Upgrading the SDK

For the current SDK release, see the links under Current SDK Release in the side navigation.

This guide will help you migrate your development environment and applications to version 1.0, release 1, of the Android SDK. Use this guide if you've been developing applications on a different version of the Android SDK.

To ensure that your applications are compliant with the Android 1.0 system available on mobile devices, you need to install the new SDK and port your existing Android applications to the updated API. The sections below guide you through the process.

Install the new SDK

After unpacking the SDK, you should:

  • Wipe your emulator data.

    Some data formats have changed since the last SDK release, so any previously saved data in your emulator must be removed. Open a console/terminal and navigate to the /tools directory of your SDK. Launch the emulator with the -wipe-data option.

    Windows: emulator -wipe-data
    Mac/Linux: ./emulator -wipe-data

  • Update your PATH variable (Mac/Linux; optional).

    If you had previously setup your PATH variable to point to the SDK tools directory, then you'll need to update it to point to the new SDK. E.g., for a .bashrc or .bash_profile file: export PATH=$PATH:<your_new_sdk_dir>/tools

Update your ADT Eclipse Plugin

If you develop on Eclipse and are using the ADT plugin, follow these steps to install the plugin that's required for this version of the SDK.

Eclipse 3.3 (Europa)Eclipse 3.4 (Ganymede)
  1. Download the ADT v0.8.0 zip file (do not unpack it).
  2. Start Eclipse, then select Help > Software Updates > Find and Install....
  3. In the dialog that appears, select Search for new features to install and click Next.
  4. Click New Archive Site...
  5. Browse and select the downloaded the zip file.
  6. You should now see the new site added to the search list (and checked). Click Finish.
  7. In the subsequent Search Results dialog box, select the checkbox for Android Plugin > Developer Tools. This will check both features: "Android Developer Tools", and "Android Editors". The Android Editors feature is optional, but recommended. If you choose to install it, you need the WST plugin mentioned earlier in this page. Click Next.
  8. Read the license agreement and then select Accept terms of the license agreement. Click Next.
  9. Click Finish.
  10. The ADT plugin is not signed; you can accept the installation anyway by clicking Install All.
  11. Restart Eclipse.
  1. Download the ADT v0.8.0 zip file (do not unpack it).
  2. Start Eclipse, then select Help > Software Updates....
  3. In the dialog that appears, click the Available Software tab.
  4. Click Add Site..., then Archive....
  5. Browse and select the downloaded the zip file.
  6. Back in the Available Software view, you should see the plugin. Select the checkbox next to Developer Tools and click Install...
  7. On the subsequent Install window, "Android Developer Tools", and "Android Editors" should both be checked. The Android Editors feature is optional, but recommended. If you choose to install it, you need the WST plugin mentioned earlier in this page. Click Next.
  8. Accept the license agreement and click Finish.
  9. Restart Eclipse.

After restart, update your Eclipse preferences to point to the SDK directory:

  1. Select Window > Preferences... to open the Preferences panel. (Mac OSX: Eclipse > Preferences)
  2. Select Android from the left panel.
  3. For the SDK Location in the main panel, click Browse... and locate the SDK directory.
  4. Click Apply, then OK.

Set Up Application Signing

All applications must now be signed before you can install them on the emulator. Both the ADT plugin and the Ant-based build tools support this requirement by signing compiled .apk files with a debug key. To do so, the build tools use the Keytool utility included in the JDK to to create a keystore and a key with a known alias and password. For more information, see "Signing and Publishing Your App" in the documentation included with the SDK.

To support signing, you should first make sure that Keytool is available to the SDK build tools. In most cases, you can tell the SDK build tools how to find Keytool by making sure that your JAVA_HOME environment variable is set and that it references a suitable JDK. Alternatively, you can add the JDK version of Keytool to your PATH variable.

If you are developing on a version of Linux that originally came with Gnu Compiler for Java, make sure that the system is using the JDK version of Keytool, rather than the gcj version. If keytool is already in your PATH, it might be pointing to a symlink at /usr/bin/keytool. In this case, check the symlink target to make sure that it points to the keytool in the JDK.

If you use Ant to build your .apk files (rather than ADT for Eclipse), you must regenerate your build.xml file. To do that, follow these steps:

  1. In your Android application project directory, locate and delete the current build.xml file.
  2. Run activitycreator, directing output to the folder containing your application project. 
    - exec activitycreator --out <project folder> your.activity.YourActivity

Run in this way, activitycreator will not erase or create new Java files (or manifest files), provided the activity and package already exists. It is important that the package and the activity are real. The tool creates a new build.xml file, as well as a new directory called "libs" in which to place 3rd jar files, which are now automatically handled by the Ant script.

Migrate your applications

If (and only if) you have written apps in an SDK released previous to the Android 1.0 SDK, you will need to migrate your applications. After updating your SDK, you may encounter breakages in your code, due to framework and API changes. You'll need to update your code to match changes in the Android APIs.

One way to start is to open your project in Eclipse and see where the ADT identifies errors in your application. You can also look up specific changes in the Android APIs in the Overview of Changes and API Diffs Report, both available in the documentation included with the Android 1.0 SDK package.

If you have additional trouble updating your code, visit the Android Developers Group to seek help from other Android developers.

If you have modified one of the ApiDemos applications and would like to migrate it to the new SDK, note that you will need to uninstall the version of ApiDemos that comes preinstalled in the emulator.