Android¶

Here are the specific properties you can configure for the Android output:

Declaring Android libraries
SDK versions
Custom Android Manifest
Android External projects
Android template path
MutiDex
Network Security Configuration

Declaring Android libraries¶

External Jar¶

Please refer to the dedicated documentation to learn how to add external Android libraries.

Gradle dependencies¶

Gradle remote dependencies and remote repositories can be declared in the <specific><android> tag of URS. Use the <gradleproperties> tag to add a <dependency> and/or a <repository> to your Android project.

For example, to declare an Android remote dependency com.example.android:app-magic:12.3 and an Android remote repository https://repo.example.com/maven2 :

<specific>
    <android>
        <gradleproperties>
            <dependency groupname="com.example.android" name="app-magic" version="12.3"/>
            <repository type="maven" url="https://repo.example.com/maven2" />
        </gradleproperties>
    </android>
</specific>

SDK versions¶

It may happen that you do not want your application to support all Android OS version. This can be configured using the minSdkVersion, targetSdkVersion and maxSdkVersion attributes of the URS. The attributes will be explained further in the documentation but refer to the Android official documentation: https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/uses-sdk-element.html#uses to have all the information.

<urs>
    [...]
    <specific>
        <android
            minSdkVersion=""
            targetSdkVersion=""
            maxSdkVersion=""
            >
        </android>
    </specific>
</urs>

Min SDK Version

Specifies the minimum API Level on which the application is able to run.

Note

NeoMAD supports API Level 19 or greater for minSdkVersion

Max SDK Version

Specifies the maximum API Level on which the application is able to run. By default, this value is not filled.

Target SDK Version

Specifies the API Level on which the application is designed to run. In some cases, this allows the application 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.

Note

NeoMAD supports API Level 24 or greater for targetSdkVersion

API Levels

Platform Version	API Level	VERSION_CODE
Android 10.0	29	Android 10
Android 9.0	28	Pie
Android 8.1, Android 8.0	27 26	O_MR1 O (Oreo)
Android 7.1, 7.1.1 Android 7.0	25 24	N_MR1 N (Nougat)
Android 6.0	23	M (MarshMallow)
Android 5.1 Android 5.0	22 21	LOLLIPOP_MR1 LOLLIPOP
Android 4.4W Android 4.4	20 19	KITKAT_WATCH KITKAT

This is a partial part of the Android API levels. To have a complete vision please refers to the Android official documentation https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/uses-sdk-element.html#ApiLevels.

Custom Android Manifest¶

Developers who want to add specific content to the manifest can use a template to create their own manifest files.

This template is located at:

NeoMAD_Installation_directory/fromSdk/android/androidManifest.xml

The content of this template is the same as the default one used by NeoMAD.

If the default Android manifest provided by NeoMAD is not sufficient for your application or if you need to activate options for a specific target, you can create your own manifest.

Copy/paste the template wherever you want in the project and add your specific content. Then, tell NeoMAD to use your manifest file by using the <androidmanifest> tag in the URS file.

Warning

You may notice some words beginning with “$”, like “$VERSION”. These tags are used by NeoMAD to automatically substitute data picked from the URS file. This is why your manifest file must be based on the template provided by NeoMAD. All the options declared in the manifest template using these tags MUST be kept and MUST NOT be overridden.

Example

<urs>
    [...]
    <androidmanifest path="path/to/MyAndroidManifest.xml">
</urs>

Android External projects¶

The specific code may rely on an entire external Android project to work. To import such a project in the specific code, declare it using the tag <specific><android><project>.

<specific>
   <android>
      <!-- Android third party reference project -->
      <project path="lib/my-third-party-project" />
   </android>
</specific>

Android projects should respect the following file tree:

Android template path¶

NeoMAD is based on a template folder to generate the Android Studio project when building for an Android target. This template folder is located at:

platforms/android/AndroidStudio/templates

For very specific need when specific code is used, you may need to customize that templates (to declare a particular dependency in the build.gradle for example). In order to do that, just copy the NeoMAD template directory in your project and complete it with your specific needs. Then the new template directory must be referenced in the URS file to replace the NeoMAD template directory at buid time.

<specific>
   <android templatePath="path-to-my-custom-template-directory">
   </android>
</specific>

Warning

You may notice some words beginning with “$” (like “$VERSION”) and some files with extension .tpl. These tags are used by NeoMAD to automatically substitute data picked from the URS file. Be sure to keep these tags when completing the templates to be sure that the project still build.

MutiDex¶

As specified in the Android documentation (https://developer.android.com/studio/build/multidex), when your app and the libraries it references exceed 65,536 methods, you encounter a build error that indicates your app has reached the limit of the Android build architecture:

trouble writing output:
Too many field references: 131000; max is 65536.
You may try using --multi-dex option.

or:

Conversion to Dalvik format failed:
Unable to execute dex: method ID not in [0, 0xffff]: 65536

To avoid these errors, the “multidex” option must be activated in the URS file:

<specific>
   <android multiDexEnabled="true">
   </android>
</specific>

The application will build using the Android multidex library and this will fix the 65,536 methods limitation. Be aware that applications that use multidex may encounter some limitations (see https://developer.android.com/studio/build/multidex). Before using multidex try to avoid the 64K limitation by reviewing your code, limiting the dependencies or optimizing the source code with proguard.

Network Security Configuration¶

NeoMAD now supports Network Security Configuration as specified in Android documentation : https://developer.android.com/training/articles/security-config. It allows you to declare specific network security configuration for your application without modifying the source code. Please consult the Android documentation for more information about this feature.

To declare a Network Security Configuration file in NeoMAD:

Create your network_security_config.xml as specified in the Android documentation
Put the network_security_config.xml into the res/xml folder of the NeoMAD project
If any raw files are required by the network_security_config.xml file, put them into the res/raw folder
Declare the network_security_config.xml file in the URS (nothing to declare for associated raw files)

<specific>
   <android networkSecurityConfig="res/xml/network_security_config.xml">
   </android>
</specific>