The Classic Solution: SQLiteAssetHelper

The recommended “something” for traditional SQLite work in Android has been Jeff Gilfelt’s SQLiteAssetHelper. Basic use of SQLiteAssetHelper is fairly simple:

• Create an assets/databases/ directory in your main sourceset of your app module
• Put your pre-populated database in that directory, with the same filename that you want to use at runtime
• Rather than using SQLiteOpenHelper, subclass SQLiteAssetHelper instead, supplying that filename:

public class YourDatabase extends SQLiteAssetHelper {
  private static final String DB_NAME="whatever.db";
  private static final int SCHEMA_VERSION=1;

  public YourDatabase(Context context) {
    super(context, DB_NAME, null, SCHEMA_VERSION);
  }
}

The rest of your code can use your SQLiteAssetHelper subclass just as it would SQLiteOpenHelper, such as calling getReadableDatabase() or getWritableDatabase(). The first time one of those methods is called, SQLiteAssetHelper will notice that there is no database and will copy the database from assets into the proper location.

NOTE: Jeff Gilfelt is no longer maintaining SQLiteAssetHelper. Right now, it still works fine for this role. With luck, new actively-supported solutions will become available.