9 best Android 9 best Android Hardware Integration libraries in 2025

Android Hardware Integration Libraries are a set of modules that let you access some of Android's hardware features even when your app is running in a container.

The Android Hardware Integration Libraries are a set of Android packages that are designed to help you build apps that interact with hardware devices. usbSerial lets you read and write from USB devices attached to an Android device or emulator. For example, this library allows apps to host USB devices like webcams or MIDI keyboards. anbox provides access to the full Android API for all apps installed in an Android runtime environment, including the ability to create new activities and services. It also lets you share memory between the host system and runtime environment via shared memory buffers. CicadaPlayer is a library that allows you to play audio files on any Linux system without requiring root privileges. A few of the most popular open source Android Hardware Integration Libraries for developers are

anbox:  

• It is a compatibility layer that allows Android apps to run on Linux-based systems.  
• It makes use of Linux namespaces to run a complete Android machine in a container.  
• It provides Android apps on any GNU platform.

UsbSerial:  

• It is crucial for hardware integration when dealing with USB-connected serial devices.  
• It provides an interface to communicate with devices like Arduino boards, and sensors. It uses serial communication over USB.  
• It allows apps to establish a connection with USB serial devices. Those are like sending and receiving data.

CicadaPlayer:  

• CicadaPlayer is a C++ library used in Video and Video Utils applications.  
• It is the player core of AliPlayer. It supports many platforms for Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux, and for now.  
• The goal is to provide a player core. It supports multi-platform, hardware accelerator, customizable and extensible features.

Android-Camera2-Front-with-Face-Detection:  

• The Android Camera2 API with face detection is crucial for hardware integration.  
• It enables developers to leverage advanced camera functionalities in Android applications.  
• Face detection plays a significant role in security applications.

HardwareTest:  

• It plays a role in ensuring the reliability and functionality of hardware components.  
• It allows manufacturers and developers to perform systematic testing on various hardware elements.  
• This is essential for identifying and resolving any issues related to hardware integration.

android-hardware-test:  

• Mobile and Android applications use it.  
• It is for validating and ensuring the functioning of components on Android devices.  
• It includes tests for various hardware aspects. Those aspects are such as sensors, cameras, audio components, and more.

android-arch-old:  

• android-arch-old is a Kotlin library.  
• Programming Style uses it in Reactive Programming applications.  
• It is an application to report information about an Android device/ hardware.

android-device:  

• It is crucial for bridging the gap between Android software and hardware components.  
• Android devices rely on HIDL to communicate with the underlying hardware.  
• It ensures seamless integration and standardized interactions.

mediacodec:  

• It is a Java library used in Mobile and Android applications.  
• It is a crucial component for hardware-accelerated media processing.  
• It allows us to encode and decode streams using hardware codecs available on the device.

FAQ  

1. What is Android Hardware Integration?  

Android Hardware Integration involves utilizing Android's capabilities to interact with:  

• device hardware  
• including sensors  
• cameras  
• other peripherals.  

2. Which libraries do Android use for Hardware Integration?  

Popular libraries include Android Sensor API, Camera API, AudioRecord, and USB API. Additionally, developers may use third-party libraries like OpenCV for specific functionalities.  

3. How to access sensors using Android Sensor API?  

Use the SensorManager to get sensor instances and register a SensorEventListener. It is also used to handle sensor data updates through the onSensorChanged method.  

4. What are the key components of Android Camera API?  

Camera API involves configuring and managing camera parameters. It is also involved in handling camera previews and capturing images or videos. Key classes include Camera and SurfaceView for preview.  

5. How to handle audio recording in Android?  

Use AudioRecord for capturing audio data. Initialize it with audio parameters, start recording, and read data from the buffer.