The Android Support Library package contains several libraries that can be included in your application. Each of these libraries supports a specific range of Android platform versions and set of features.
This guide explains the important features and version support provided by the Support Libraries to help you decide which of them you should include in your application. In general, we recommend including the v4 support and v7 appcompat libraries, because they support a wide range of Android versions and provide APIs for recommended user interface patterns.
In order to use any of the following libraries, you must download the library files to your Android SDK installation. Follow the directions for downloading the Support Libraries in Support Library Setup to complete this step. You must take additional steps to include a specific Support Library in your application. See the end of each library section below for important information on how to include the library in your application.
v4 Support Library
This library is designed to be used with Android 1.6 (API level 4) and higher. It includes the largest set of APIs compared to the other libraries, including support for application components, user interface features, accessibility, data handling, network connectivity, and programming utilities. Here are a few of the key classes included in the v4 library:
- App Components
Fragment- Adds support encapsulation of user interface and functionality with Fragments, enabling applications provide layouts that adjust between small and large-screen devices.
NotificationCompat- Adds support for rich notification features.
LocalBroadcastManager- Allows applications to easily register for and receive intents within a single application without broadcasting them globally.
- User Interface
ViewPager- Adds aViewGroupthat manages the layout for the child views, which the user can swipe between.PagerTitleStrip- Adds a non-interactive title strip, that can be added as a child ofViewPager.PagerTabStrip- Adds a navigation widget for switching between paged views, that can also be used withViewPager.DrawerLayout- Adds support for creating a Navigation Drawer that can be pulled in from the edge of a window.SlidingPaneLayout- Adds widget for creating linked summary and detail views that appropriately adapt to various screen sizes.
- Accessibility
ExploreByTouchHelper- Adds a helper class for implementing accessibility support for custom views.
AccessibilityEventCompat- Adds support forAccessibilityEvent. For more information about implementing accessibility, see Accessibility.
AccessibilityNodeInfoCompat- Adds support forAccessibilityNodeInfo.
AccessibilityNodeProviderCompat- Adds support forAccessibilityNodeProvider.
AccessibilityDelegateCompat- Adds support forView.AccessibilityDelegate.
- Content
Loader- Adds support for asynchronous loading of data. The library also provides concrete implementations of this class, includingCursorLoaderandAsyncTaskLoader.
FileProvider- Adds support for sharing of private files between applications.
There are many other APIs included in this library. For complete, detailed information about the
v4 Support Library APIs, see the android.support.v4 package in the
API reference.
This library is located in the <sdk>/extras/android/support/v4/ directory after
you download the Android Support Libraries. This library does not contain user interface
resources. To include it in your application project, follow the instructions for
adding libraries without
resources.
The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:
com.android.support:support-v4:18.0.+
This dependency notation specifies the release version 18.0.0 or higher.
v7 Libraries
There are several libraries designed to be used with Android 2.1 (API level 7) and higher. These libraries provide specific feature sets and can be included in your application independently from each other.
v7 appcompat library
This library adds support for the Action Bar user interface design pattern.
Note: This library depends on the v4 Support Library. If you are using Ant or Eclipse, make sure you include the v4 Support Library as part of this library's classpath.
Here are a few of the key classes included in the v7 appcompat library:
ActionBar- Provides an implementation of the action bar user interface pattern. For more information on using the Action Bar, see the Action Bar developer guide.ActionBarActivity- Adds an application activity class that must be used as a base class for activities that uses the Support Library action bar implementation.ShareActionProvider- Adds support for a standardized sharing action (such as email or posting to social applications) that can be included in an action bar.
This library is located in the <sdk>/extras/android/support/v7/appcompat/
directory after you download the Android Support Libraries. This library contains user
interface resources. To include it in your application project, follow the instructions for
adding libraries with
resources.
The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:
com.android.support:appcompat-v7:18.0.+
This dependency notation specifies the release version 18.0.0 or higher.
v7 gridlayout library
This library adds support for the GridLayout class, which
allows you to arrange user interface elements using a grid of rectangular cells.
For detailed information about the v7 gridlayout library APIs, see the
android.support.v7.widget package in the API reference.
This library is located in the <sdk>/extras/android/support/v7/gridlayout/
directory after you download the Android Support Libraries. This library contains user
interface resources. To include it in your application project, follow the instructions for
adding libraries with
resources.
The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:
com.android.support:gridlayout-v7:18.0.+
This dependency notation specifies the release version 18.0.0 or higher.
v7 mediarouter library
This library provides MediaRouter, MediaRouteProvider, and related media classes that
support Google Cast.
In general, the APIs in the v7 mediarouter library provide a means of
controlling the routing of media channels and streams from the current device to
external screens, speakers, and other destination devices. The library includes
APIs for publishing app-specific media route providers, for discovering and
selecting destination devices, for checking media status, and more. For detailed
information about the v7 mediarouter library APIs, see the
android.support.v7.media package in the API
reference.
The v7 mediarouter library is located in the
<sdk>/extras/android/support/v7/mediarouter/ directory after
you download the Android Support Library. It's provided as a library project
with a dependency on the v7 appcompat library, so you'll need to include both
libraries in your build path when setting up your project. For more information
on how to set up your project, follow the instructions in adding libraries
with resources. If you are developing in Eclipse/ADT, make sure to include
both the android-support-v7-mediarouter.jar and
android-support-v7-appcompat.jar files.
If you are using Android Studio, all you need to do is specify the Gradle build
script dependency identifier com.android.support:support-v7-mediarouter:<revision>,
where "18.0.0" is the minimum revision at which the library is available. For example:
com.android.support:mediarouter-v7:18.0.+
The v7 mediarouter library APIs introduced in Support Library r18 are subject to change in later revisions of the Support Library. At this time, we recommend using the library only in connection with Google Cast.
v8 Support Library
This library is designed to be used with Android (API level 8) and higher. It adds support for
the RenderScript computation
framework. These APIs are included in the android.support.v8.renderscript package. You
should be aware that the steps for including these APIs in your application is very
different from other support library APIs. For more information about using these APIs
in your application, see the
RenderScript
developer guide.
Note: Use of RenderScript with the support library is supported with the Android Eclipse plugin and Ant build tools. It is not currently supported with Android Studio or Gradle-based builds.
v13 Support Library
This library is designed to be used for Android 3.2 (API level 13) and higher. It adds support
for the Fragment user interface pattern
with the (FragmentCompat) class and additional fragment support
classes For more information about fragments, see the
Fragments developer guide. For detailed
information about the v13 Support Library APIs, see the android.support.v13 package in the API reference.
This library is located in the <sdk>/extras/android/support/v13/ directory after
you download the Android Support Libraries. This library does not contain user interface
resources. To include it in your application project, follow the instructions for
adding libraries without
resources.
The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:
com.android.support:support-v13:18.0.+
This dependency notation specifies the release version 18.0.0 or higher.