Press kit
Everything you need to write about Pocket Studio accurately. If something here is unclear or you want a claim verified, just ask — that's preferable to guessing.
The short version
Pocket Studio is a full Android IDE that runs on the phone itself. Gradle, an OpenJDK runtime, the Android Gradle Plugin, the Kotlin compiler, language servers and a JDWP debugger all run as native processes on the device — with no emulation layer and no cloud build farm — so a developer can open a real Gradle project, edit it with real code intelligence, and produce an installable, signed APK without a computer.
One-liner
An Android IDE that runs on your phone and builds real APKs on-device.
Facts
| Product | Pocket Studio |
|---|---|
| Play listing name | Pocket Studio IDE for Android |
| Maker | NativeWorks, an independent studio |
| Website | nativeworks.app |
| Platform | Android 8.0+, arm64 devices |
| Price | Free tier plus paid subscriptions via Google Play |
| Contact | nativeworksapp@gmail.com |
The angle worth writing about
Not "an IDE on a phone" — that framing undersells it. The interesting story is the constraint:
Android won't let an app execute a binary from its own storage, and it kills foreground apps under memory pressure. Here's what it took to run Gradle anyway.
The how it works page covers the specifics: the argv[0] launcher masquerade that gets around the exec restriction, build-tools compiled from AOSP source because arm64 builds didn't exist above a certain version, and the two-layer defence against the low-memory killer.
Logo
The mark is a code-bracket glyph in green on a dark tile. Please use it unmodified — don't recolour it, stretch it, or add effects — and keep clear space around it equal to the rounding radius.
Screenshots
Product screenshots are being prepared for the store listing and will be added here. In the meantime, email for anything you need — including a build to try yourself.
What not to write
A few corrections that get made often enough to list up front:
- It doesn't build in the cloud. Compilation happens on the device. (Builds do need a network connection, but only to check a build permit.)
- It isn't a Linux container or a terminal emulator running a desktop IDE. The toolchain runs as native Android processes.
- The bundled runtime is OpenJDK, independently built — not Oracle Java SE, and no Java SE compatibility is claimed.
- It is not affiliated with Google, and it is not related to Google's own Android developer tools.
- It doesn't require root.