Android Studio Iguana | 2023.2.1

Android Studio is the official IDE for Android development, and includes everything you need to build Android apps.

This page lists new features and improvements in the latest version in the stable channel, Android Studio Iguana. You can download it here or update to it inside Android Studio by clicking Help > Check for updates (Android Studio > Check for updates on macOS)

To see what's been fixed in this version of Android Studio, see the closed issues.

To view the release notes for older versions of Android Studio, see Past releases.

For early access to upcoming features and improvements, see the Preview builds of Android Studio.

If you encounter problems in Android Studio, check the Known issues or Troubleshoot page.

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.

Android Studio version Required AGP version
Jellyfish | 2023.3.1 3.2-8.4
Iguana | 2023.2.1 3.2-8.3
Hedgehog | 2023.1.1 3.2-8.2
Giraffe | 2022.3.1 3.2-8.1
Flamingo | 2022.2.1 3.2-8.0
Electric Eel | 2022.1.1 3.2-7.4

Older versions

Android Studio version Required AGP version
Dolphin | 2021.3.1 3.2-7.3
Chipmunk | 2021.2.1 3.2-7.2
Bumblebee | 2021.1.1 3.2-7.1
Arctic Fox | 2020.3.1 3.1-7.0

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:

API level Minimum Android Studio version Minimum AGP version
VanillaIceCream preview Jellyfish | 2023.3.1 8.4
34 Hedgehog | 2023.1.1 8.1.1
33 Flamingo | 2022.2.1 7.2

The following are new features in Android Studio Iguana.

Version control system integration in App Quality Insights

App Quality Insights now lets you navigate from a Crashlytics stack trace to the relevant code—at the point in time when the crash happened. AGP attaches git commit hash data to crash reports, which helps Android Studio navigate to your code and show how it was in the version where the issue occurred. When you view a crash report in App Quality Insights, you can choose to navigate to the line of code in your current git checkout or view a diff between the current checkout and the version of your codebase that generated the crash.

To integrate your version control system with App Quality Insights, you need the following minimum requirements:

To use version control integration for a debuggable build type, enable the vcsInfo flag in the module-level build file. For release (non-debuggable) builds, the flag is enabled by default.

Kotlin

android {
  buildTypes {
    getByName("debug") {
      vcsInfo {
        include = true
      }
    }
  }
}

Groovy

android {
  buildTypes {
    debug {
      vcsInfo {
        include true
      }
    }
  }
}

Now, when you build your app and publish to Google Play, crash reports include the data necessary for the IDE to link to previous versions of your app from the stack trace.

View Crashlytics crash variants in App Quality Insights

To help you analyze the root causes of a crash, you can now use App Quality Insights to view events by issue variants, or groups of events that share similar stack traces. To view events in each variant of a crash report, select a variant from the dropdown. To aggregate information for all variants, select All.

Compose UI Check

To help developers build more adaptive and accessible UIs in Jetpack Compose, Android Studio Iguana Canary 5 introduced a new UI Check mode in Compose Preview. This feature works similar to Visual linting and Accessibility checks integrations for views. When you activate Compose UI Check mode, Android Studio automatically audits your Compose UI and check for adaptive and accessibility issues across different screen sizes, such as text stretched on large screens or low color contrast. The mode highlights issues found in different preview configurations and lists them in the problems panel.

Try out this feature today by clicking on the UI Check button on Compose Preview and send your feedback:

Click the Compose UI Check mode button to activate the check.

Known issues of UI Check Mode:

  • Selected issue in the problem panel might lose focus
  • "Suppress rule" doesn't work
Compose UI Check mode activated with details in the problems panel.

Progressive Rendering for Compose Preview

Android Studio Iguana Canary 3 introduces Progressive Rendering in Compose Preview. As part of a continual effort to make previews more performant, now for any preview that is out of view, we purposely decrease their render quality to save memory used.

This feature is developed with the goal to further improve the usability of Previews by being able to handle more previews at the same time in a file. Try it out today and submit your feedback.

IntelliJ IDEA 2023.2 platform update

Android Studio Iguana includes the IntelliJ IDEA 2023.2 updates, which improve the Studio IDE experience. For details on the changes, see the IntelliJ IDEA 2023.2 release notes.

Baseline Profiles module wizard

Starting with Android Studio Iguana, you can generate Baseline Profiles for your app using the Baseline Profile Generator template in the new module wizard (File > New > New Module).

This template sets up your project so that it can support Baseline Profiles. It uses the new Baseline Profiles Gradle plugin, which automates the process of setting up your project in the required way with one Gradle task.

