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androidapi
Jonah Kunz
Jonah Kunz

Reputation: 670

Change Android API Level on my Phone

I am a bit new to mobile development. I have been using my GS7 to debug the app I am creating and I have an add-on that requires API level 25. My phone is currently running version 24. Is it possible to change the API level of the device?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 3994

Answers (2)

cutiko
cutiko

Reputation: 10537

You can do it by updating the operative system on your phone. The problem is most of the phone manufacturers cook the OS to highlight flagship features and to create a unique user experience (in my opinion, is a bad strategy which causes more problems than the added value). Since the OS is coocked there might not be an upgrade for your phone.

Here is a table with the API level and the name of the OS.

The most common solution for this is to use an emulator. If you are working in Mac there would be no trouble on using the default emulator, but in Windows or Linux Genymotion is recommended.

To be clear, there is no such a thing as changing the API level on your Android phone by code from an app. You have to update the OS.

Sometimes using target API code can be solved by other means, making your app compatible with older devices. Sometimes is simply using another class, other times there is a compatibility class, and worst case scenario is using an if statement where you check the OS version.

Upvotes: 3

JDenais
JDenais

Reputation: 3016

If you need to test a feature that requires api 25, then you should probably do it on the emulator.

It's gotten really good. I do most of my work on it.

https://developer.android.com/studio/run/emulator.html

Upvotes: 0

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