page.title=Support Library Features @jd:body <div id="qv-wrapper"> <div id="qv"> <h2>In this document</h2> <ol> <li><a href="#v4">v4 Support Library</a></li> <li><a href="#multidex">Multidex Support Library</a></li> <li><a href="#v7">v7 Support Libraries</a> <ol> <li><a href="#v7-appcompat">v7 appcompat library</a></li> <li><a href="#v7-cardview">v7 cardview library</a></li> <li><a href="#v7-gridlayout">v7 gridlayout library</a></li> <li><a href="#v7-mediarouter">v7 mediarouter library</a></li> <li><a href="#v7-palette">v7 palette library</a></li> <li><a href="#v7-recyclerview">v7 recyclerview library</a></li> <li><a href="#v7-preference">v7 preference library</a></li> </ol> </li> <li><a href="#v8">v8 Support Library</a></li> <li><a href="#v13">v13 Support Library</a></li> <li><a href="#v14-preference">v14 Preference Support Library</a></li> <li><a href="#v17-leanback">v17 Leanback Library</a></li> <li><a href="#v17-preference">v17 Preference Library for TV</a></li> <li><a href="#annotations">Annotations Support Library</a></li> <li><a href="#design">Design Support Library</a></li> <li><a href="#custom-tabs">Custom Tabs Support Library</a></li> <li><a href="#percent">Percent Support Library</a></li> <li><a href="#recommendation">Recommendation Support Library for TV</a></li> </ol> <h2>See also</h2> <ol> <li><a href="{@docRoot}topic/libraries/support-library/index.html#revisions"> Support Library Revisions</a></li> <li><a href="{@docRoot}topic/libraries/support-library/setup.html"> Support Library Setup</a></li> <li><a href="{@docRoot}topic/libraries/testing-support-library/index.html"> Testing Support Library</a></li> </ol> </div> </div> <p>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.</p> <p>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 <a href="#v4">v4 support</a> and <a href="#v7-appcompat">v7 appcompat</a> libraries, because they support a wide range of Android versions and provide APIs for recommended user interface patterns.</p> <p>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 <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#download">Support Library Setup</a> 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.</p> <h2 id="v4">v4 Support Library</h2> <p>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:</p> <ul> <li>App Components <ul> <li>{@link android.support.v4.app.Fragment} - Adds support for encapsulation of user interface and functionality with Fragments, enabling applications to provide layouts that adjust between small and large-screen devices. </li> <li>{@link android.support.v4.app.NotificationCompat} - Adds support for rich notification features.</li> <li>{@link android.support.v4.content.LocalBroadcastManager} - Allows applications to easily register for and receive intents within a single application without broadcasting them globally.</li> </ul> </li> <li>User Interface <ul> <li>{@link android.support.v4.view.ViewPager} - Adds a {@link android.view.ViewGroup} that manages the layout for the child views, which the user can swipe between.</li> <li>{@link android.support.v4.view.PagerTitleStrip} - Adds a non-interactive title strip, that can be added as a child of {@link android.support.v4.view.ViewPager}.</li> <li>{@link android.support.v4.view.PagerTabStrip} - Adds a navigation widget for switching between paged views, that can also be used with {@link android.support.v4.view.ViewPager}.</li> <li>{@link android.support.v4.widget.DrawerLayout} - Adds support for creating a <a href="{@docRoot}training/implementing-navigation/nav-drawer.html" >Navigation Drawer</a> that can be pulled in from the edge of a window.</li> <li>{@link android.support.v4.widget.SlidingPaneLayout} - Adds widget for creating linked summary and detail views that appropriately adapt to various screen sizes.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Accessibility <ul> <li>{@link android.support.v4.widget.ExploreByTouchHelper} - Adds a helper class for implementing accessibility support for custom views.</li> <li>{@link android.support.v4.view.accessibility.AccessibilityEventCompat} - Adds support for {@link android.view.accessibility.AccessibilityEvent}. For more information about implementing accessibility, see <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/ui/accessibility/index.html" >Accessibility</a>.</li> <li>{@link android.support.v4.view.accessibility.AccessibilityNodeInfoCompat} - Adds support for {@link android.view.accessibility.AccessibilityNodeInfo}.</li> <li>{@link android.support.v4.view.accessibility.AccessibilityNodeProviderCompat} - Adds support for {@link android.view.accessibility.AccessibilityNodeProvider}.</li> <li>{@link android.support.v4.view.AccessibilityDelegateCompat} - Adds support for {@link android.view.View.AccessibilityDelegate}.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Content <ul> <li>{@link android.support.v4.content.Loader} - Adds support for asynchronous loading of data. The library also provides concrete implementations of this class, including {@link android.support.v4.content.CursorLoader} and {@link android.support.v4.content.AsyncTaskLoader}.</li> <li>{@link android.support.v4.content.FileProvider} - Adds support for sharing of private files between applications.