The template also creates a run configuration that lets you generate a Baseline Profile with one click from the Select Run/Debug Configuration drop-down list.

Test against configuration changes with the Espresso Device API

Use the Espresso Device API to test your app when the device undergoes common configuration changes, such as rotation and screen unfolding. The Espresso Device API lets you simulate these configuration changes on a virtual device and executes your tests synchronously, so only one UI action or assertion happens at a time and your test results are more reliable. Learn more about how to write UI tests with Espresso.

To use the Espresso Device API, you need the following:

  • Android Studio Iguana or higher
  • Android Gradle plugin 8.3 or higher
  • Android Emulator 33.1.10 or higher
  • Android virtual device that runs API level 24 or higher

Set up your project for the Espresso Device API

To set up your project so it supports the Espresso Device API, do the following:

  1. To let the test pass commands to the test device, add the INTERNET and ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE permissions to the manifest file in the androidTest source set:

      <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
      <uses-permission android:name="android.permissions.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
  2. Enable the enableEmulatorControl experimental flag in the gradle.properties file:

      android.experimental.androidTest.enableEmulatorControl=true
  3. Enable the emulatorControl option in the module-level build script:

    Kotlin

      testOptions {
        emulatorControl {
          enable = true
        }
      }

    Groovy

      testOptions {
        emulatorControl {
          enable = true
        }
      }
  4. In the module-level build script, import the Espresso Device library into your project:

    Kotlin

      dependencies {
        androidTestImplementation("androidx.test.espresso:espresso-device:3.5.1")
      }

    Groovy

      dependencies {
        androidTestImplementation 'androidx.test.espresso:espresso-device:3.5.1'
      }

Test against common configuration changes

The Espresso Device API has multiple screen orientation and foldable states that you can use to simulate device configuration changes.

Test against screen rotation

Here's an example of how to test what happens to your app when the device screen rotates:

  1. First, for a consistent starting state set the device to portrait mode:

      import androidx.test.espresso.device.action.ScreenOrientation
      import androidx.test.espresso.device.rules.ScreenOrientationRule
      ...
      @get:Rule
      val screenOrientationRule: ScreenOrientationRule = ScreenOrientationRule(ScreenOrientation.PORTRAIT)
  2. Create a test that sets the device to landscape orientation during test execution:

      @Test
      fun myRotationTest() {
        ...
        // Sets the device to landscape orientation during test execution.
        onDevice().setScreenOrientation(ScreenOrientation.LANDSCAPE)
        ...
      }
  3. After the screen rotates, check that the UI adapts to the new layout as expected:

      @Test
      fun myRotationTest() {
        ...
        // Sets the device to landscape orientation during test execution.
        onDevice().setScreenOrientation(ScreenOrientation.LANDSCAPE)
        composeTestRule.onNodeWithTag("NavRail").assertIsDisplayed()
        composeTestRule.onNodeWithTag("BottomBar").assertDoesNotExist()
      }

Test against screen unfolding

Here's an example of how to test what happens to your app if it's on a foldable device and the screen unfolds:

  1. First, test with the device in the folded state by calling onDevice().setClosedMode(). Make sure that your app's layout adapts to the compact screen width:

      @Test
      fun myUnfoldedTest() {
        onDevice().setClosedMode()
        composeTestRule.onNodeWithTag("BottomBar").assetIsDisplayed()
        composeTestRule.onNodeWithTag("NavRail").assetDoesNotExist()
        ...
      }
  2. To transition to a fully unfolded state, call onDevice().setFlatMode(). Check that the app’s layout adapts to the expanded size class:

      @Test
      fun myUnfoldedTest() {
        onDevice().setClosedMode()
        ...
        onDevice().setFlatMode()
        composeTestRule.onNodeWithTag("NavRail").assertIsDisplayed()
        composeTestRule.onNodeWithTag("BottomBar").assetDoesNotExist()
      }

Specify what devices your tests need

If you're running a test that performs folding actions on a device that isn't foldable, the test usually fails. To execute only the tests that are relevant to the running device, use the @RequiresDeviceMode annotation. The test runner automatically skips running tests on devices that don't support the configuration being tested. You can add the device requirement rule to each test or an entire test class.

For example, to specify that a test should only be run on devices that support unfolding to a flat configuration, add the following @RequiresDeviceMode code to your test:

@Test
@RequiresDeviceMode(mode = FLAT)
fun myUnfoldedTest() {
  ...
}