If you use a Mac and want to start playing around with your Android device, either to unlock the bootloader, install custom ROM, or create a backup image, you will need these two tools: ADB and Fastboot. Both are part of Android SDK which is provided for free by Google. There is one problem though: it is an almost 480MB in size.
Sure if you want to develop your own Android app, you will need to install the full SDK. But for more simple things listed above, those two apps are probably all you need.
There are numerous ways to grab ADB and Fastboot separately from the official SDK, however I have finally the most simple way, thanks to corbindavenport! He created Nexus Tools, an installer for the Android debug/development command-line tools ADB (Android Device Bridge) and Fastboot for Mac OS X and Linux.
Just how easy it is?
- Open Terminal app
- Copy and paste this line:
bash <(curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/corbindavenport/nexus-tools/master/install.sh) - Press Enter/Return to execute
- Enter your Mac password
Done. The command line downloads the install script where it will detect your operating system and version then install the right tools to your OS. No need to hear about bash, known path, etc.
Now you can have more time to actually do things on your device.