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <p> There are many other APIs included in this library. For complete, detailed information about the v4 Support Library APIs, see the {@link android.support.v4.app android.support.v4} package in the API reference. </p> <p>After you download the Android Support Libraries, this library is located in the {@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/v4/} directory. The library does not contain user interface resources. To include it in your application project, follow the instructions for <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-without-res">Adding libraries without resources</a>.</p> <p class="caution"><strong>Caution:</strong> Using dynamic dependencies, especially for higher version numbers, can cause unexpected version updates and regression incompatibilities.</p> <p>The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:</p> <pre> com.android.support:support-v4:23.3.0 </pre> <h2 id="multidex">Multidex Support Library</h2> <p> This library provides support for building apps with multiple Dalvik Executable (DEX) files. Apps that reference more than 65536 methods are required to use multidex configurations. For more information about using multidex, see <a href="{@docRoot}tools/building/multidex.html"> Building Apps with Over 64K Methods</a>. </p> <p> After you download the Android Support Libraries, this library is located in the {@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/multidex/} directory. The library does not contain user interface resources. To include it in your application project, follow the instructions for <a href= "{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-without-res">Adding libraries without resources</a>. </p> <p> The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows: </p> <pre> com.android.support:multidex:1.0.0 </pre> <h2 id="v7">v7 Support Libraries</h2> <p>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.</p> <h3 id="v7-appcompat">v7 appcompat library</h3> <p>This library adds support for the <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/ui/actionbar.html">Action Bar</a> user interface <a href="{@docRoot}design/patterns/actionbar.html">design pattern</a>. This library includes support for <a href="{@docRoot}design/material/">material design</a> user interface implementations. </p> <p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> This library depends on the v4 Support Library. </p> <p>Here are a few of the key classes included in the v7 appcompat library:</p> <ul> <li>{@link android.support.v7.app.ActionBar} - Provides an implementation of the action bar <a href="{@docRoot}design/patterns/actionbar.html">user interface pattern</a>. For more information on using the Action Bar, see the <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/ui/actionbar.html">Action Bar</a> developer guide. </li> <li>{@link android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity} - Adds an application activity class that can be used as a base class for activities that use the Support Library action bar implementation. </li> <li>{@link android.support.v7.app.AppCompatDialog} - Adds a dialog class that can be used as a base class for AppCompat themed dialogs. </li> <li>{@link android.support.v7.widget.ShareActionProvider} - Adds support for a standardized sharing action (such as email or posting to social applications) that can be included in an action bar. </li> </ul> <p>After you download the Android Support Libraries, this library is located in the {@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/v7/appcompat/} directory. The library contains user interface resources. To include it in your application project, follow the instructions for <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-with-res">Adding libraries with resources</a>.</p> <p>The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:</p> <pre> com.android.support:appcompat-v7:23.3.0 </pre> <h3 id="v7-cardview">v7 cardview library</h3> <p>This library adds support for the {@link android.support.v7.widget.CardView} widget, which lets you show information inside cards that have a consistent look on any app. These cards are useful for material design implementations, and are used extensively in layouts for TV apps.</p> <p>After you download the Android Support Libraries, this library is located in the {@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/v7/cardview/} directory. The library contains user interface resources. To include it in your application project, follow the instructions for <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-with-res">Adding libraries with resources</a>.</p> <p>The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:</p> <pre> com.android.support:cardview-v7:23.3.0 </pre> <h3 id="v7-gridlayout">v7 gridlayout library</h3> <p>After you download the Android Support Libraries, this library adds support for the {@link android.support.v7.widget.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 {@link android.support.v7.widget android.support.v7.widget} package in the API reference.</p> <p>This library is located in the {@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/v7/gridlayout/} directory . The library contains user interface resources. To include it in your application project, follow the instructions for <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-with-res">Adding libraries with resources</a>.