Compared to the hassle of deploying your application on iOS devices, Android is a breeze. To deploy an application to a device, you merely have to set a few settings on the device. This is due to Android's openness in comparison to iOS. Android device debugging is turned off for most users, but it can be easily turned on by any developer that may wish to take a try at writing Android applications.
Begin by opening the Settings application. You may have to locate this by looking through all the applications on the device as follows:
- Scroll down and click on the section labeled Developer options.
- In the action bar at the top, you may have to toggle a switch to the ON position. This varies on each device.
- Scroll down and check USB Debugging.
- A warning confirmation will appear; click on OK.
The following screenshot shows what your device will look like during the process:
After enabling this option, all you have to do is plug in your device via USB and debug an Android application in Xamarin Studio. You will see your device listed in the Select Device dialog. Note that if you are on Windows or have a non standard device, you may have to visit your device vendor's website to install the drivers. Most Samsung and Nexus devices install their drivers automatically. On Android 4.3 and higher, there is also a confirmation dialog on the device that appears before beginning a USB debugging session.
The following screenshot shows what your device will look like for a Samsung Galaxy SII in the Select Device dialog. Xamarin Studio will display the model number, which is not always a name that you may recognize. You can view this model number in your device's settings.
