Why must I Run my Android App to generate an APK file - android-studio

Question

I am using Android Studio 1.1.0 to build an APK for internal distribution in my company using AirWatch.
My understanding of how to build an APK is to go to the "Build==>Make Project". However, when I do that AS does not generate an APK. However, if I go to "Run==>Run App" then I do get an APK.
I fear I have something misconfigured in AS, as this is my first project.
Bryan
There are two.
Here is the first.
apply plugin: 'com.android.application'
android {
signingConfigs {
config {
keyAlias 'XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX'
keyPassword 'password'
storeFile file('PATH')
storePassword 'XXXXXX'
}
}
compileSdkVersion 21
buildToolsVersion "21.1.2"
defaultConfig {
applicationId "com.ACME.application"
minSdkVersion 15
targetSdkVersion 21
versionCode 1
versionName "1.0.0"
}
buildTypes {
release {
minifyEnabled false
proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
signingConfig signingConfigs.config
}
debug{
debuggable true
}
}
}
dependencies {
compile fileTree(include: ['*.jar'], dir: 'libs')
compile files('libs/commons-lang-2.3.jar')
compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:21.0.3'
compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:21.0.3'
compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:6.5.87'
compile files('src/main/assets/library-1.0.10.jar')
}
Here is the second.
// Top-level build file where you can add configuration options common to all sub-projects/modules.
buildscript {
repositories {
jcenter()
}
dependencies {
classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:1.0.0'
// NOTE: Do not place your application dependencies here; they belong
// in the individual module build.gradle files
}
}
allprojects {
repositories {
jcenter()
}
}

Answer 1

Seems like you are getting correct behavior from Android Studio.
You are correct that to build an APK, you can go to the "Build==>Make Project". When you "build" the project, you are just creating the APK, not installing it on any device or emulator. So you won't see your app 'running' anywhere after this step. Selecting this item in the GUI is the same as running the command line gradle build.
The APK is placed in this directory:
<Your root project folder>/<app name>/build/outputs/apk
You can then install this APK on a device using the command line, or by dragging and dropping the file onto an emulator.
When you go to "Run==>Run App" then you also get an APK. But you get even more! This apk is not only built, it is installed onto your connected device / emulator automatically for you. Selecting this item in the GUI is the same as running the two commands gradle build and adb install.