</p> <p>The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:</p> <pre> com.android.support:gridlayout-v7:23.3.0 </pre> <h3 id="v7-mediarouter">v7 mediarouter library</h3> <p>This library provides {@link android.support.v7.media.MediaRouter}, {@link android.support.v7.media.MediaRouteProvider}, and related media classes that support <a href="https://developers.google.com/cast/docs/android_sender">Google Cast</a>. </p> <p>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 {@link android.support.v7.media android.support.v7.media} package in the API reference.</p> <p>The v7 mediarouter library is located in the <code><sdk>/extras/android/support/v7/mediarouter/</code> 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 <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-with-res">Adding libraries with resources</a>.</p> <p>The Gradle builder script dependency identifier is as follows: <code>com.android.support:support-v7-mediarouter:<revision></code>, where "<revision>" is the minimum revision at which the library is available. For example:</p> <pre> com.android.support:mediarouter-v7:23.3.0 </pre> <p class="caution">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 <a href="https://developers.google.com/cast/docs/android_sender">Google Cast</a>. </p> <h3 id="v7-palette">v7 palette library</h3> <p>The v7 palette support library includes the {@link android.support.v7.graphics.Palette} class, which lets you extract prominent colors from an image. For example, a music app could use a {@link android.support.v7.graphics.Palette} object to extract the major colors from an album cover, and use those colors to build a color-coordinated song title card.</p> <p>After you download the Android Support Libraries, this library is located in the {@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/v7/palette/} directory. The library does not contain user interface resources. To include it in your application project, follow the instructions for <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-without-res">Adding libraries without resources</a>.</p> <p>The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:</p> <pre> com.android.support:palette-v7:23.3.0 </pre> <h3 id="v7-recyclerview">v7 recyclerview library</h3> <p>The recyclerview library adds the {@link android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView} class. This class provides support for the <a href="{@docRoot}training/material/lists-cards.html">RecyclerView</a> widget, a view for efficiently displaying large data sets by providing a limited window of data items.</p> <p>After you download the Android Support Libraries, this library is located in the {@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/v7/recyclerview/} directory. The library contains user interface resources. To include it in your application project, follow the instructions for <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-with-res">Adding libraries with resources</a>.</p> <p>The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:</p> <pre> com.android.support:recyclerview-v7:23.3.0 </pre> <h3 id="v7-preference">v7 Preference Support Library</h3> <p>The <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/support/v7/preference/package-summary.html">preference</a> package provides APIs to support adding preference objects, such as {@link android.support.v7.preference.CheckBoxPreference} and {@link android.support.v7.preference.ListPreference}, for users to modify UI settings. </p> <p>The v7 Preference library adds support for interfaces, such as {@link android.support.v7.preference.Preference.OnPreferenceChangeListener} and {@link android.support.v7.preference.Preference.OnPreferenceClickListener}, and classes, such as {@link android.support.v7.preference.CheckBoxPreference} and {@link android.support.v7.preference.ListPreference}. </p> <p>After you download the Android Support Libraries, this library is located in the {@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/v7/preference} directory. For more information on how to set up your project, follow the instructions in <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-with-res">Adding libraries with resources</a>. </p> <p>The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:</p> <pre> com.android.support:preference-v7:23.3.0 </pre> <h2 id="v8">v8 Support Library</h2> <p>This library is designed to be used with Android 2.2 (API level 8) and higher. This library provides specific feature sets and can be included in your application independently from other libraries.</p> <h3 id="v8-renderscript">v8 renderscript library</h3> <p>This library is designed to be used with Android (API level 8) and higher. It adds support for the <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/renderscript/compute.html">RenderScript</a> computation framework. These APIs are included in the {@link android.support.v8.renderscript} package. You should be aware that the steps for including these APIs in your application is <em>very different</em> from other support library APIs. For more information about using these APIs in your application, see the <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/renderscript/compute.html#access-rs-apis">RenderScript</a> developer guide.