Requirements for Android versionName

Question

Are there requirements for versionName in Android? Can it be an arbitrary string, like Ubuntu’s releases (Bionic Beaver etc.)

Answer 1

There are no restrictions on choosing versionName. You can use "foo", "bar", "test-1", "release-2". Just string. This name is for showing user version, nothing else.

From Android Documentation

versionName

• A string used as the version number shown to users. This setting can be specified as a raw string or as a reference to a string resource.
• The value is a string so that you can describe the app version as a .. string, or as any other type of absolute or
  relative version identifier. The versionName has no purpose other
  than to be displayed to users.

Answer 2

You can use any string you want for version name. There's no rule to this.

PackageInfo packageInfo = getPackageManager().getPackageInfo(getPackageName(), 0);
Toast.makeText(getActivity(), "Version " + packageInfo, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();

That will show your package name.