Set up the Android 16 SDK

To develop with Android 16 APIs and test your app with the Android 16 behavior changes, you need to set up the Android 16 SDK. Follow the instructions on this page to set up the Android 16 SDK in Android Studio and build and run your app on Android 16.

Get Android Studio

The Android 16 SDK includes changes that are not compatible with some lower versions of Android Studio. For the best development experience with the Android 16 SDK, use Android Studio Meerkat | 2024.3.1 or higher.

Update your app's build configuration

To access Android 16 APIs, open your app's build.gradle or build.gradle.kts file and update the compileSdk for Android 16 as follows:

android {
    compileSdk = 36
}

android {
    compileSdk = 36
}

Android Studio can provide contextual information about the behavior changes through the Android SDK Upgrade Assistant. Once you're ready to opt in to the new runtime behaviours for Android 16, update your app's targetSdk as follows:

android {
    defaultConfig {
        targetSdk = 36
    }
}

android {
    defaultConfig {
        targetSdk = 36
    }
}

Manually install the SDK

Within Android Studio, you can install the Android 16 SDK as follows:

1. Click Tools > SDK Manager.
2. In the SDK Platforms tab, expand the Android Baklava Preview section and select the Android SDK Platform Baklava package.
3. In the SDK Tools tab, expand the Android SDK Build-Tools 36 section and select the latest 36.x.x version.
4. Click OK to install the SDK.

Next steps

To learn about the changes that might affect your app, and to learn how to test these changes in your app, read the following topics:

• Behavior changes that affect all apps
• Behavior changes that affect only apps that target Android 16

To learn more about new APIs and features available in Android 16, read Android 16 features.