overhaul

v0.5.0 (May 27, 2014)

• Harness server now written in JS using chrome.socket
• Supports incremental updates to apps for faster pushes
• Server now works on iOS
• Use two-finger double-tap to summon menu instead of three-finger swipe