android-empty-project

Empty Android project

Build a minimal Android project structure from scratch, supporting Kotlin/Java, Gradle Kotlin DSL (recommended), or Groovy, containing only one main Activity and the necessary resources.

Choose before creating

Option	Recommended	Description
Language	Kotlin	First choice for new projects; if Java is chosen, use the Java template below
Gradle	Kotlin DSL（.kts）	Default for new projects; for Groovy see reference.md

---

Directory structure (Kotlin + Kotlin DSL)

Create the project root directory at the target location (e.g. MyApp/), then create the files according to the following structure:

MyApp/
├── settings.gradle.kts
├── build.gradle.kts
├── gradle.properties
├── gradle/
│   └── wrapper/
│       ├── gradle-wrapper.properties
│       └── gradle-wrapper.jar
├── app/
│   ├── build.gradle.kts
│   ├── src/
│   │   └── main/
│   │       ├── AndroidManifest.xml
│   │       ├── java/com/example/myapp/
│   │       │   └── MainActivity.kt
│   │       └── res/
│   │           └── values/
│   │               └── strings.xml
│   └── proguard-rules.pro
├── gradlew
└── gradlew.bat

gradle-wrapper.jar Can be copied from an existing Android project, or use gradle wrapper to generate. Only the required source code and configuration are given below.

---

Root directory configuration

settings.gradle.kts

pluginManagement {
    repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
        gradlePluginPortal()
    }
}
dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositoriesMode.set(RepositoriesMode.FAIL_ON_PROJECT_REPOS)
    repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
    }
}
rootProject.name = "MyApp"
include(":app")

build.gradle.kts (root)

plugins {
    id("com.android.application") version "8.2.0" apply false
    id("org.jetbrains.kotlin.android") version "1.9.20" apply false
}

Version numbers can be upgraded as needed, keeping them compatible with AGP and Kotlin.

gradle.properties

android.useAndroidX=true
kotlin.code.style=official
org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx2048m -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8

---

app module

app/build.gradle.kts

plugins {
    id("com.android.application")
    id("org.jetbrains.kotlin.android")
}
android {
    namespace = "com.example.myapp"
    compileSdk = 34
    defaultConfig {
        applicationId = "com.example.myapp"
        minSdk = 24
        targetSdk = 34
        versionCode = 1
        versionName = "1.0"
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            isMinifyEnabled = false
            proguardFiles(
                getDefaultProguardFile("proguard-android-optimize.txt"),
                "proguard-rules.pro"
            )
        }
    }
    compileOptions {
        sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_17
        targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_17
    }
    kotlinOptions {
        jvmTarget = "17"
    }
}
dependencies {
    implementation("androidx.core:core-ktx:1.12.0")
    implementation("androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.6.1")
    implementation("com.google.android.material:material:1.11.0")
    implementation("androidx.constraintlayout:constraintlayout:2.1.4")
}

app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <application
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@android:drawable/sym_def_app_icon"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:roundIcon="@android:drawable/sym_def_app_icon"
        android:supportsRtl="true"
        android:theme="@style/Theme.MyApp">
        <activity
            android:name=".MainActivity"
            android:exported="true">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>
</manifest>

Note: When using AppCompatActivity , the theme must use the Theme.AppCompat series, and system themes such as Theme.Material.Light.NoActionBar。

app/src/main/java/com/example/myapp/MainActivity.kt

The package name is consistent with namespaceand the directory path.

package com.example.myapp

import android.os.Bundle
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1)
    }
}

If you need a custom layout: define it in res/layout/activity_main.xml ,setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)。

app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <string name="app_name">我的应用</string>
</resources>

app/src/main/res/values/themes.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <style name="Theme.MyApp" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.NoActionBar">
        <item name="colorPrimary">#3F51B5</item>
        <item name="colorPrimaryDark">#303F9F</item>
        <item name="colorAccent">#FF4081</item>
    </style>
</resources>

Description:

• Theme.AppCompat.Light.NoActionBar: Light theme, no ActionBar
• colorPrimary: Primary color
• colorPrimaryDark: Status bar color
• colorAccent: Accent color
• In AndroidManifest.xml use android:theme="@style/Theme.MyApp" to reference

app/proguard-rules.pro

Can be left empty or keep only comments:

# Add project specific ProGuard rules here.

---

Java version (optional)

If you choose Java：

1. app/build.gradle.kts remove id("org.jetbrains.kotlin.android"), do not configure kotlinOptions。
2. change MainActivity.kt to MainActivity.java, with the package name consistent with the directory:

package com.example.myapp;

import android.os.Bundle;
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1);
    }
}

1. Root build.gradle.kts the Kotlin plugin line can be removed.

---

Gradle Wrapper

If there is no gradlew / gradle/wrapper：

• Copy from another Android project gradle/wrapper/、gradlew、gradlew.bat, or
• run in the project root directory:gradle wrapper --gradle-version 8.2(Gradle must already be installed on the machine).

gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties Example:

distributionBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
distributionPath=wrapper/dists
distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-8.2-bin.zip
zipStoreBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
zipStorePath=wrapper/dists

---

Running and verification

1. Open the project root directory with Android Studio (select the one containing build.gradle.kts directory).
2. Sync Gradle (Sync Project with Gradle Files).
3. Connect a device or start an emulator, run app。

Command-line build:

./gradlew assembleDebug

APK output:app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk。

---

Additional notes

• Groovy version build.gradle For templates, custom themes and layouts, permissions and multi-module instructions see reference.md。
• When integrating SDKs such as maps/location, add dependencies in app/build.gradle.kts , and in AndroidManifest.xml declare the required permissions and components.