diff --git a/.github/workflows/android-build.yml b/.github/workflows/build-debug-apk.yml
similarity index 78%
rename from .github/workflows/android-build.yml
rename to .github/workflows/build-debug-apk.yml
index 1aec667e..5ae93944 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/android-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-debug-apk.yml
@@ -1,14 +1,6 @@
-name: Build debug
+name: Build debug APK
 
 on:
-  push:
-  # don't run on main. I noticed I often don't push commits to avoid unnecessary workflow runs
-    branches-ignore: [ main ]
-    paths:
-      - 'app/**'
-  pull_request:
-    paths:
-      - 'app/**'
   workflow_dispatch:
 
 jobs:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-test-auto.yml b/.github/workflows/build-test-auto.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..899067f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-test-auto.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+name: Test build
+# builds only for a single abi and does not produce an APK
+
+on:
+  push:
+    # don't run on main. I noticed I often don't push commits to avoid unnecessary workflow runs
+    branches-ignore: [ main ]
+    paths:
+      - 'app/**'
+  pull_request:
+    paths:
+      - 'app/**'
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up JDK
+        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
+        with:
+          java-version: '17'
+          distribution: 'temurin'
+
+      - uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@v3
+
+      - name: Grant execute permission for gradlew
+        run: chmod +x gradlew
+
+      - name: Build with Gradle
+        run: ./gradlew assembleDebug
+
+      - name: Archive reports for failed job
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: reports
+          path: '*/build/reports'
+        if: ${{ failure() }}