Building Android: A DIY journey to build your android app without the Android Gradle Plugin

What if you built your Android app… without the Android Gradle Plugin?

In this talk, we’ll explore how to demystify the Android build process by replacing AGP with a custom, minimal Gradle plugin. From compiling Java/Kotlin sources to invoking AAPT2, D8, and signing your APK — we’ll peel back the layers and rebuild the pipeline from scratch. You’ll learn how Android’s build tools actually work under the hood, how to wire them together with plain Gradle tasks, and why doing it yourself might just be the best way to understand the system you use every day.

If you're just used to copy pasting the android gradle plugin extension into your projects, come see what AGP really does for you. By understanding it more in depth you'll walk away being able to better debug and modify your builds, increase your productivity, and level up as an Android developer.