Overview

Classes and methods extracted from onyxsdk-pen:1.4.12, onyxsdk-base:1.7.7, and onyxsdk-device:1.2.31 via javap. Entries for other SDK modules are sourced from the official OnyxAndroidDemo documentation. All descriptions without official Javadoc are [AI Generated].

SDK Modules

All modules share the Maven group com.onyx.android.sdk and are hosted at https://repo.boox.com/repository/maven-public/. Add the repository once in your project-level build.gradle; individual module deps go in the app module. All three actively maintained modules should use transitive = false — see SDK Setup for the full Gradle block.

Artifact	Package prefix	Latest	Purpose
onyxsdk-pen	`com.onyx.android.sdk.pen`	1.4.12	Stylus input via the Wacom I²C digitizer. `TouchHelper`, callbacks, stroke data, multi-view support.
onyxsdk-base	`com.onyx.android.sdk`	1.7.7	Shared data types (`TouchPoint`, note model) used across all other SDK modules.
onyxsdk-device	`com.onyx.android.sdk.api.device`	1.2.31	EPD waveform control, screen refresh, front-light, device environment queries.
`onyxsdk-scribble`	`com.onyx.android.sdk`	1.0.8	Deprecated. Legacy all-in-one inking module (pre-2019). Superseded by `onyxsdk-pen`.
`onyxsdk-data`	`com.onyx.android.sdk`	1.1.2.17	Cloud storage (Aliyun OSS), file download, OTA updates, and WeChat SDK integration.
`onyxsdk-notedata`	`com.onyx.android.sdk`	1.0	Note document model and SQLite persistence used by the BOOX built-in Notes app.
`onyxsdk-note`	`com.onyx.android.sdk`	1.0.5	High-level note-taking pipeline composing `notedata` and `pen`. Rarely needed by third-party apps.

onyxsdk-pen

Artifact:: com.onyx.android.sdk:onyxsdk-pen:1.4.12
Root package:: com.onyx.android.sdk.pen
Actively maintained:: yes (last release February 2026)

The core SDK for all stylus work on Boox devices. Rather than routing pen events through the Android MotionEvent stack — which adds 50–200 ms of system latency — onyxsdk-pen registers directly with the Wacom I²C digitizer driver. The driver streams raw coordinate, pressure, and tilt data at the panel’s native polling rate (≥200 Hz) and renders each point using the A2 e-ink waveform, which updates individual pixels in ~10 ms without a full panel flash.

When to use: Any app that needs responsive stylus input on a Boox device. This is the only actively maintained SDK module for pen input.

Key concepts:

One TouchHelper instance per host View. The helper owns the digitizer region claim and the A2 render session.
Pen events arrive on a background thread in RawInputCallback. Move events fire per digitizer sample; the stroke list fires once on pen-up.
The helper renders A2 strokes to the panel hardware buffer during the stroke. After pen-up the app must call postInvalidate() to commit the stroke to its own Canvas before the SDK clears the hardware buffer.
setPenUpRefreshEnabled(false) suppresses the SDK’s automatic screen refresh on pen-up, preventing a visible blink between A2 and normal waveform. See Troubleshooting for the full blink/gesture-lock interaction.

Gradle:

implementation('com.onyx.android.sdk:onyxsdk-pen:1.4.12') { transitive = false }

Key classes: TouchHelper · RawInputCallback · TouchPointList · StrokeStyle · NeoPenConfig · MultiViewTouchHelper · LimitViewInfo

onyxsdk-base

Artifact:: com.onyx.android.sdk:onyxsdk-base:1.7.7
Root package:: com.onyx.android.sdk
Actively maintained:: no (last release October 2020)

Foundation library depended on by both onyxsdk-pen and onyxsdk-device. Ships the shared data types that flow between the two: TouchPoint (a single digitizer sample), the note document model (NoteModel, ShapeModel), and a collection of device utility classes.

Because both pen and device modules declare onyxsdk-base as a transitive dependency, you must add transitive = false to each and then declare onyxsdk-base explicitly — otherwise Gradle resolves it transitively and may pull in a different version than expected.

Utility classes [AI Generated]:

Class	Responsibility
`DeviceEnvironment`	Storage path resolution for internal and SD card; device locale and country code.
`DeviceInfoUtil`	Runtime device model, serial number, firmware version, and screen resolution queries.
`DeviceUtils`	Miscellaneous helpers: full-screen mode, keyboard state, vibration, screen wake lock.
`FrontLightController`	Cold and warm front-light brightness control (0–255) for devices with adjustable front illumination.

Gradle:

implementation('com.onyx.android.sdk:onyxsdk-base:1.7.7') { transitive = false }

Key classes: TouchPoint

onyxsdk-device

Artifact:: com.onyx.android.sdk:onyxsdk-device:1.2.31
Root package:: com.onyx.android.sdk.api.device
Actively maintained:: yes (last release February 2026)

Low-level EPD hardware control. Every refresh on an e-ink panel is driven by a waveform — a lookup table that tells each pixel which voltage sequence to apply. Different waveforms trade speed for quality:

Waveform	Speed	Best for
`GC`	~600 ms	Full page turns; eliminates ghosting
`DU`	~260 ms	Fast text updates; moderate ghosting
`A2`	~10 ms	Live pen strokes; strong ghosting, binary pixel
`REGAL`	~300 ms	Mixed text/image with anti-ghosting heuristics
`HAND_WRITING_REPAINT_MODE`	~120 ms	Ink view repaint after stroke commit

onyxsdk-device exposes these waveforms via EpdController, a static abstract class accessed through reflection. All its methods are hidden APIs (@hide in AOSP) — the hiddenapibypass library must be initialised in Application.attachBaseContext before any class in this SDK is loaded. See Hidden-API bypass.

