Android Gradle plugin release notes

The Android Studio build system is based on Gradle, and the Android Gradle plugin adds several features that are specific to build Android apps. Although the Android plugin is typically updated in lock-step with Android Studio, the plugin (and the rest of the Gradle system) can run independent of Android Studio and be updated separately.

This page explains how to keep your Gradle tools up to date and what's in the recent updates. For the release notes for past Android Gradle plugin versions, see past release notes.

For a high-level summary of upcoming breaking changes in the Android Gradle plugin, see the Android Gradle plugin roadmap.

For details about how to configure your Android builds with Gradle, see the following pages:

• Configure your build
• Android Gradle plugin DSL reference
• Gradle DSL reference
• Gradle performance user guide

For more information about the Gradle build system, see the Gradle user guide.

Update the Android Gradle plugin

When you update Android Studio, you may receive a prompt to automatically update the Android Gradle plugin to the latest available version. You can choose to accept the update or manually specify a version based on your project's build requirements.

You can specify the plugin version in either the File > Project Structure > Project menu in Android Studio, or the top-level build.gradle.kts file. The plugin version applies to all modules built in that Android Studio project. The following example sets the plugin to version 8.2.0 from the build.gradle.kts file:

plugins {
    id("com.android.application") version "8.2.0" apply false
    id("com.android.library") version "8.2.0" apply false
    id("org.jetbrains.kotlin.android") version "1.5.31" apply false
}

plugins {
    id 'com.android.application' version '8.2.0' apply false
    id 'com.android.library' version '8.2.0' apply false
    id 'org.jetbrains.kotlin.android' version '1.5.31' apply false
}

Caution: You should not use dynamic dependencies in version numbers, such as 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:2.+'. Using this feature can cause unexpected version updates and difficulty resolving version differences.

If the specified plugin version has not been downloaded, Gradle downloads it the next time you build your project or click File > Sync Project with Gradle Files from the Android Studio menu bar.

Update Gradle

When you update Android Studio, you may receive a prompt to also update Gradle to the latest available version. You can choose to accept the update or manually specify a version based on your project's build requirements.

The following table lists which version of Gradle is required for each version of the Android Gradle plugin. For the best performance, you should use the latest possible version of both Gradle and the plugin.

You can specify the Gradle version in either the File > Project Structure > Project menu in Android Studio, or update your Gradle version using the command line. The preferred way is to use the Gradle Wrapper command line tool, which updates the gradlew scripts. The following example sets the Gradle version to 8.2 using the Gradle Wrapper. Note, you need to run this command twice to upgrade both Gradle and the Gradle Wrapper itself (for more information, see Upgrading the Gradle Wrapper).

gradle wrapper --gradle-version 8.2

However this might fail in some cases, for example if you've just updated AGP and it's no longer compliant with the current Gradle version. In this case, you need to edit the Gradle distribution reference in the gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties file. The following example sets the Gradle version to 8.2 in the gradle-wrapper.properties file.

...
distributionUrl = https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-8.2-bin.zip
...

Android Gradle plugin and Android Studio compatibility

The Android Studio build system is based on Gradle, and the Android Gradle plugin (AGP) adds several features that are specific to building Android apps. The following table lists which version of AGP is required for each version of Android Studio.

For information on what’s new in the Android Gradle plugin, see the Android Gradle plugin release notes.

Minimum versions of tools for Android API level

There are minimum versions of Android Studio and AGP that support a specific API level. Using lower versions of Android Studio or AGP than required by your project's targetSdk or compileSdk could lead to unexpected issues. We recommend using the latest preview version of Android Studio and AGP to work on projects that target preview versions of the Android OS. You can install preview versions of Android Studio alongside a stable version.

The minimum versions of Android Studio and AGP are as follows:

Versioning changes (November 2020)

We are updating the version numbering for Android Gradle plugin (AGP) to more closely match the underlying Gradle build tool.

Here are the notable changes:

• AGP will now use semantic versioning, and breaking changes will be targeted for major releases.

• There will be one major version of AGP released per year, aligned with the Gradle major release.

• The release after AGP 4.2 will be version 7.0 and will require an upgrade to Gradle version 7.x. Every major release of AGP will require a major version upgrade in the underlying Gradle tool.

• APIs will be deprecated approximately one year in advance, with replacement functionality made available concurrently. Deprecated APIs will be removed approximately one year later during the subsequent major update.

8.2.0 (November 2023)

Android Gradle plugin 8.2.0 is a major release that includes a variety of new features and improvements.

Compatibility

The maximum API level that Android Gradle plugin 8.2.0 supports is API level 34. Here is other compatibility info:

New macro to specify JDK path

#GRADLE_LOCAL_JAVA_HOME is a new macro that you can use to specify the JDK path. This makes it safer and easier to specify the Java home path used for the Gradle daemon (background process) execution for your project. The path selection is stored in the java.home field in the .gradle/config.properties file. Set this field through Gradle JDK settings in Android Studio (File or Android Studio > Settings > Build, Execution, Deployment > Build Tools > Gradle).

New projects will use #GRADLE_LOCAL_JAVA_HOME by default. Existing projects will automatically be migrated to the new macro after a successful sync, unless you're already using a macro like #JAVA_HOME.

The main benefits of the new macro are as follows:

• You can manually modify the JDK path to trigger sync without opening your project first.
• Fewer errors related to incompatible Gradle and project JDK versions, since there is a single source of truth for your Gradle JDK selection.