</p> <p class="note"> <strong>Note:</strong> Use of RenderScript with the support library is supported with Android Studio and Gradle-based builds. The renderscript library is located in the <code>build-tools/$VERSION/renderscript/</code> folder. </p> <p>The following example shows the Gradle build script properties for this library:</p> <pre> defaultConfig { renderscriptTargetApi 18 renderscriptSupportModeEnabled true } </pre> <h2 id="v13">v13 Support Library</h2> <p>This library is designed to be used for Android 3.2 (API level 13) and higher. It adds support for the <a href="{@docRoot}guide/components/fragments.html">Fragment</a> user interface pattern with the ({@link android.support.v13.app.FragmentCompat}) class and additional fragment support classes. For more information about fragments, see the <a href="{@docRoot}guide/components/fragments.html">Fragments</a> developer guide. For detailed information about the v13 Support Library APIs, see the {@link android.support.v13.app android.support.v13} package in the API reference. </p> <p>After you download the Android Support Libraries, this library is located in the {@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/v13/} directory. The library does not contain user interface resources. To include it in your application project, follow the instructions for <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-without-res">Adding libraries without resources</a>.</p> <p>The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:</p> <pre> com.android.support:support-v13:23.3.0 </pre> <h2 id="v14-preference">v14 Preference Support Library</h2> <p>The {@link android.support.v14.preference} package provides APIs to add support for preference interfaces such as {@link android.support.v14.preference.PreferenceFragment.OnPreferenceStartFragmentCallback} and {@link android.support.v14.preference.PreferenceFragment.OnPreferenceStartScreenCallback}, along with classes, such as {@link android.support.v14.preference.MultiSelectListPreference} and {@link android.support.v14.preference.PreferenceFragment}. For detailed information about the v14 Preference Support Library APIs, see the <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/support/v14/preference/package-summary.html">preference</a> package in the API reference. </p> <p>After you download the Android Support Libraries, this library is located in the {@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/v14/} directory. The library does not contain user interface resources. To include it in your application project, follow the instructions for <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-without-res">Adding libraries without resources</a>.</p> <p>The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:</p> <pre> com.android.support:preference-v14:23.3.0 </pre> <h2 id="v17-preference">v17 Preference Support Library for TV</h2> <p>The {@link android.support.v17.preference} package provides APIs for providing preference interfaces on TV devices, including support for the {@link android.support.v17.preference.LeanbackListPreferenceDialogFragment.ViewHolder.OnItemClickListener} interface and classes, such as {@link android.support.v17.preference.BaseLeanbackPreferenceFragment} and {@link android.support.v17.preference.LeanbackPreferenceFragment}. For detailed information about the v17 Preference Support Library APIs, see the <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/support/v17/preference/package-summary.html">preference</a> package in the API reference. </p> <p>After you download the Android Support Libraries, this library is located in the {@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/v17/} directory. The library does not contain user interface resources. To include it in your application project, follow the instructions for <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-without-res">Adding libraries without resources</a>.</p> <p>The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:</p> <pre> com.android.support:preference-leanback-v17:23.3.0 </pre> <h2 id="v17-leanback">v17 Leanback Library</h2> <p>The {@link android.support.v17.leanback} package provides APIs to support building user interfaces on TV devices. It provides a number of important widgets for TV apps. Some of the notable classes include:</p> <ul> <li>{@link android.support.v17.leanback.app.BrowseFragment} - A fragment for creating a primary layout for browsing categories and rows of media items.</li> <li>{@link android.support.v17.leanback.app.DetailsFragment} - A wrapper fragment for Leanback details screens.</li> <li>{@link android.support.v17.leanback.app.PlaybackOverlayFragment} - A subclass of {@link android.support.v17.leanback.app.DetailsFragment} for displaying playback controls and related content.</li> <li>{@link android.support.v17.leanback.app.SearchFragment} - A fragment to handle searches. The fragment receives the user's search request and passes it to the application-provided {@link android.support.v17.leanback.app.SearchFragment.SearchResultProvider SearchResultProvider}. The {@link android.support.v17.leanback.app.SearchFragment.SearchResultProvider SearchResultProvider} returns the search results to the {@link android.support.v17.leanback.app.SearchFragment}, which renders them into a {@link android.support.v17.leanback.app.RowsFragment}.