The number of method references in a .dex file cannot exceed 64K

Question

I took a new android project. It ran fine on device. Then I added -

dependencies {
   ....
   ....
   compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:9.4.0'
}

Now when i try to run the app, it gives -

Error- The number of method references in a .dex file cannot exceed 64K.

Any help?

Answer 1

You have two ways to deal with this.

1. Enable MultiDex :

   android {
       compileSdkVersion 22
       buildToolsVersion "23.0.0"
   
        defaultConfig {
            minSdkVersion 14 //lower than 14 doesn't support multidex
            targetSdkVersion 22
   
            // Enabling multidex support.
            multiDexEnabled true
        }
   }
   

2. Use specific play services needed in your application instead of whole package as described here:

   Add dependency for specific Play service from this list

Answer 2

That mean your method in your project exceed 65535. You can see this:

Configure Apps with Over 64K Methods

Answer 3

compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:9.4.0'

Will load all the methods and packages from the google play services. This is actually a wrong way to add a dependency. If you want to use a particular thing from google play services, then add only that particular package.

For eg: compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-location:9.4.0'

This will load only location package and hence it will decrease the method references.