Unreal Engine 5.7 Android Packaging & APK Build Tutorial | Meta Quest & HTC VIVE Standalone

Let’s cut the noise. You want quick, clean, and painless Unreal Engine APK builds and packaging? You’re in the right place.

A while back, I released two videos: one on deploying Unreal Engine projects to Android and Meta Quest, and another on enabling proper hand-tracking using the Meta XR Plugin and HTC VIVE OpenXR plugins. I also tackled a frustrating issue on HTC VIVE devices, where APKs were launching as 2D apps instead of immersive VR experiences.

That first video blew up; it became one of my best-performing uploads to this date, with tons of positive feedback. But one thing stood out in the comments: Unreal developers everywhere are struggling to set up the Android development environment and package APKs correctly.

So, back by demand, and with something even better, welcome to the Ultimate Guide for deploying Unreal Engine projects to Android standalone-mode.

This video combines everything from the previous tutorials; refined, updated, and streamlined. And to make things even easier, I’ve just open-sourced a brand-new one-click installer that sets up your entire Android development environment for Unreal Engine automagically. It downloads, installs, and configures Android Studio, SDK, NDK, and JDK, so you don’t have to lift even a finger.

Whether you’re building for Meta Quest or HTC VIVE, this guide takes you from zero to packaged APK, with full VR support, working hand-tracking, and seamless integration of both Meta XR and HTC VIVE OpenXR plugins.

Let’s dive in.

The Video Tutorial

Unreal Engine Android Development Environment One-Click Installer

Get the installer’s source code on:

• GitHub
• GitLab

Manual Android Development Environment Setup

Prefer to set things up manually instead of using the one-click installer provided in this tutorial? No problem.

You can follow the detailed steps from the previous tutorial, which walks through the entire process, particularly the sections below:

• 00:08:03 - 00:25:53 Prerequisites (Android Studio)
• 00:25:54 - 00:27:13 Prerequisites (JDK)
• 00:27:14 - 00:32:47 Prerequisites (SetupAndroid.bat)

Note Regarding Engines Built From Source

As explained in my earlier tutorials on Building Unreal Engine 5.6 From the GitHub Source Code on Microsoft Windows and Building Unreal Engine 5.6 From the GitHub Source Code on GNU/Linux With Android Support you have to setup your Android build environmnet before even attempting to setup the engine for building from source. Once done you can start building your own Unreal Engine from source.

Microsot Visual Studio Installer Configuration File

This is the Microsot Visual Studio Installer configuration file that automatically selects and installs all the required components needed by various versions of Unreal Engine including 5.7.

Plugins

• Meta XR Unreal Engine 5 Integration Plugin: Not required; only required if you need XR_EXT_hand_tracking support in Android standalone mode on Meta Quest devices.
• HTC VIVE OpenXR Unreal Engine Plugin: Required only if you are deploying to HTC VIVE devices and need your application to get recognized as an immersive VR experience rather than running as a 2D app. It also provides, hand-tracking support in standalone mode.

Android Project Settings

UE 5.7 Android Project Settings

UE 5.7 SetupAndroid.bat

rem hardcoded versions for compatibility with non-Turnkey manual running
if "%PLATFORMS_VERSION%" == "" SET PLATFORMS_VERSION=android-34
if "%BUILDTOOLS_VERSION%" == "" SET BUILDTOOLS_VERSION=35.0.1
if "%CMAKE_VERSION%" == "" SET CMAKE_VERSION=3.22.1
if "%NDK_VERSION%" == "" SET NDK_VERSION=27.2.12479018

UE 5.7 Android Development Requirements

At the time of this writing the official documentation for UE 5.7 Android Development Requirements has not been updated yet and matches exactly of those for UE 5.6.1.

UE 5.6 Android Project Settings

UE 5.6 SetupAndroid.bat

Original 5.6.0 SetupAndroid.bat:

rem hardcoded versions for compatibility with non-Turnkey manual running
if "%PLATFORMS_VERSION%" == "" SET PLATFORMS_VERSION=android-34
if "%BUILDTOOLS_VERSION%" == "" SET BUILDTOOLS_VERSION=34.0.0
if "%CMAKE_VERSION%" == "" SET CMAKE_VERSION=3.22.1
if "%NDK_VERSION%" == "" SET NDK_VERSION=25.1.8937393

Updated 5.6.1 SetupAndroid.bat:

rem hardcoded versions for compatibility with non-Turnkey manual running
if "%PLATFORMS_VERSION%" == "" SET PLATFORMS_VERSION=android-34
if "%BUILDTOOLS_VERSION%" == "" SET BUILDTOOLS_VERSION=35.0.1
if "%CMAKE_VERSION%" == "" SET CMAKE_VERSION=3.22.1
if "%NDK_VERSION%" == "" SET NDK_VERSION=27.2.12479018

UE 5.6 Android Development Requirements

⚠️ Since August 31, 2024, Google Play Store requires apps to target Android 14, which requires API level 34. To publish new apps on the Google Play Store, you must update to UE 5.4.4 or newer for target SDK 34 support. Apps built with previous versions of UE will no longer submit successfully. 

