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Android Build a Simple Android App Getting Started with Android Android Project Basics

Posted by Suyash Patel
Suyash Patel
3,085 Points

Choosing the API level/minimum SDK for an android project

Why did the instructor in the videos choose the API level to be 15 ? Isn't choosing the lowest API level the best way forward since then we would not have to care about backward compatibility issues and our code would adapt itself for upcoming versions as was mentioned in the quiz ?

1 Answer

Seth Kroger
Seth Kroger
56,414 Points
Seth Kroger
Seth Kroger
56,414 Points

With the minimum SDK level there's always a balance between going low enough to support as many devices as possible and not going too low that you lose features your app needs to run. The Gingerbread-to-ICS gap is a significant one in features added to the OS so it's common to use ICS (api 15) as the minimum but still support 99% of devices. (See: https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html for OS usage).

Suyash Patel
Suyash Patel
3,085 Points

Thanks a ton ! Cleared up quite a few things for me.