Instructions: Install & Uninstall the drchrono APK for Google Glass

by danielkivatinos

Check out how Google Glass works within drchrono

This post is for physicians who have Google Glass already, if you don’t have Google Glass and are interested in learning more please sign up here to become a beta user. You will also need to buy a Google Glass, you can do that here.

For all mac users please read this post instead, the post below is for PC users. We have a mac installer for mac users!

Ok, if you have Glass, then read on:

For the drchrono Google Glass app, it requires you to side-load it. Side-loading installing the app can look like a hard task if you have never done it before. It is a simple process actually but getting ready to side-load install the apk takes more time than the actual installation.

drchrono will eventually going to be in the Glassware gallery so in the future the steps below won’t be needed but for now you will need to follow the steps below.

STEP 1: Android Debug Bridge

The Android Debug Bridge or ADB tool is absolutely necessary if you want to side-load the drchrono apk file onto your Google Glass. ADB is a tool that is used to send commands to an android device, Glass is an Android device. To install ADB on PC (for Mac the install is similar):

  1. Download the Android SDK
  2. Extract the Android SDK, move the “platform-tools” folder to the root of your C: drive and rename it “Android-adb”
  3. Right-click your computer icon, go to properties, go to advanced and then click on “Environment Variables”
  4. In the system variable section, locate “path”, click it, and then click edit
  5. Go to the very end of all the text, and add: ;C:\Android-adb and then click okay

Done! Android Debug Bridge is now setup!

STEP 2: Building and Installing Glass Launcher

Glass launcher allows you to start applications that are side loaded. So to install the Glass launcher you will need to import the project into Eclipse, which is a program that can be found in the Android SDK. Below are the steps to install Glass Launcher:

  1. Download Glass Launcher zip and extract it
  2. Open Eclipse in the extracted Android SDK folder
  3. Import the Glass Launcher project. In Eclipse, click file > import and select “Existing Android Code Into Workspace”, and click next
  4. Click “browse”, select the Glass Launcher folder that you downloaded, place checkmark next to GlassLauncher, and click finish
  5. Right Click on the Glass Launcher project in the Project Explorer pane, click on properties, click on Android, place a checkmark next to “Glass Development Kit Sneak Peak” and click okay
  6. Right Click on the Glass Launcher project in the Project Explorer pane, go to Android Tools, and select add support library. Wait for it to download
  7. Before you compile the project, you need to clean it. In Eclipse, click the project menu, click clean, click the radio button next to “Clean projects selected below”, and place a checkmark next to “GlassLauncher” and click okay
  8. Plug Google Glass into your computer and enable debug mode on Google Glass by going to the settings > device info > enable debug mode
  9. Right Click on the Glass Launcher project, go to run as, and click Android application
  10. You should see Glass listed as compatible, highlight it, and click okay

You should now see some activity in the console section. If the application installs correctly, then you should see something similar to:

[ - GlassLauncher] Installing GlassLauncher.apk ...<br /> [ - GlassLauncher] Success!<br />

STEP 3: Enable Debug Mode

Turning on Debug Mode lets Google Glass know that you plan on tinkering with it. You have to have debug mode enabled if you want to install/side load the drchrono app. To enable debug mode you need to:

  1. Go to the settings card
  2. Select the “Device Info” card in the settings
  3. Scroll over to “Turn on debug” and “click” it

Debugging should now be turned on.

STEP 4: Installing/Side Loading our app onto Google Glass

After you have installed the ADB and tool have debug mode enabled, you can finally side load the drchrono WHR Glass app. To install an .apk onto Google Glass you must:

  1. Make sure to have Google Glass connected via USB
  2. Download and place the APK file in the same directory as ADB. If you installed ADB based on the guide above, then simply place the APK in the Android-adb folder located in the C drive
  3. Confirm Google Glass is connected. You do this by opening CMD and typing “adb devices”. Once you run that command, you should see a random jumble of numbers and letters with the word “device” next to them. That means Google Glass is connected
  4. Now, here is the final step, which is actually installing the apk. To install an apk to Google Glass, simply type the command “adb install ”. For example, “adb install launchy.apk” would install launchy

If you have installed the apk correctly, then you will see the word “Success”. That is how you install/side load an apk onto Google Glass.

STEP 5: Google Glass Log In

After you have installed the app, simply launch say the words, “OK GLASS TAKE A NOTE” and you are in the drchrono app!

Now that you are in the drchrono app loaded go to the “Log In” card, synch your Glass to your drchrono profile by scanning in the 2-D barcode you produce for your username here: drchrono.com/glass/setup

Uninstalling the apk file

We will be updating our “apk” file very frequently so be sure to re-install the Glassware on a regular basis to get the best latest greatest version of our Glass app. You will need to uninstall our apk file then reinstall the new one.

Uninstalling our app is a little more difficult than installing it. If you want to uninstall our app you will need to open up cmd/go to adb and type:

adb shell pm list packages.

When you enter that command you will see a big list of all the apps that are currently installed on your Google Glass. While the packages may look the same at first, they are all different and have a different ending. You need to look for the full name of the application you installed. The package name would be

con.google.glass.drchrono

or

com.google.glass.drchrono_prototype.

Once you have found the package name of the app, you can uninstall the application by simply typing and entering the command:

adb uninstall com.google.glass.drchrono

or

adb uninstall com.google.glass.drchrono_prototype

Thats how to uninstall the drchrono Google Glass app!

Ok if you successfully have put the Glass app on your Glass this is how to log into drchrono from Glass –