git-annex can be used on Android, however you need to know your way around
the command line to install and use it. (An Android app may be developed
eventually.)

## prebuilt tarball

Download the [prebuilt tarball](http://downloads.kitenet.net/git-annex/android/).
Instructions below assume it was downloaded to `/sdcard/Download`, which
is the default if you use the web browser for the download.

To use this tarball, you need to install either
[KBOX](http://kevinboone.net/kbox.html) or
[Terminal IDE](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spartacusrex.spartacuside)
(available in Google Play).
This is both to get a shell console, as well as a location under
`/data` where git-annex can be installed.

Open the console app you installed, and enter this command:

	cd $(which sh)/..; tar xf /sdcard/Download/git-annex-android.tar.gz

Now git-annex is installed, but to use it you need to enter a special
shell environment:

	runshell

Now you have git-annex, git, and some other utilities available, and can
do everything in the [[walkthrough]] and more.

## building it yourself

git-annex can be built for Android, with `make android`.
You need <https://github.com/neurocyte/ghc-android> installed first,
and also have to `cabal install` all necessary dependencies. This is not
yet an easy process. 

You also need to install git and all the utilities listed on [[fromscratch]].