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I'm about to build a new app. I'm just making an alarm and I'm aiming to help old people mainly (I assume they don't follow technology as geeks and they can use old phones like 5-6 years old) and max user count not shiny new features. So I can ignore API 8's 0.1% according to Android Dev but I don't want to ignore API 10-15's ~5%.

So I decided to use API 10 as min SDK level. While downloading API 10 inside Android Studio I encountered with Obsolete warning as shown in the image:

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Okay maybe it's shown here wrong and better to do this directly from Android SDK Manager. It was same and I had an extra warning for SDK platform is not compatible with Windows:

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If I remember right it was not obsolete in late of 2015. Google confused me with API levels since they are refusing to be backwards compatible. Anyway here is my pile of questions inside my head:

  1. Does this mean Google doesn't care that ~5% (API 10-15 users and developers) anymore?
  2. What does obsolete mean? Just not supported by Google anymore?
  3. Is it a bad idea to use this API for new projects? What are the problems I can face if I use it now and future?
  4. If I choose a newer API like level 18+, what I'm gonna do after 5 years until API become obsolete? If I won't add any new functionality except basic things and fixes, do I have to upgrade API that time?
ErTR
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1 Answers1

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  1. It says the "Google APIs" is obsolete, not the platform.

  2. Yes, it is not supported anymore. (Once again, not the platform)

  3. Yes, do not use anything that is deprecated or obsolete.

  4. Most likely you Android application will still work but it is important that you update is periodically in order to keep/retain and grow your users.

Jared Burrows
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  • 1. What about _platform is not compatible with Windows_ warning? – ErTR Apr 10 '16 at 21:23
  • 3rd question's answer means I can't produce anything for 5% so it means Google doesn't care them anymore? – ErTR Apr 10 '16 at 21:26
  • For number 3, it goes with 1 and 2. If it is obselete you should not use it. In fact, you do not ever need to download API 10. You should target towards the latest release, API 23. You can set a min sdk of API 10 if you want. There is a difference. – Jared Burrows Apr 10 '16 at 22:09
  • So Google putting devs amid contradictions: Target the most users or latest release – ErTR Apr 10 '16 at 22:17
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    Not at all. You should **always** target the latest release. You shouldn't target an old API version. You set `minSDK 10` and `targetSDK 23`. – Jared Burrows Apr 10 '16 at 22:31
  • I'm noticing that with the latest Android Studio downloaded today, with a new project I can't even target an API < 15. This is a problem, because I have a specific device with API level 10 this project needs to work with. What to do? – Michael Nov 20 '18 at 03:55