Android Studio: Why am i getting multi dex error on brand new Google Maps API project?

Question

I'm relatively new to Android programming and I am trying to create a Google Maps project. I used the template option in Android Studio, and I added the key for the API.

I haven't added any of my own code and left the template code as is because I just wanted to run the code and see what it looks like, however, I keep getting a multi dex error when I try to run this on the emulator causing the build to fail. It's weird to me that I am getting this error because I haven't added ANY code at all and am using what the Google Maps template has from Android Studio.

Anyone know why this error shows up on a brand new project? The error I see is pasted below.

Error:The number of method references in a .dex file cannot exceed 64K. Learn how to resolve this issue at https://developer.android.com/tools/building/multidex.html

Error:Execution failed for task ':app:transformClassesWithDexForDebug'.

com.android.build.api.transform.TransformException: com.android.ide.common.process.ProcessException: java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: com.android.ide.common.process.ProcessException: org.gradle.process.internal.ExecException: Process 'command 'C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_91\bin\java.exe'' finished with non-zero exit value 2

Your probably compiling all of the play-services API's using compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:9.2.0'... Now we can selectively compile API's to avoid dex limit of 64K. For Google Maps use com.google.android.gms:play-services-maps:9.2.0... — LokiDroid, Jul 01 '16 at 19:01
Funny even google screws up the DEX limit, which I never understood why they can't fix this issue. — JPM, Dec 02 '16 at 20:32

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 01 '16 at 04:55

as quoted below:

Your probably compiling all of the play-services API's using compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:9.2.0'... Now we can selectively compile API's to avoid dex limit of 64K. For Google Maps use com.google.android.gms:play-services-maps:9.2.0... – Loki Jul 1 at 19:01

Answer from Loki worked and was very simple to do.

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 25 '16 at 10:59

2

setting up google play services

Go through this link just add the dependencies which you want in your application. This will prevent 64k exceeding error.

Happy coding.

answered Oct 25 '16 at 10:59

Basheer Kohli

154
2
11

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 02 '20 at 03:25

2

For those who tried all the above methods and failed. Try changing the mini sdk version to 21 in the build.gradile file. For me it was on 16 and when I changed it to 21 the multidex error was gone for good.

minSdkVersion 21

answered Nov 02 '20 at 03:25

Akhil Suresh

71
5

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 01 '16 at 19:01

The issue is you currently have a high number of methods. There can only be 65536 methods for dex. You can try enabling multiDex by editing your build.gradle file.

android {
          //stuff

defaultConfig {
    ...

       // Enable multiDex support. 
       multiDexEnabled true
    }

}

dependencies {
   compile 'com.android.support:multidex:1.0.0'
}

Also, oops as the poster above mentioned in your manifest you also need to add that you are using the multidex class from the multidex support library.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="com.example.android.multidex.dexapp">
<application
    ...
    android:name="android.support.multidex.MultiDexApplication">
    ...
</application>

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 01 '16 at 19:03

Change your Gradle build configuration to enable multidex

android {
    compileSdkVersion 23
    buildToolsVersion "24.0.0 rc2"

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.try.app"
        minSdkVersion 16
        targetSdkVersion 23
        versionCode 1
        versionName "1.0"
        multiDexEnabled true
    }

In your manifest add the MultiDexApplication class from the multidex support library to the application element.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.example.android.multidex.myapplication">
    <application
        ...
        android:name="android.support.multidex.MultiDexApplication">
        ...
    </application>
</manifest>

Note: Visit https://developer.android.com/studio/build/multidex.html for more info.

Multidex sucks and is fraught with runtime errors, stay away from this! — JPM, Dec 02 '16 at 20:34

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Jul 23 '16 at 01:49

Set property multiDexEnabled to true in defaultConfig. This error occurs when method references increase the limit of 65k. Check Google Play Service APIs.

    android{
        ...
        defaultConfig {
            ...
            multiDexEnabled true
        }
        ...
    }

Here is a good source to get started with Google Maps Android API

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 08 '16 at 11:51

I removed the dependencies as suggested by Loki and it works.

dependencies {
    compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
    testCompile 'junit:junit:4.12'
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:24.1.1'
    compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-maps:9.4.0'
}

Android Studio: Why am i getting multi dex error on brand new Google Maps API project?

7 Answers7