tinker: A Java repository from Tencent

Tinker

Tinker is a hot-fix solution library for Android, it supports dex, library and resources update without reinstalling apk.

Getting started

Add tinker-gradle-plugin as a dependency in your main build.gradle in the root of your project:

buildscript {
    dependencies {
        classpath ('com.tencent.tinker:tinker-patch-gradle-plugin:1.9.1')
    }
}

Then you need to "apply" the plugin and add dependencies by adding the following lines to your app/build.gradle.

dependencies {
    //optional, help to generate the final application
    provided('com.tencent.tinker:tinker-android-anno:1.9.1')
    //tinker's main Android lib
    compile('com.tencent.tinker:tinker-android-lib:1.9.1')
}
...
...
apply plugin: 'com.tencent.tinker.patch'

If your app has a class that subclasses android.app.Application, then you need to modify that class, and move all its implements to SampleApplicationLike rather than Application:

-public class YourApplication extends Application {
+public class SampleApplicationLike extends DefaultApplicationLike {

Now you should change your Application class, make it a subclass of TinkerApplication. As you can see from its API, it is an abstract class that does not have a default constructor, so you must define a no-arg constructor:

public class SampleApplication extends TinkerApplication {
    public SampleApplication() {
      super(
        //tinkerFlags, which types is supported
        //dex only, library only, all support
        ShareConstants.TINKER_ENABLE_ALL,
        // This is passed as a string so the shell application does not
        // have a binary dependency on your ApplicationLifeCycle class.
        "tinker.sample.android.app.SampleApplicationLike");
    }
}

Use tinker-android-anno to generate your Application is recommended, you just need to add an annotation for your SampleApplicationLike class

@DefaultLifeCycle(
application = "tinker.sample.android.app.SampleApplication",             //application name to generate
flags = ShareConstants.TINKER_ENABLE_ALL)                                //tinkerFlags above
public class SampleApplicationLike extends DefaultApplicationLike

How to install tinker? learn more at the sample SampleApplicationLike.

For proguard, we have already made the proguard config automatic, and tinker will also generate the multiDex keep proguard file for you.

For more tinker configurations, learn more at the sample app/build.gradle.

Ark Support

How to run tinker on the Ark?

building patch

Just use the following command:

bash build_patch_dexdiff.sh old=xxx new=xxx

old indicates the absolute path of android apk(not compiled by Ark) with bugs
new indicates the absolute path of android apk(not compiled by Ark) with fixing

The patch file is packaged in APK.

compiling in Ark

TODO

At present it's compiled by Ark compiler team. The output patch is still packaged in APK format without signature.

packaging the patch

For tinker-cli, add the following lines to your tinker_config.xml. Otherwise, the default configure will be used.

<issue id="arkHot">
   <path value="arkHot"/>         // path of patch
   <name value="patch.apk"/>      // name of patch
</issue>

For gradle, add the following lines to your app/build.gradle. Otherwise, the default configure will be used.

ark {
   path = "arkHot"         // path of patch
   name = "patch.apk"      // name of patch
}

The patch is compiled by Ark and placed on the above path. all subsequent operations are same as tinker-cli or gradle.

The ultimated patch APK consists of two patch files:

classes.dex for android
patch.apk with so for Ark.

Tinker Known Issues

There are some issues which Tinker can't dynamic update.

Can't update AndroidManifest.xml, such as add Android Component.
Do not support some Samsung models with os version android-21.
Due to Google Play Developer Distribution Agreement, we can't dynamic update our apk.

Tinker Support

Any problem?

Learn more from tinker-sample-android.
Read the source code.
Read the wiki or FAQ for help.
Contact us for help.

Contributing

For more information about contributing issues or pull requests, see our Tinker Contributing Guide.

License

Tinker is under the BSD license. See the LICENSE file for details.

Tencent/tinker