Set doNotStrip packagingOptions to a specific buildType

Question

My project has 3 different buildTypes and I need only one of them to keep the debug info of its native libraries. I'm using com.android.tools.build:gradle:3.1.4.

I tried the following

buildTypes {

   debug {
   ...
   }

   release {
   ...
   }

   unstripped {
       ...
       packagingOptions {
           doNotStrip '**/*.so'
       } 
   }
}

but that makes all buildTypes to keep unstripped versions of the libraries.

I also tried changing the doNotStrip pattern to something like '**/unstripped/*.so' but that does not seem to help me, since the docs say that the path is related to the APK's root dir.

Answer 1

Here is a workaround for you:

Feeding a command line option "doNotStrip"

1. Add below to your app/build.gradle

   android {
       ...
       if (project.hasProperty("doNotStrip")) {
           packagingOptions {
               doNotStrip '**/*.so'
           }
       }
       ...
   }
   

2. Use below command to generate the unstripped apk by feeding option doNotStrip to the command.

   ./gradlew assembleUnstripped -PdoNotStrip
   

3. For other build types, you can still use the normal build commands. e.g.

   ./gradlew assembleDebug
   

   or

   ./gradlew assembleRelease
   

   but don't feed option doNotStrip to the command.

Answer 2

Since Android Gradle Plugin (AGP) version 7.0.0 the use case is supported with a new syntax. Example:

androidComponents {
    onVariants(selector().withBuildType("debug")) {
        packaging.jniLibs.keepDebugSymbols.add("**/debugDoNotStrip.so")
    }
}