what is the difference between “min sdk , target sdk and compile with ” ? in android

Question

What is the difference between \"min SDK, target SDK and compile with\" in android?

What is the difference between \"minimum SDK, target SDK and compile with\", that app

Answer 1

In short, here is the purpose to declaring a different targetSDK from the minSDK: It means you are using features from a higher level SDK than your minimum, but you have ensured backwards compatibility. In other words, imagine that you want to use a feature that was only recently introduced, but that isn't critical to your application. You would then set the targetSDK to the version where this new feature was introduced and the minimum to something lower so that everyone could still use your app.

To give an example, let's say you're writing an app that makes extensive use of gesture detection. However, every command that can be recognised by a gesture can also be done by a button or from the menu. In this case, gestures are a 'cool extra' but aren't required. Therefore you would set the target sdk to 7 ("Eclair" when the GestureDetection library was introduced), and the minimumSDK to level 3 ("Cupcake") so that even people with really old phones could use your app. All you'd have to do is make sure that your app checked the version of Android it was running on before trying to use the gesture library, to avoid trying to use it if it didn't exist. (Admittedly this is a dated example since hardly anyone still has a v1.5 phone, but there was a time when maintaining compatibility with v1.5 was really important.)

To give another example, you could use this if you wanted to use a feature from Gingerbread or Honeycomb. Some people will get the updates soon, but many others, particularly with older hardware, might stay stuck with Eclair until they buy a new device. This would let you use some of the cool new features, but without excluding part of your possible market.

There is a really good article from the Android developer's blog about how to use this feature, and in particular, how to design the "check the feature exists before using it" code I mentioned above.

To the OP: I've written this mainly for the benefit of anyone who happens to stumble upon this question in the future, as I realise your question was asked a long time ago. here is the Post

Answer 2

android:minSdkVersion An integer designating the minimum API Level required for the application to run. The Android system will prevent the user from installing the application if the system's API Level is lower than the value specified in this attribute. You should always declare this attribute. Caution: If you do not declare this attribute, the system assumes a default value of "1", which indicates that your application is compatible with all versions of Android. If your application is not compatible with all versions (for instance, it uses APIs introduced in API Level 3) and you have not declared the proper minSdkVersion, then when installed on a system with an API Level less than 3, the application will crash during runtime when attempting to access the unavailable APIs. For this reason, be certain to declare the appropriate API Level in the minSdkVersion attribute.

android:targetSdkVersion An integer designating the API Level that the application targets. If not set, the default value equals that given to minSdkVersion. This attribute informs the system that you have tested against the target version and the system should not enable any compatibility behaviors to maintain your app's forward-compatibility with the target version. The application is still able to run on older versions (down to minSdkVersion).

As Android evolves with each new version, some behaviors and even appearances might change. However, if the API level of the platform 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. You can disable such compatibility behaviors by specifying targetSdkVersion to match the API level of the platform on which it's running. 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 and also disables screen compatibility mode when running on larger screens (because support for API level 11 implicitly supports larger screens).

There are many compatibility behaviors that the system may enable based on the value you set for this attribute. Several of these behaviors are described by the corresponding platform versions in the Build.VERSION_CODES reference.

To maintain your application along with each Android release, you should increase the value of this attribute to match the latest API level, then thoroughly test your application on the corresponding platform version.

Introduced in: API Level 4

android:maxSdkVersion An integer designating the maximum API Level on which the application is designed to run. In Android 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, and 2.0.1, the system checks the value of this attribute when installing an application and when re-validating the application after a system update. In either case, if the application's maxSdkVersion attribute is lower than the API Level used by the system itself, then the system will not allow the application to be installed. In the case of re-validation after system update, this effectively removes your application from the device.

To illustrate how this attribute can affect your application after system updates, consider the following example:

An application declaring maxSdkVersion="5" in its manifest is published on Google Play. A user whose device is running Android 1.6 (API Level 4) downloads and installs the app. After a few weeks, the user receives an over-the-air system update to Android 2.0 (API Level 5). After the update is installed, the system checks the application's maxSdkVersion and successfully re-validates it. The application functions as normal. However, some time later, the device receives another system update, this time to Android 2.0.1 (API Level 6). After the update, the system can no longer re-validate the application because the system's own API Level (6) is now higher than the maximum supported by the application (5). The system prevents the application from being visible to the user, in effect removing it from the device.

