Hello @nocker,
We don’t recommend hardcoding the key into an application, as it’s just not suitable for any secure implementation. No matter what you do, if the key is hardcoded and the attacker has the installation package, they will be able to find it and use it to access the data, no matter how well you obfuscate it.
SQLCipher is really intended to be used where key material is not included in the application package (i.e. not for use as DRM). In this model the key material comes from somewhere else (e.g. from the user in the form of a pin or password, or from some other means like a key service, secure keystore, etc.)
For more information, please see this related article on Database Key Material and Selection.