I am new for android and going to download new android SDK so which level should i choose 8 or newest 21?
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2I'd go with API Level 10, 19, and 21, personally. API Level 8 is such a chore, people should just buy a new phone already. – EpicPandaForce Feb 03 '15 at 08:33
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@DerGolem technically they should do it for the updates to the OS and the new functionality. Not upgrading is only giving themselves a disservice. API Level 8 doesn't even support OpenGL ES 2.0 yet. It has issues with SSL connections (although that might be level 7)... supporting them isn't necessarily worth it. – EpicPandaForce Feb 03 '15 at 08:48
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@DerGolem well to me this whole discussion is similar to how "but we might need to develop for IE6 because there are still people who are not willing to switch to Chrome *AND* aren't willing to switch to Windows 7 or above even though XP is deprecated and no longer supported". But you're right, there are still people with API-Level 7 and 8 phones. It's up to you (and the requestor of the app you are developing) to decide whether the extra hassle with supporting obsolete versions is worth it for you. If you do have the extra time to debug their quirks, then by all means support them. :) – EpicPandaForce Feb 03 '15 at 09:41
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you should download API 21 obviously and set Minimum SDK as per your requirement. That way you will be able to run your app from early Froyo(If you keep Minimum SDK as 8) phones to Lolipop ones.
So when you start with Android Development you will find configuration options in AndroidManifest.xml like MinimumSDK version(minimum version of android you want to support), TargetSDK(max version of OS u want to support) version and CompileSDK(usually equal to target SDk version) version.
Abhishek Bansal
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Not really necessary. You may download API-8 too and use the app in any upwards release – waqaslam Feb 03 '15 at 08:36
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1@Thamaraiselvam If you've released an app using API-8, it will work for 8 and above – waqaslam Feb 03 '15 at 08:39
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@Thamaraiselvam because of backward compatibility and forward compatible support libraries – Abhishek Bansal Feb 03 '15 at 08:39