Warning: Declaring this attribute is not recommended. First, there is no need to set the attribute as means of blocking deployment of your application onto new versions of the Android platform as they are released. By design, new versions of the platform are fully backward-compatible. Your application should work properly on new versions, provided it uses only standard APIs and follows development best practices. Second, note that in some cases, declaring the attribute can result in your application being removed from users' devices after a system update to a higher API Level. Most devices on which your application is likely to be installed will receive periodic system updates over the air, so you should consider their effect on your application before setting this attribute.

Introduced in: API Level 4

Future versions of Android (beyond Android 2.0.1) will no longer check or enforce the maxSdkVersion attribute during installation or re-validation. Google Play will continue to use the attribute as a filter, however, when presenting users with applications available for download.

See more about this,click here:use sdk

Answer 3

Simply,

Minimun SDK : API 14

refers that that your application will only run on mobile phone with api level 14 ie.(ICS 4.0) or higher. Your app will fail to run on previous versions of android like gingerbread & froyo.

Target SDK : API 17

refers to the version of android you want to build for, which is Jellybean on your case. It is recommended to keep latest as far as possible which is (api 20 Kitkat at present context).

Compile With : API 14

refers to version of andriod you are testing on. Complile with api 14 means you are going to test your app on ICS.

you could also watch this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxo5zMcOCXM>

Answer 4

Trying to keep it simple as possible I can explain the three terms in the following way:

Min Required SDK: shows the device with the minimum android version you want your app to support. So for instance, if you select API 11: Honey Comb in the drop down list. This will show that your app won't support/won't run on any android device having android version lower than Honey Comb.

Target SDK: This should always be kept as higher as possible as it tells the maximum android version you have been targetting or testing your app with. So, if you keep your minReqSDK>> 11 (honey comb) and targetSDK>> 21 (Lollipop), this shows that your app will run on all android versions from honeycomb to Lollipop with no compatibility issues as you have set your target SDK>> 21 Lollipop version.

Compile With: This has nothing to do with android supporting whatever devices. You can chose any android version which you have installed using your SDK manager to compile and run your app for development purpose.

In your case: min sdk version: 14 target sdk :17 compile with: 14

Your device will support all android version having api level 14 (Ice Cream Sandwich) to api level 17 (Jelly Bean 4.2). And you have been using api level 14 (ICS) to compile and run your app for development.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

android:minSdkVersion

An integer designating the minimum API Level required for the application to run. The Android system will prevent the user from installing the application if the system's API Level is lower than the value specified in this attribute. You should always declare this attribute.

android:targetSdkVersion

An integer designating the API Level that the application targets. If not set, the default value equals that given to minSdkVersion. This attribute informs the system that you have tested against the target version and the system should not enable any compatibility behaviors to maintain your app's forward-compatibility with the target version. The application is still able to run on older versions (down to minSdkVersion).

As Android evolves with each new version, some behaviors and even appearances might change. However, if the API level of the platform 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. You can disable such compatibility behaviors by specifying targetSdkVersion to match the API level of the platform on which it's running. 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 and also disables screen compatibility mode when running on larger screens (because support for API level 11 implicitly supports larger screens).

There are many compatibility behaviors that the system may enable based on the value you set for this attribute. Several of these behaviors are described by the corresponding platform versions in the Build.VERSION_CODES reference.

To maintain your application along with each Android release, you should increase the value of this attribute to match the latest API level, then thoroughly test your application on the corresponding platform version. Introduced in: API Level 4

android:maxSdkVersion

An integer designating the maximum API Level on which the application is designed to run. In Android 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, and 2.0.1, the system checks the value of this attribute when installing an application and when re-validating the application after a system update. In either case, if the application's maxSdkVersion attribute is lower than the API Level used by the system itself, then the system will not allow the application to be installed. In the case of re-validation after system update, this effectively removes your application from the device.

please go through this link for more details

http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/uses-sdk-element.html