Version your app

Versioning is a critical component of your app upgrade and maintenance strategy. Versioning is important because:

  • Users need to have specific information about the app version that is installed on their devices and the upgrade versions available for installation.
  • Other apps—including other apps that you publish as a suite—need to query the system for your app's version to determine compatibility and identify dependencies.
  • Services where you publish your app(s) may also need to query your app for its version so that they can display the version to users. A publishing service may also need to check the app version to determine compatibility and establish upgrade/downgrade relationships.

The Android system uses your app's version information to protect against downgrades. The system doesn't use app version information to enforce restrictions on upgrades or compatibility of third-party apps. Your app must enforce any version restrictions and tell users about them.

The Android system enforces system version compatibility, as expressed by the minSdk setting in the build files. This setting lets an app specify the minimum system API that it is compatible with. For more information about API requirements, see Specify API level requirements.

Versioning requirements vary between different projects. However, many developers consider Semantic Versioning a good basis for a versioning strategy.

Set app version information

To define the version information for your app, set values for the version settings in the Gradle build files:

Groovy

    android {
      namespace 'com.example.testapp'
      compileSdk 33

      defaultConfig {
          applicationId "com.example.testapp"
          minSdk 24
          targetSdk 33
          versionCode 1
          versionName "1.0"
          ...
      }
      ...
    }
    ...

Kotlin

    android {
      namespace = "com.example.testapp"
      compileSdk = 33

      defaultConfig {
          applicationId = "com.example.testapp"
          minSdk = 24
          targetSdk = 33
          versionCode = 1
          versionName = "1.0"
          ...
      }
      ...
    }
    ...

Version settings

Define values for both of the version settings available: versionCode and versionName.

versionCode
A positive integer used as an internal version number. This number helps determine whether one version is more recent than another, with higher numbers indicating more recent versions. This is not the version number shown to users; that number is set by the versionName setting. The Android system uses the versionCode value to protect against downgrades by preventing users from installing an APK with a lower versionCode than the version currently installed on their device.

The value is a positive integer so that other apps can programmatically evaluate it—to check an upgrade or downgrade relationship, for instance. You can set the value to any positive integer. However, make sure that each successive release of your app uses a greater value.

Note: The greatest value Google Play allows for versionCode is 2100000000.

You can't upload an APK to the Play Store with a versionCode you have already used for a previous version.

Note: In some situations, you might want to upload a version of your app with a lower versionCode than the most recent version. For example, if you are publishing multiple APKs, you might have pre-set versionCode ranges for specific APKs. For more about assigning versionCode values for multiple APKs, see Assigning version codes.

Typically, you release the first version of your app with versionCode set to 1, then monotonically increase the value with each release, regardless of whether the release constitutes a major or minor release. This means that the versionCode value doesn't necessarily resemble the app release version that is visible to the user. Apps and publishing services shouldn't display this version value to users.

versionName

A string used as the version number shown to users. This setting can be specified as a raw string or as a reference to a string resource.

The value is a string so that you can describe the app version as a <major>.<minor>.<point> string or as any other type of absolute or relative version identifier. The versionName is the only value displayed to users.

Define version values

You can define default values for these settings by including them in the defaultConfig {} block, nested inside the android {} block of your module's build.gradle or build.gradle.kts file. You can then override these default values for different versions of your app by defining separate values for individual build types or product flavors. The following file shows the versionCode and versionName settings in the defaultConfig {} block, as well as the productFlavors {} block.

These values are then merged into your app's manifest file during the build process.

Groovy

    android {
        ...
        defaultConfig {
            ...
            versionCode 2
            versionName "1.1"
        }
        productFlavors {
            demo {
                ...
                versionName "1.1-demo"
            }
            full {
                ...
            }
        }
    }

Kotlin

    android {
        ...
        defaultConfig {
            ...
            versionCode = 2
            versionName = "1.1"
        }
        productFlavors {
            create("demo") {
                ...
                versionName = "1.1-demo"
            }
            create("full") {
                ...
            }
        }
    }

In the defaultConfig {} block of this example, the versionCode value indicates that the current APK contains the second release of the app, and the versionName string specifies that it will appear to users as version 1.1. This file also defines two product flavors, "demo" and "full." Since the "demo" product flavor defines versionName as "1.1-demo", the "demo" build uses this versionName instead of the default value. The "full" product flavor block doesn't define versionName, so it uses the default value of "1.1".

Note: If your app defines the app version directly in the <manifest> element, the version values in the Gradle build file override the settings in the manifest. Additionally, defining these settings in the Gradle build files lets you specify different values for different versions of your app. For greater flexibility and to avoid potential overwriting when the manifest is merged, remove these attributes from the <manifest> element and define your version settings in the Gradle build files instead.

The Android framework provides an API to let you query the system for version information about your app. To obtain version information, use the PackageManager.getPackageInfo(java.lang.String, int) method.

Specify API level requirements

If your app requires a specific minimum version of the Android platform, you can specify that version requirement as API level settings in the app's build.gradle or build.gradle.kts file. During the build process, these settings are merged into your app's manifest file. Specifying API level requirements ensures that your app can only be installed on devices that are running a compatible version of the Android platform.

Note: If you specify API level requirements directly in your app's manifest file, the corresponding settings in the build files will override the settings in the manifest file. Additionally, defining these settings in the Gradle build files lets you specify different values for different versions of your app. For greater flexibility and to avoid potential overwriting when the manifest is merged, remove these attributes from the <uses-sdk> element and define your API level settings in the Gradle build files instead.

There are two API level settings available:

  • minSdk — The minimum version of the Android platform on which the app will run, specified by the platform's API level identifier.
  • targetSdk — The API level on which the app is designed to run. In some cases, this allows the app to use manifest elements or behaviors defined in the target API level, rather than being restricted to using only those defined for the minimum API level.

To specify default API level requirements in a build.gradle or build.gradle.kts file, add one or more of the API level settings to the defaultConfig{} block, nested inside the android {} block. You can also override these default values for different versions of your app by adding the settings to build types or product flavors.

The following file specifies default minSdk and targetSdk settings in the defaultConfig {} block and overrides minSdk for one product flavor:

Groovy

android {
    ...
    defaultConfig {
        ...
        minSdk 21
        targetSdk 33
    }
    productFlavors {
        main {
            ...
        }
        afterNougat {
            ...
            minSdk 24
        }
    }
}

Kotlin

android {
    ...
    defaultConfig {
        ...
        minSdk = 21
        targetSdk = 33
    }
    productFlavors {
        create("main") {
            ...
        }
        create("afterNougat") {
            ...
            minSdk = 24
        }
    }
}

When preparing to install your app, the system checks the value of these settings and compares them to the system version. If the minSdk value is greater than the system version, the system prevents the installation of the app.

If you don't specify these settings, the system assumes that your app is compatible with all platform versions. This is equivalent to setting minSdk to 1.

For more information, see What is API Level?. For Gradle build settings, see Configure build variants.