I have looked at the documentation for building with Gradle, but I'm still not sure what the difference between compileSdkVersion
and targetSdkVersion
is.
All it says is:
The compileSdkVersion property specifies the compilation target.
Well, what is the "compilation target"?
I see two possible ways to interpret this:
compileSdkVersion is the version of the compiler used in building the app, while targetSdkVersion is the "API level that the application targets". (If this were the case, I'd assume compileSdkVersion must be greater than or equal to the targetSdkVersion? They mean the same thing. "compilation target" == "the API level that the application targets" Something else?
I see that this question has been asked before, but the one answer just quotes the doc, which is what is unclear to me.
compileSdkVersion
The compileSdkVersion
is the version of the API the app is compiled against. This means you can use Android API features included in that version of the API (as well as all previous versions, obviously). If you try and use API 16 features but set compileSdkVersion
to 15, you will get a compilation error. If you set compileSdkVersion
to 16 you can still run the app on a API 15 device as long as your app's execution paths do not attempt to invoke any APIs specific to API 16.
targetSdkVersion
The targetSdkVersion
has nothing to do with how your app is compiled or what APIs you can utilize. The targetSdkVersion
is supposed to indicate that you have tested your app on (presumably up to and including) the version you specify. This is more like a certification or sign off you are giving the Android OS as a hint to how it should handle your app in terms of OS features.
For example, as the documentation states:
For example, setting this value to "11" or higher allows the system to apply a new default theme (Holo) to your app when running on Android 3.0 or higher...
The Android OS, at runtime, may change how your app is stylized or otherwise executed in the context of the OS based on this value. There are a few other known examples that are influenced by this value and that list is likely to only increase over time.
For all practical purposes, most apps are going to want to set targetSdkVersion
to the latest released version of the API. This will ensure your app looks as good as possible on the most recent Android devices. If you do not specify the targetSdkVersion
, it defaults to the minSdkVersion
.
As a oneliner guide:
minSdkVersion <= targetSdkVersion <= compileSdkVersion
Ideally:
minSdkVersion (lowest possible) <= targetSdkVersion == compileSdkVersion (latest SDK)
Read more from this great post by Ian Lake
minSdkVersion
means the lowest device api level app can
run on? Presumably because it uses certain API's available from minSdkVersion
onwards?
minSdkVersion
is 15 (which is ICS 4.0.3), devices with API 14 (which is ICS 4.0) should not be able to install the app. And at least for now, the app will run on 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, (20 but that's for the old wear os), 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and so on in the future (probably)
compileSdkVersion
can be less than targetSdkVersion
Late to the game.. and there are several great answers above-- essentially, that the compileSdkVersion
is the version of the API the app is compiled against, while the targetSdkVersion
indicates the version that the app was tested against.
I'd like to supplement those answers with the following notes:
That targetSdkVersion impacts the way in which permissions are requested:
If the device is running Android 6.0 (API level 23) or higher, and the app's targetSdkVersion is 23 or higher, the app requests permissions from the user at run-time.
If the device is running Android 5.1 (API level 22) or lower, or the app's targetSdkVersion is 22 or lower, the system asks the user to grant the permissions when the user installs the app.
If the compileSdkVersion is higher than the version declared by your app's targetSdkVersion, the system may enable compatibility behaviors to ensure that your app continues to work the way you expect. (ref) With each new Android release...
targetSdkVersion should be incremented to match the latest API level, then thoroughly test your application on the corresponding platform version
compileSdkVersion, on the other hand, does not need to be changed unless you're adding features exclusive to the new platform version
As a result, while targetSdkVersion is often (initially) less than than the compileSdkVersion, it's not uncommon to see a well-maintained/established app with targetSdkVersion > compileSdkVersion
targetSdkVersion
you may see compatibility behaviors. I don't believe it has anything to do with the compileSdkVersion
.
The compileSdkVersion
should be newest stable version. The targetSdkVersion
should be fully tested and less or equal to compileSdkVersion
.
targetSdkVersion
to a lower one. So the targetSdkVersion
should be the one you have tested and know the exact behavior, and can be <= the latest stable.
compileSdkVersion
should be newest stable version' should be suffixed with 'of which you use API features'. It makes no sense to compile against API 27 (today's latest stable API) if you only use lower API version features. However, the latest stable version could include some features that automatically become better, e.g. enhanced security or efficient compilation with backwards compatibility. Therefore it is advisable to use the latest or at least a recent stable version, but it 'should [not] be' the latest version per se.
