Android SDK APIs

I was asked on the forum just what versions of Android Appril is supporting.

Out-of-the-box, the Android SDK in Appril has this:

4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich) API-15 + system image
2.2.x (Froyo) API-8

For a table of all releases, see here:
https://source.android.com/source/build-numbers.html

So the SDKs will build for either of those, but the emulator, which uses the "system image" is only Android 4.0.3.

However, it is easy to support any other version of Android. In Android Studio, choose Configure -> SDK Manager, and you can download whatever you want.

If you download another system-image, you can use the AVD Manager in Android SDK to create an emulator for it.

The thing to be careful of though, is they are big downloads, so if you are on a limited data plan, you could run out, or find it getting expensive paying for excess data.

Of course, the APIs installed in Appril represent minimum versions. For example, if you build for API-15 (Android 4.0.3) then the app should also work in all later versions (with some exceptions, such as the rules for writing to the SD card).

Note that Google recently stated that 90% of visitors to the Google Play Store have Android 4.0.3 or greater.
Which was why I chose API-15 as a good compromise to include out-of-the-box in Appril.

Tags: linux