For more information, see the Android documentation on Google Play's target API level requirement.

• Current UE Version: 5.6
• Android Studio Version: Koala 2024.1.2 August 29, 2024
• Android SDK:
  • Recommended: SDK 34
  • Minimum for compilation: SDK 34
  • Default target SDK for shipping on devices: 34
  • Minimum install SDK level: 26

ℹ️ Different stores have their own target SDK minimum requirements, which may differ from that mentioned above.

• NDK Version: r25b
• Build-tools: 34.0.0
• Java runtime: OpenJDK 21.0.3 2024-04-16
• AGDE v23.2.91+ required for AGDE debugging.

📌 Note: Please note that the official documentation for UE 5.6.x is outdated, as this commit, which has been released as part of 5.6.1 has bumped the recommended NDK Version to 27.2.12479018 and Build-tools to 35.0.1. That’s why always it’s always the best idea to check the Engine/Extras/Android/SetupAndroid.bat shipped with your engine installation for optimal and correct values.

UE 5.5 Android Project Settings

UE 5.5 SetupAndroid.bat

rem hardcoded versions for compatibility with non-Turnkey manual running
if "%PLATFORMS_VERSION%" == "" SET PLATFORMS_VERSION=android-34
if "%BUILDTOOLS_VERSION%" == "" SET BUILDTOOLS_VERSION=34.0.0
if "%CMAKE_VERSION%" == "" SET CMAKE_VERSION=3.22.1
if "%NDK_VERSION%" == "" SET NDK_VERSION=25.1.8937393

UE 5.5 Android Development Requirements

⚠️ After August 31, 2024, Google Play Store requires apps to target Android 14, which requires API level 34. To publish new apps on the Google Play Store after this date, you must update to UE 5.4.4 or newer for target SDK 34 support. Apps built with previous versions of UE will no longer submit successfully. For more information, see the Android documentation on Google Play's target API level requirement.

• Current UE Version: 5.5
• Android Studio Version: Koala 2024.1.2 August 29, 2024
• Android SDK:
  • Recommended: SDK 34
  • Minimum for compilation: SDK 34
  • Default target SDK for shipping on devices: 34
  • Minimum install SDK level: 26

Different stores have their own target SDK minimum requirements, which may differ from that mentioned above.

• NDK Version: r25b
• Build-tools: 34.0.0
• Java runtime: OpenJDK 17.0.6 2023-01-17
• AGDE v23.1.82+ required for AGDE debugging.

UE 5.4 Android Project Settings

UE 5.4 SetupAndroid.bat

rem hardcoded versions for compatibility with non-Turnkey manual running
if "%PLATFORMS_VERSION%" == "" SET PLATFORMS_VERSION=android-33
if "%BUILDTOOLS_VERSION%" == "" SET BUILDTOOLS_VERSION=33.0.1
if "%CMAKE_VERSION%" == "" SET CMAKE_VERSION=3.22.1
if "%NDK_VERSION%" == "" SET NDK_VERSION=25.1.8937393

UE 5.4 Android Development Requirements

⚠️ After August 31, 2024, Google Play Store requires apps to target Android 14, which requires API level 34. To publish new apps on the Google Play Store after this date, you must update to UE 5.4.4 for target SDK 34 support. Apps built with previous versions of UE will no longer submit successfully. For more information, see the Android documentation on Google Play's target API level requirement.

• Current UE Version: 5.4.4
• Android Studio Version: Flamingo 2022.2.1 Patch 2 May 24, 2023
• Android SDK:
  • Recommended: SDK 34
  • Minimum for compilation: SDK 34
  • Minimum SDK for shipping on devices: 26

Different stores have their own target SDK minimum requirements, which may differ from that mentioned above.

• NDK Version: r25b
• Build-tools: 34.0.0
• Java runtime: OpenJDK 17.0.6 2023-01-17
• AGDE v23.1.82+ required for AGDE debugging.