Will Android app developed on Android 4.1 run Android 2.3.2?

Question

Today I started observing some new kind of error which does not allow me to create a new Android application in Eclipse. It says "Update Tools", Your tools installation appears to be out of date. This wizard depends on templates distributed with the Android SDK Tools...."

I have android 2.2 API 8 which I thought is stable when I started working. Can some one suggest me what this error? Or do I need to update to Android 4.1 API 16? Will the existing project run on that version?

Here are the errors when I tried to update to 2.3.3:

[2012-09-29 18:17:22 - SDK Manager] File not found: C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\temp\platform-tools_r14-windows.zip (Access is denied)
[2012-09-29 18:17:23 - SDK Manager] File not found: C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\temp\usb_driver_r07-windows.zip (Access is denied)
[2012-09-29 18:17:24 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'Android SDK Tools, revision 20.0.3'; it depends on 'Android SDK Platform-tools, revision 14' which was not installed.
[2012-09-29 18:18:56 - SDK Manager] File not found: C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\temp\android-2.3.3_r02-linux.zip (Access is denied)
[2012-09-29 18:18:57 - SDK Manager] File not found: C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\temp\samples-2.3.3_r01-linux.zip (Access is denied)
[2012-09-29 18:18:58 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'Google APIs, Android API 10, revision 2'; it depends on 'SDK Platform Android 2.3.3, API 10, revision 2' which was not installed.
[2012-09-29 18:18:58 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'Intel Atom x86 System Image, Android API 10, revision 1'; it depends on 'SDK Platform Android 2.3.3, API 10, revision 2' which was not installed.
[2012-09-29 18:18:58 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'Dual Screen APIs, Android API 10, revision 1'; it depends on 'SDK Platform Android 2.3.3, API 10, revision 2' which was not installed.
[2012-09-29 18:18:58 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'Real3D, Android API 10, revision 2'; it depends on 'SDK Platform Android 2.3.3, API 10, revision 2' which was not installed.
[2012-09-29 18:18:58 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'ADMIRAL, Android API 10, revision 5'; it depends on 'SDK Platform Android 2.3.3, API 10, revision 2' which was not installed.
[2012-09-29 18:18:58 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'ATRIX2, Android API 10, revision 2'; it depends on 'SDK Platform Android 2.3.3, API 10, revision 2' which was not installed.
[2012-09-29 18:18:58 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'Bionic, Android API 10, revision 2'; it depends on 'SDK Platform Android 2.3.3, API 10, revision 2' which was not installed.
[2012-09-29 18:18:58 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'defy+, Android API 10, revision 1'; it depends on 'SDK Platform Android 2.3.3, API 10, revision 2' which was not installed.
[2012-09-29 18:18:58 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'Droid4, Android API 10, revision 2'; it depends on 'SDK Platform Android 2.3.3, API 10, revision 2' which was not installed.
[2012-09-29 18:18:58 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'DroidRAZR, Android API 10, revision 5'; it depends on 'SDK Platform Android 2.3.3, API 10, revision 2' which was not installed.
[2012-09-29 18:18:58 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'MotorolaPro+, Android API 10, revision 2'; it depends on 'SDK Platform Android 2.3.3, API 10, revision 2' which was not installed.
[2012-09-29 18:18:58 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'MT870, Android API 10, revision 2'; it depends on 'SDK Platform Android 2.3.3, API 10, revision 2' which was not installed.
[2012-09-29 18:18:58 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'MT917, Android API 10, revision 1'; it depends on 'SDK Platform Android 2.3.3, API 10, revision 2' which was not installed.
[2012-09-29 18:18:58 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'PHOTON, Android API 10, revision 1'; it depends on 'SDK Platform Android 2.3.3, API 10, revision 2' which was not installed.
[2012-09-29 18:18:58 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'XT882, Android API 10, revision 2'; it depends on 'SDK Platform Android 2.3.3, API 10, revision 2' which was not installed.
[2012-09-29 18:18:58 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'XT928, Android API 10, revision 3'; it depends on 'SDK Platform Android 2.3.3, API 10, revision 2' which was not installed.
[2012-09-29 18:18:58 - SDK Manager] Skipping 'Sony Xperia Extensions EDK 2.0, Android API 10, revision 2'; it depends on 'SDK Platform Android 2.3.3, API 10, revision 2' which was not installed.

Answer 1

• Right Click SDK Manager
• Select Run As Administrator
• Click the YES button

Answer 2

best things to do that is recommended by google is to use the latest version of the sdk version.

set the targetSdkVersion to the latest one (currently it's 16) and also set it in the project.properties file . this will allow your app to be optimized for the newest android version and also allow you to use the latest classes and functions . you also get fuller API javadocs and more constants.

of course , you need to know that if you use a function or a class that is supported only on a new version , the app will crush on old versions . constants are safe to use since they are converted to simple strings and values .

that's why you should run Lint before you publish the app , to make sure that such a thing won't happen.

Answer 3

You can safely update your Android SDK tools and still support Android 2.2 (API 8). Once you download the SDK tools, you can choose for which platforms you want to develop, and there you can select API 8. Anything you develop for Android 2.2 will work for Android 4.1.