event-tracker/android

Event Tracker — Android (v1, minimal)

Touchscreen companion to the desktop GTK app. Reads/writes the exact same event,timestamp CSV format, so whatever syncs that file between your Linux box and your phone (FolderSync, DAVx5, etc.) is all the "syncing" this app needs to know about — it just reads a local file path on the phone.

v1 scope, on purpose: record buttons, today's totals, one simple bar. No stats popup, no renaming/adding events, no weekly/monthly charts — that's the desktop app's job. Once this actually builds and runs reliably, ask for v2 to bring those over.

Known limitation, be aware of it: FolderSync/DAVx5-style tools sync whole files, they don't merge CSV rows. If you log an event on both devices inside the same sync window, you'll likely get a conflicted duplicate file instead of one merged log — sync frequently, or avoid logging on both devices back-to-back.

1. Check what's already installed (read-only)

Run on the Linux machine you're building from (not the phone):

command -v buildozer && buildozer version 2>&1
command -v java && java -version 2>&1
archlinux-java status 2>&1
python3 -c "import cython; print('cython:', cython.__version__)" 2>&1

2. Install missing pieces

Arch / EndeavourOS:

sudo pacman -S --needed jdk17-openjdk

Gradle (pulled in by buildozer/p4a) needs a JDK it actually supports — jdk-openjdk on a rolling-release system tracks whatever's newest, and a too-new JDK breaks Gradle's build-script compiler with Unsupported class file major version …. jdk17-openjdk specifically, installed alongside whatever your system default is (archlinux-java status lists both — no need to switch the default). build.sh points this build at it via JAVA_HOME on its own; if archlinux-java status shows it under a different name on your machine, update JAVA_HOME_FOR_BUILD at the top of build.sh to match.

buildozer and cython go in an isolated venv, not system Python — see next step. (No pip install --break-system-packages; that pollutes the system Python site-packages for no reason when a venv does the job.)

3. Build

cd android
./setup-build-env.sh   # creates build/venv/, installs buildozer + cython into it — safe to re-run
./build.sh android debug

build.sh is a thin wrapper that just runs buildozer through the venv, so you don't have to remember to activate it each time. First run downloads the Android SDK/NDK (~1-2GB) automatically and can take 20-40+ minutes. Expect to troubleshoot at least once — this is normal for a first Android build, not a sign something's broken in this project specifically. Output lands at android/bin/eventtracker-0.1-arm64-v8a-debug.apk.

The Android SDK/NDK buildozer downloads land in ~/.buildozer regardless of the venv — that's normal, it's not Python tooling and isn't meant to be isolated the same way.

4. Install on the phone

Copy the .apk over (same sync tool, USB, whatever), enable "Install unknown apps" for the file manager you open it with, tap to install. No Play Store, no signing required for your own sideloaded debug build.

5. Grant storage permission

The permission prompt on first launch only covers legacy storage access. On Android 11+, you also need to manually grant broad file access, since the app needs to reach whatever arbitrary folder your sync tool uses:

Settings → Apps → Event Tracker → Permissions → Files and media → Allow management of all files.

(Exact wording varies by Android version/OEM.)

6. First launch

Tap Settings, enter the full path to event_log.csv on this device — check your sync app's own configuration for its local destination folder, since that's device- and setup-specific. Save. The record buttons work once a valid path is set.

Configuration

Tunables at the top of main.py:

Variable	Meaning
DEFAULT_EVENTS	Event list — must match the desktop app's config.json events to line up, since this v1 has no rename/add UI yet
COLOR_PALETTE	Bar colors per event, cycles by index
TIMESTAMP_FORMAT	Must match the desktop app's format exactly — same file, same parser

Planned (v2)

Not built yet, decided but deferred until this v1 is confirmed working on-device:

• Stats popup, event rename/add, weekly/monthly charts — same features as the desktop app's Settings/Stats & Trends.
• Auto-update check. On launch, hit Forgejo's GET /api/v1/repos/{owner}/{repo}/releases/latest, compare the tag to this app's version, and if newer, download the .apk asset and hand it to the system installer (REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES + a FileProvider
  • a pyjnius-fired install intent — you still tap "Install" once, Android doesn't allow a sideloaded app to silently replace itself). Decided: repo/releases stay private, so the app ships with a read-only token embedded to call the API. Acceptable for a personal, single-user tool — just worth remembering the token lives inside the APK if it's ever shared or the phone is lost. Use a token scoped to read-only access on this repo specifically, not a general account token.