Android Question 8.0 and 26+ new requirements

[canalrun]

Please start a new thread for this question.

Over the last couple months I've seen seemingly conflicting information about the requirements for listing an app in Google Play after August 2018 and November 2018.

The following is a quote from Erel's tutorial thread in December 2017:

No. Quoting Google's blog:
This will be required for new apps in August 2018, and for updates to existing apps in November 2018.

At this point it only affects updates to existing apps. So as long as an existing app is not updated it will continue to run without this restriction.

The following is from a different thread:

Google will force you to update ALL your apps any way.

Has Google's policy information changed?

I plan to do any upgrades to existing apps well before November 2018. My existing apps will never be updated after that. They will all have TargetSDKVersion below 26 (probably 19 or lower)

I am hoping these apps will continue to work with current and future versions of Android (including 8+) without restriction. And, current Google policy will not force me to update these existing apps to include TargetSDKVersion 26 and include special support for Android 8+.

Is this true?

Of course any new apps I produce and upload to Google Play will use the newest version of B4A, use Target SDK 26+, and include whatever special support is needed for Android 8+.

Is the information from Erel's tutorial post of December 2017 still correct?

• New apps require Target SDK Version 26+ and support for Android 8+ after August 2018.
• Updates to existing apps require Target SDK Version 26+ and support for Android 8+ after November 2018.
• Existing apps that are on Google Play will not be forced to upgrade to these new requirements and they will continue to work with the versions of Android they currently support and the 8+ versions of Android (provided they use TargetSDKVersion less than 26)

Barry.

 

[Erel]

Is the information from Erel's tutorial post of December 2017 still correct?

Yes.

You only need to set targetSdkVersion to 26+ when you release a new app or update an existing app, after the mentioned dates.
This is based on Google announcement and might change in the future.