Contribute to Android

Thanks for your interest in Android! Here are some ways that you can get involved and help us improve Android. For background on the Android project and our goals, check out Set up for Android Development.

Report bugs

One of the easiest and most effective ways you can help improve Android is to file bugs. For more information, visit Reporting bugs.

Note that we can't guarantee that any particular bug will be fixed in any particular release. To see what happens to your bug after you report it, read Life of a bug.

Develop apps

We created Android so that all developers can distribute their apps to users on an open platform. One of the best ways you can help Android is to write cool apps that users love!

To get started, visit developer.android.com. This site provides the information and tools you need to write apps for compatible Android devices, using the SDK.

Contribute to the code

Code is King. We'd love to review any changes that you submit, so check out the source, pick a bug or feature, and get coding. Note that the smaller and more targeted your patch submissions, the easier it is for us to review them.

You can get started with Android by learning about the Life of a patch, Git and Repo, and other tools using the links to the left. You can also view the activity on all contributions on our Gerrit server. Note that some portions of Android require that you submit patches to upstream projects. If you need help along the way, join our discussion groups.

Code styles

For best results when contributing code, follow the code style used in that subproject (section) of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). Most of Android is written in Java, so you should follow AOSP Java code style.

Some parts of AOSP are written in Kotlin, such as frameworks/base/packages/SystemUI/src/com/android/systemui/doze/util/BurnInHelper.kt. You may use Kotlin in areas of the platform already written in Kotlin. For more information about Kotlin in Android, see the Android developer Kotlin style guide and Kotlin-Java interop guide. For more extensive Kotlin guidance, see the Kotlin language site.

API guidelines

AOSP developers should understand and follow the Android API Guidelines when writing APIs. Use these guidelines to see the context behind Android's API decisions. Additions and modifications of platform APIs are validated by Metalava.