The CompileSdkVersion
is the version of the SDK platform your app works with for compilation, etc DURING the development process (you should always use the latest) This is shipped with the API version you are using
https://i.stack.imgur.com/VE1Mx.png
You will see this in your build.gradle
file:
https://i.stack.imgur.com/N8GuB.png
targetSdkVersion:
contains the info your app ships with AFTER the development process to the app store that allows it to TARGET the SPECIFIED version of the Android platform
. Depending on the functionality of your app, it can target API versions lower than the current.For instance, you can target API 18 even if the current version is 23.
Take a good look at this official Google page.
I see a lot of differences about compiledSdkVersion
in previous answers, so I'll try to clarify a bit here, following android's web page.
A - What Android says
According https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/uses-sdk-element.html:
Selecting a platform version and API Level When you are developing your application, you will need to choose the platform version against which you will compile the application. In general, you should compile your application against the lowest possible version of the platform that your application can support.
So, this would be the right order according to Android:
compiledSdkVersion = minSdkVersion <= targetSdkVersion
B - What others also say
Some people prefer to always use the highest compiledSkdVersion available. It is because they will rely on code hints to check if they are using newer API features than minSdkVersion, thus either changing the code to not use them or checking the user API version at runtime to conditionally use them with fallbacks for older API versions.
Hints about deprecated uses would also appear in code, letting you know that something is deprecated in newer API levels, so you can react accordingly if you wish.
So, this would be the right order according to others:
minSdkVersion <= targetSdkVersion <= compiledSdkVersion (highest possible)
What to do?
It depends on you and your app.
If you plan to offer different API features according to the API level of the user at runtime, use option B. You'll get hints about the features you use while coding. Just make sure you never use newer API features than minSdkVersion without checking user API level at runtime, otherwise your app will crash. This approach also has the benefit of learning what's new and what's old while coding.
If you already know what's new or old and you are developing a one time app that for sure will never be updated, or you are sure you are not going to offer new API features conditionally, then use option A. You won't get bothered with deprecated hints and you will never be able to use newer API features even if you're tempted to do it.
<uses-sdk>
documentation is extremely vague and ambiguous.
My 2 cents: Compile against any version of the SDK but take care not to call any APIs that your "minimum SDK version" does not support. That means you "could" compile against the latest version of the SDK.
As for "target version" it simply refers to what you planned to target in the first place and have possibly tested against. If you haven't done the due diligence then this is the way to inform Android that it needs to perform some additional checks before it deploys your lets say "Lollipop" targeted app on "Oreo".
So the "target version" is obviously not lower than your "minimum SDK version" but it can't be higher than your "compiled version".
Not answering to your direct questions, since there are already a lot of detailed answers, but it's worth mentioning, that to the contrary of Android documentation, Android Studio is suggesting to use the same version for compileSDKVersion
and targetSDKVersion
.
https://i.stack.imgur.com/lxWp6.png
compiledSdkVersion==> which version of SDK should compile your code to bytecode(it uses in development environment) point: it's better use last version of SDK.
minSdkVersion==> these item uses for installation of APK(it uses in production environment). For example:
if(client-sdk-version < min-sdk-versoin )
client-can-not-install-apk;
else
client-can-install-apk;
The Application settings of an Android project's properties in Visual Studio 2017 (15.8.5) has them combined:
https://i.stack.imgur.com/RkYRn.png
Quick summary:
For minSDKversion, see latest entry in twitter handle: https://twitter.com/minSdkVersion
TargetSDKversion: see latest entry in twitter handle: https://twitter.com/targtSdkVersion or use the latest API level as indicated at devel https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/uses-sdk-element.html
Compiled version: make it same as TargetSDKversion
maxSdkVersion: advice from Android is to not set this as you do not want to limit your app to not perform on future android releases
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targetSdkVersion
very likely will be higher thancompileSdkVersion
and rightfully so. This means that although you designed an app to target API 16, for example, it still runs fine on API 21 (Lollipop) and you should bump yourtargetSdkVersion
to 21 to indicate it is okay for the Android OS to apply any Lollipop-styles that may exist to your app.compileSdkVersion
to a higher version would mean you want to use some new APIs that are only included in that particular release. If you don't plan on using any Lollipop-specific features in your app, then there's really (usually) no reason to ever setcompileSdkVersion
to 21. However, your app will likely run just fine on API 21 as-is, thus you changetargetSdkVersion
to indicate your app runs like you expect (target) on API 21, but you're not using any APIs specific to 21 (compile) and thus yourcompileSdkVersion
can stay at 15 in this example.