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There's a ndk (side-by-side) at the sdk manager. Is it needed to install or just need to install the ndk?

Daniel Mana
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3 Answers3

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This is how it looks like in my Android Studio 3.5 beta2:

enter image description here

You can see that I don't hide obsolete packages and request package details. Now we see that the old NDK package is replaced by the new NDK (Side by side), which allows to keep both NDK r19 and r20.

The reason why they are making the change is that switching to the latest version of NDK is not always painless, and many developers prefer to stay with an older version, at least for some projects.

The bottom line is that it is OK to use the NDK that you have installed, but it will be replaced with the new package some time later when you upgrade the Android Studio.

Alex Cohn
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    Does this mean I will have to set NDK path to a specific one and keep it updated with every NDK release? Earlier NDK path was set to `sdk_folder/ndk-bundle`. How there's `sdk_folder/ndk/ndkVersion`. – Sudhir Singh Khanger Jun 11 '19 at 04:19
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    Android Studio will handle the paths for you. If you don't specify `android.ndkVersion '19.2.5345600'` or similar, it will pick up the latest NDK. – Alex Cohn Jun 11 '19 at 06:57
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NDK (Side by side) is irrelevant for Android Gradle Plugin earlier than 3.5. However, the components available for download by SDK manager aren't customizable based on Android Gradle Plugin version so the side by side NDKs will appear.

Starting in 3.5, you can specify a particular version of NDK in your build.gradle by setting, for example:

android.ndkVersion '19.2.5345600'

The non side by side NDK has been marked as obsolete. Which means it won't appear in the SDK manager list unless you uncheck Hide obsolete packages --or-- you already have that NDK installed locally.

Jomo Fisher
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    As of today (June 2019) the plain does appear. Either it was brought back from obsolescence or there is something else going on... – Gábor Jun 11 '19 at 09:23
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    It seems to be deprecated with Gradle Plugin 3.5: ["Note: If you have an NDK installed in the ndk-bundle folder, it appears in the list with the label NDK. If you are using Android Gradle plugin 3.5.0 or later, you can select this checkbox or clear it. Clearing the checkbox uninstalls the NDK, freeing up disk space, and causes the checkbox to disappear from the list. If you uninstall the legacy NDK, remove the ndk.dir value, which is now deprecated, from your projects' local.properties files."](https://developer.android.com/studio/projects/install-ndk#specific-version) – pezcode Sep 03 '19 at 23:37
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According to Android Studio 3.5 release document, it says: "Android Studio 3.5 allows you to use multiple versions of the Android NDK side-by-side in your build.gradle file. This should allow you to have more reproducible builds and mitigate incompatibilities between NDK versions and the Android gradle plugin." I think side by side means you may use multiple NDK versions simultaneously. It is a new version to replace the ndk bundle version.

Kenneth Yang
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