It’s never been a taxing issue to grab the basic Android dev tools — ADB and fastboot — without having to grab the entire SDK from Google. A quick trip to a forum like XDA will fix that up. Still, it’d be nice if Google itself offered these core components separately so you never had to worry about versions, compatibility or even malicious downloads. Well, as of yesterday it does… unofficially.
Google software engineer Elliott Hughes (via Google’s Siva Velusamy and Kevin Quinn) made the direct links available via a Google+ post. The tight, 3.4MB package is available for all three desktop platforms.
Windows: https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools-latest-windows.zip
Linux: https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools-latest-linux.zip
Mac: https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools-latest-darwin.zip
For hardcore Android developers and tinkerers, not much has changed as you’d be downloading the latest SDK anyway, but if you just want to tweak a setting here or there, it’s nice to know you’re getting the most recent tools straight from the source.
Elliot Hughes [Google+, via Android Police]
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