Using Android Studio's built-in Java on the command line in MacOS

Question

There's lots of info here (much obsolete) on installing Java on the mac, and getting Android Studio to use the right versions. But recent builds of Android Studio (2.2 and on?) provide their own Java, and for most Mac users, there's just no reason (or desire) to install a browser or command line Java anymore ... until you want to use any of the Studio's shell tools, and realize they're all in java, and the studio's Java is not integrated into the wonder that is java_home.

Obviously, your path vars need to be updated to include the Android SDK, and JAVA_HOME and JDK_HOME need to be set, but the actual details of doing so are thin on the ground.

So ... what are the correct paths and settings needed to simply use the Studio's embedded java and android tools in MacOS shells, instead of installing extra Java instances from Oracle?

Answer 1

Add this to your ~/.profile or similar:

# Use the JDK embedded with Android Studio 2020.3+ for command-line builds
export JAVA_HOME='/Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/jre/Contents/Home'

# (Use the next line instead for older Android Studio 2.2+)
#export JAVA_HOME='/Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/jre/jdk/Contents/Home'

Command-line builds via gradlew, and any other well-behaved script, will then use the version of the SDK that ships with Android Studio 2.2+.