</li> </ul> <p>After you download the Android Support Libraries, this library is located in the {@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/v17/leanback} directory. For more information on how to set up your project, follow the instructions in <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-with-res">Adding libraries with resources</a>. </p> <p>The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:</p> <pre> com.android.support:leanback-v17:23.3.0 </pre> <h2 id="annotations">Annotations Support Library</h2> <p>The <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/support/annotation/package-summary.html">Annotation</a> package provides APIs to support adding annotation metadata to your apps. </p> <p></p> <p>After you download the Android Support Libraries, this library is located in the {@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/annotations} directory. For more information on how to set up your project, follow the instructions in <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-with-res">Adding libraries with resources</a>. </p> <p>The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:</p> <pre> com.android.support:support-annotations:23.3.0 </pre> <h2 id="design">Design Support Library</h2> <p>The <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/support/design/package-summary.html">Design</a> package provides APIs to support adding material design components and patterns to your apps. </p> <p>The Design Support library adds support for various material design components and patterns for app developers to build upon, such as navigation drawers, floating action buttons (<i>FAB</i>), snackbars, and <a href="{@docRoot}design/building-blocks/tabs.html">tabs</a>. </p> <p>After you download the Android Support Libraries, this library is located in the {@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/design} directory. For more information on how to set up your project, follow the instructions in <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-with-res">Adding libraries with resources</a>. </p> <p>The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:</p> <pre> com.android.support:design:23.3.0 </pre> <h2 id="custom-tabs">Custom Tabs Support Library</h2> <p>The <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/support/customtabs/package-summary.html">Custom Tabs</a> package provides APIs to support adding and managing custom tabs in your apps. </p> <p>The Custom Tabs Support library adds support for various classes, such as <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/support/customtabs/CustomTabsService.html">Custom Tabs Service</a> and <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/support/customtabs/CustomTabsCallback.html">Custom Tabs Callback</a>. </p> <p>After you download the Android Support Libraries, this library is located in the {@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/customtabs} directory. For more information on how to set up your project, follow the instructions in <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-with-res">Adding libraries with resources</a>. </p> <p>The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:</p> <pre> com.android.support:customtabs:23.3.0 </pre> <h2 id="percent">Percent Support Library</h2> <p>The <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/support/percent/package-summary.html">Percent</a> package provides APIs to support adding and managing percentage based dimensions in your app. </p> <p>The Percent Support library adds support for the <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/support/percent/PercentLayoutHelper.PercentLayoutParams.html"> PercentLayoutHelper.PercentLayoutParams</a> interface and various classes, such as <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/support/percent/PercentFrameLayout.html">PercentFrameLayout</a> and <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/support/percent/PercentRelativeLayout.html"> PercentRelativeLayout</a>. </p> <p>After you download the Android Support Libraries, this library is located in the {@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/percent} directory. For more information on how to set up your project, follow the instructions in <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-with-res">Adding libraries with resources</a>. </p> <p>The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:</p> <pre> com.android.support:percent:23.3.0 </pre> <h2 id="recommendation">App Recommendation Support Library for TV</h2> <p>The <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/support/app/recommendation/package-summary.html">App Recommendation</a> package provides APIs to support adding content recommendations in your app running on TV devices. </p> <p>The App library adds support for annotations, such as <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/support/app/recommendation/ContentRecommendation.ContentMaturity.html"> ContentRecommendation.ContentMaturity</a> and various classes, such as <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/support/app/recommendation/ContentRecommendation.html">ContentRecommendation</a> and <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/support/app/recommendation/RecommendationExtender.html"> RecommendationExtender</a>. </p> <p>After you download the Android Support Libraries, this library is located in the {@code <sdk>/extras/android/support/recommendation} directory. For more information on how to set up your project, follow the instructions in <a href="{@docRoot}tools/support-library/setup.html#libs-with-res">Adding libraries with resources</a>. </p> <p>The Gradle build script dependency identifier for this library is as follows:</p> <pre> com.android.support:recommendation:23.3.0 </pre>