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How to Install ADB & Fastboot in Mac OS X to Send Commands to Your HTC One

Mar 11, 2014 03:51 PM

Mar 11, 2014 09:10 PM

If you're looking into rooting your device yourself, you're going to need ADB and Fastboot on your computer.

The Android Debug Bridge (ADB), is a command-line-based tool that allows for interaction between your computer and your Linux-based Android device. Fastboot is an engineering protocol that allows modification to file system images from a computer over a USB connection.

Both ADB and Fastboot are packaged as a part of the Android Software Development Kit (SDK), and allow you to perform simple tasks like pushing and pulling files from your device, but they can also manipulate your bootloader and install custom recoveries.

Usually, you would have to install the Android SDK to get both tools, but today I'm going to show you how to get both on your Mac in less than 5 minutes!

Download this Android.zip file to your Mac.
Extract the .zip and place the Android folder on your Desktop.
Open Terminal and type: cd Desktop/Android
Now install ADB and Fastboot: ./ADB-Install-Mac.sh
Allow the script to run and you'll be all set. Now the ADB and Fastboot files will be placed in /usr/bin/ on your Mac.

Note: Change Desktop/Android above to the location of the extracted .zip if you didn't place it on you Desktop like I did.

Command line interface showing Android debugging and Fastboot commands on a MacBook.

With ADB and Fastboot, you'll be able to run commands from your Mac onto your HTC One or other Android device. This will come in handy when you are rooting your device or backing up your data.

Android apple eater image via MacBook Designs

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