When to use: Call EpdController directly when you need precise waveform control — e.g., forcing GC after a page turn, holding the display frozen during a data update, or setting HAND_WRITING_REPAINT_MODE on an ink view. Most drawing apps need both this module and onyxsdk-pen.

Gradle:

implementation('com.onyx.android.sdk:onyxsdk-device:1.2.31') { transitive = false }

Key classes: EpdController · UpdateMode · UpdateOption · RefreshType

onyxsdk-scribble (deprecated)

Artifact:: com.onyx.android.sdk:onyxsdk-scribble:1.0.8
Last release:: November 2018
Status:: Deprecated — do not use for new projects

The predecessor to onyxsdk-pen. Bundled pen input, a built-in rendering canvas (ScribbleView), and EPD waveform control in a single dependency. The design tied rendering to the SDK’s own view, leaving apps with little control over the canvas, waveform timing, or gesture interaction.

onyxsdk-pen was introduced to decouple these concerns: the app owns its View and Canvas, and the SDK handles only digitizer input and A2 hardware rendering. This separation is what makes blink suppression, gesture pass-through, and custom stroke rendering possible.

Migration: Replace ScribbleView with your own View subclass. Instantiate TouchHelper in onAttachedToWindow and implement RawInputCallback for stroke events. See Getting Started for the minimal setup.

The OnyxAndroidDemo repository contains scribble_* activities showing the old API; they are preserved for migration reference only.

onyxsdk-data

Artifact:: com.onyx.android.sdk:onyxsdk-data:1.1.2.17
Last release:: January 2021
Status:: Maintained for existing integrations

Cloud-connected utility SDK targeting Onyx’s own cloud services and Chinese ecosystem integrations. Bundles several large third-party libraries:

Dependency	Purpose
Aliyun OSS SDK	Object storage: user document sync, image upload/download.
DBFlow (via jitpack)	SQLite ORM used for local caching of cloud metadata.
Retrofit2 + OkHttp	REST API calls to Onyx cloud services.
Alibaba FastJSON	JSON serialisation for API request/response models.
WeChat SDK	OAuth login, content sharing, and in-app payment flow.

Warning

Adding this module without transitive = false pulls all of the above into your APK. It also requires a jitpack.io Maven repository entry for DBFlow. Only depend on this module if your app explicitly needs Onyx cloud sync or WeChat integration.

[AI Generated] Key classes:

Class	Responsibility
`OssManager`	Aliyun OSS session lifecycle: credential refresh, upload/download with progress, signed URL generation, and bucket enumeration.
`FileDownloader`	Resumable async file download with per-chunk progress callbacks and error-retry logic.
`OTAManager`	Over-the-air firmware and app update: version check, incremental download, and install trigger via system broadcast.
`WechatManager`	WeChat SDK bridge: initialise, OAuth authorisation, share sheet, and payment session.
`Request`	Base class for Retrofit2-backed HTTP requests to Onyx cloud APIs.

Gradle:

implementation('com.onyx.android.sdk:onyxsdk-data:1.1.2.17') { transitive = false }
// Also requires:
maven { url 'https://jitpack.io' }

onyxsdk-notedata

Artifact:: com.onyx.android.sdk:onyxsdk-notedata:1.0
Last release:: October 2020
Status:: Used by Onyx system apps; not recommended for third-party use

Persistence layer for the BOOX built-in Notes application. Defines the document/page/stroke data model and stores it in a local SQLite database via DBFlow. The schema mirrors the note format used by the system Notes app, allowing third-party apps to read notes created by the system app if they share the same database path.

[AI Generated] Key types:

Type	Responsibility
`NoteModel`	Top-level note document: title, creation date, page list, cover thumbnail.
`NotePageModel`	A single page within a note: background template, layer list, page dimensions.
`ShapeModel`	A single stroke or shape on a page: point list, colour, width, stroke style, timestamp.
`NoteDrawingArgs`	Rendering parameters passed from the persistence layer to the drawing engine: zoom, pan, visible layers.

When to use: Only if your app must read or write notes in the same format as the system Notes app. For custom document formats, store strokes from TouchPointList directly in your own data layer.

onyxsdk-note

Artifact:: com.onyx.android.sdk:onyxsdk-note:1.0.5
Last release:: October 2020
Status:: Used by Onyx system apps; not recommended for third-party use

High-level note-taking pipeline that composes onyxsdk-notedata (storage), onyxsdk-pen (input), and onyxsdk-device (EPD waveform) into a unified API. Manages the full document lifecycle — create, open, save, export — plus page rendering, stroke commit, undo/redo, and bitmap thumbnail generation.

[AI Generated] Key classes:

Class	Responsibility
`NoteManager`	Entry point: open/create/delete note documents, enumerate pages, trigger save and export (PDF, PNG).
`NoteViewHelper`	Connects a host `View` to the pen input and rendering pipeline. Manages `TouchHelper` lifecycle on behalf of the view.
`RenderContext`	Holds the active `Canvas`, viewport transform, and waveform mode for the current render pass.
`UndoRedoManager`	Stroke-level undo/redo stack with configurable depth.

When to use: If you are building a note-taking app that must interoperate with the system Notes app file format. Otherwise, implement your own document model on top of onyxsdk-pen — it gives you full control over storage, rendering, and export without taking on the system app’s schema as a dependency. See Sample Implementations for examples of both approaches.