Android Automation Apps Mastery - Expanded Project Guides

Generated from: ANDROID_AUTOMATION_APPS_MASTERY.md

This folder contains the implementation-oriented deep dives for the fifteen-project learning path. The parent guide is the mini-book and source of truth for shared concepts; these files turn each project into a staged build with architecture, tests, failure scenarios, extensions, and completion evidence.

Overview

This series teaches native Android automation from capability discovery through a Tasker- and AutoInput-inspired capstone. The projects use Kotlin and Jetpack Compose, but the real subject is platform reasoning: Android components live in disposable processes; triggers have different delivery guarantees; durable rules must survive lifecycle loss; and high-authority adapters require explicit consent, narrow scope, visible execution, and safe revocation.

The sequence deliberately separates three product modes:

  • Consumer mode uses ordinary APIs, runtime permissions, special app access, user-enabled services, and session consent.
  • Managed mode uses profile-owner or device-owner authority on explicitly provisioned test devices.
  • Developer bridge mode connects to controlled Termux or external tooling without presenting shell/ADB authority as a consumer permission.

No project asks the learner to bypass Android security, capture credentials, automate purchases or financial confirmation, defeat secure windows, or create open-ended autonomous AccessibilityService behavior.

Project Index

# Project Difficulty Time Key Focus
1 Capability Navigator Level 1 10-14 h Capability states, consent, revocation
2 Context Signal Monitor Level 2 16-22 h Broadcasts, callbacks, normalization, backpressure
3 RuleForge ECA Core Level 3 22-30 h Deterministic rules, plans, causation, idempotency
4 Durable Automation Library Level 2 18-26 h Room, migrations, process-death recovery
5 Timekeeper Scheduler Level 3 20-30 h WorkManager, alarms, Doze, reconciliation
6 Privacy-First Notification Router Level 3 20-28 h Notification access, redaction, delegated actions
7 Command Surface Deck Level 2 16-22 h Tiles, shortcuts, widgets, notification commands
8 Accessibility Inspector Level 3 24-34 h Semantic UI trees, selectors, package scope
9 Consentful UI Macro Runner Level 4 30-42 h Macro state machines, postconditions, emergency stop
10 Plugin SDK and IPC Host Level 4 28-40 h Binder IPC, signer trust, version negotiation
11 ScreenLens Capture Lab Level 3 22-32 h MediaProjection, local OCR, capture lifecycle
12 Secure Webhook and Termux Bridge Level 3 24-34 h Signed delivery, replay defense, named operations
13 Managed-Device Policy Lab Level 4 26-38 h DPC provisioning, policy convergence, rollback
14 Automation Observatory Level 3 28-40 h Redacted traces, replay, faults, compatibility
15 FlowForge Automation Studio Level 4 50-75 h Integrated automation platform capstone

Cumulative Architecture

 signals / schedules / notifications / user commands / plugins
                              |
                              v
                    canonical event adapters
                              |
                              v
       durable rules -> pure planning -> immutable execution plan
                              |
                   capability and safety policy
                              |
          +-------------------+--------------------+
          |                   |                    |
      built-in APIs       trusted plugins      high-authority
      and webhooks        and Termux bridge    accessibility/DPC
          |                   |                    |
          +-------------------+--------------------+
                              |
                   redacted run journal
                              |
              Compose editor / simulator / observatory

Learning Paths

Consumer Automation Builder

  1. Capability Navigator
  2. Context Signal Monitor
  3. RuleForge ECA Core
  4. Durable Automation Library
  5. Timekeeper Scheduler
  6. Notification Router
  7. Command Surface Deck
  8. Plugin SDK
  9. Webhook and Termux Bridge
  10. Automation Observatory
  11. FlowForge

AutoInput-Style UI Automation Specialist

  1. Complete Projects 1-4.
  2. Build the Accessibility Inspector.
  3. Build the UI Macro Runner.
  4. Add ScreenLens.
  5. Prove failure behavior in the Observatory.
  6. Integrate only the safe, deterministic subset in FlowForge.

Enterprise Device Controller

  1. Complete Projects 1, 3, 4, and 5.
  2. Build the Plugin SDK and Webhook Bridge.
  3. Provision the Managed-Device Policy Lab only on a disposable emulator or explicitly managed test device.
  4. Complete Projects 14 and 15.

Prerequisites

  • Programming experience with asynchronous work, data structures, interfaces, errors, and tests.
  • Basic Kotlin or Java.
  • Basic Android component and lifecycle vocabulary.
  • Current stable Android Studio, Android SDK Platform 36 for the reference track, and at least one Android 13+ emulator.
  • A physical phone is strongly recommended for OEM background behavior and real settings journeys.
  • A factory-resettable emulator is required for Project 13.
  • The learner should read the parent guide’s complete Theory Primer before beginning.

Working Agreement

For every project:

  1. Write the expected observable result and failure taxonomy before implementation.
  2. Keep Android framework objects outside the pure rule model.
  3. Ask for authority only when the user enables a dependent feature.
  4. Treat denial, revocation, process death, timeout, and unsupported state as normal cases.
  5. Use pseudocode from the guide as design scaffolding, not copy-paste implementation.
  6. Save a redacted test transcript and one architecture decision record before declaring completion.

Safety Boundary

The expanded guides intentionally exclude credential/PIN automation, CAPTCHA handling, purchases, financial actions, permission dialogs, device-admin enrollment automation, deceptive overlays, silent screen capture, secure-window bypass, unrestricted remote shell execution, and autonomous AccessibilityService planning. If an extension would cross one of those lines, redesign it around a narrow API and explicit user action or leave it out.