Android Studio

Android Studio is the official[6] integrated development environment (IDE) for Google's Android operating system, built on JetBrains' IntelliJ IDEA software and designed specifically for Android development.[7] It is available for download on Windows, macOS and Linux based operating systems.[8] It is a replacement for the Eclipse Android Development Tools (E-ADT) as the primary IDE for native Android application development. Android Studio is licensed under the Apache license but it ships with some SDK updates that are under a non-free license, making it not open source. [9]

Android Studio
Developer(s)Google, JetBrains
Stable release
2023.2.1[1] Edit this on Wikidata / 29 February 2024; 55 days ago (29 February 2024)
Preview releaseJellyfish (2023.3.1) Canary 12 (February 29, 2024; 55 days ago (2024-02-29)) [±]
Repository
Written inJavaScript, Kotlin and C++
Operating systemWindows, macOS, Linux (including ChromeOS)[2]
Size8.1 to 9.5 GB[2]
TypeIntegrated development environment (IDE)
LicenseBinaries: Freeware,[3] Source code:[4][5] Apache License (except SDK updates with proprietary license)[citation needed]
Websitedeveloper.android.com/studio

Android Studio was announced on May 16, 2013, at the Google I/O conference. It was in early access preview stage starting from version 0.1 in May 2013, then entered beta stage starting from version 0.8 which was released in June 2014.[10] The first stable build was released in December 2014, starting from version 1.0.[11] At the end of 2015, Google dropped support for Eclipse ADT, making Android Studio the only officially supported IDE for Android development.[12]

On May 7, 2019, Kotlin replaced Java as Google's preferred language for Android app development.[13] Java is still supported, as is C++.[14]

Features

The following features are provided in the current stable version:[15][16]

  • Gradle-based build support
  • Android-specific refactoring and quick fixes
  • Lint tools to catch performance, usability, version compatibility and other problems
  • ProGuard integration and app-signing capabilities
  • Template-based wizards to create common Android designs and components
  • A rich layout editor that allows users to drag-and-drop UI components, option to preview layouts on multiple screen configurations[17]
  • Support for building Android Wear apps
  • Built-in support for Google Cloud Platform, enabling integration with Firebase Cloud Messaging (Earlier 'Google Cloud Messaging') and Google App Engine[18]
  • Android Virtual Device (Emulator) to run and debug apps in the Android studio.

Android Studio supports all the same programming languages of IntelliJ (and CLion) e.g. Java, C++, and more with extensions, such as Go;[19] and Android Studio 3.0 or later supports Kotlin,[20] and "all Java 7 language features and a subset of Java 8 language features that vary by platform version."[21] External projects backport some Java 9 features.[22] While IntelliJ states that Android Studio supports all released Java versions, and Java 12, it's not clear to what level Android Studio supports Java versions up to Java 12 (the documentation mentions partial Java 8 support). At least some new language features up to Java 12 are usable in Android.[23]

Once an app has been compiled with Android Studio, it can be published on the Google Play Store. The application has to be in line with the Google Play Store developer content policy.

Version history

The following is a list of Android Studio's major releases:[24]

VersionRelease date
1.0December 2014
1.1February 2015
1.2April 2015
1.3July 2015
1.4September 2015
1.5November 2015
2.0April 2016
2.1April 2016
2.2September 2016
2.3March 2017
3.0October 2017
3.1March 2018
3.2September 2018
3.3January 2019
3.4April 2019[25]
3.5August 2019
3.6February 2020
4.0May 2020
4.1Oct 2020[26]
4.2May 2021[27]
Arctic Fox (2020.3.1)July 2021[28]
Bumblebee (2021.1.1)January 2022[29]
Chipmunk (2021.2.1)May 2022[30]
Dolphin (2021.3.1)September 2022[31]
Electric Eel (2022.1.1)January 2023[32]
Flamingo (2022.2.1)April 2023[33]
Giraffe (2022.3.1)July 2023[34]
Hedgehog (2023.1.1)November 2023[35]
Iguana (2023.2.1)February 2024[36]
Jellyfish (2023.3.1)TBD
Koala (2023.3.2)TBD

System requirements

Basic system requirements for Android Studio[37]
Microsoft WindowsmacOSLinux
Operating System VersionMicrosoft Windows 8/10 (64-bit)macOS 10.14 Mojave or newerAny 64-bit Linux distribution that supports GNOME, KDE, or Unity; GNU C Library (glibc) 2.31 or later
Required RAM8 GB or more
Free space8 GB of available disk space minimum
Minimum screen resolution1280 x 800 minimum screen resolution

These features includes requirements for IDE + Android SDK + Android Emulator.[37]

  • Windows: x86_64 CPU architecture; 2nd generation Intel Core or newer, or AMD CPU with support for a Windows Hypervisor;
  • Mac OS: ARM-based chips, or 2nd generation Intel Core or newer with support for Hypervisor.Framework;
  • Linux: x86_64 CPU architecture; 2nd generation Intel Core or newer, or AMD processor with support for AMD Virtualization (AMD-V) and SSSE3;
  • Windows: CPU with UG (unrestricted guest) support;
  • Intel Hardware Accelerated Execution Manager (HAXM) 6.2.1 or later (HAXM 7.2.0 or later recommended).

The use of hardware acceleration has additional requirements on Windows and Linux:

  • Intel processor on Windows or Linux: Intel processor with support for Intel VT-x, Intel EM64T (Intel 64), and Execute Disable (XD) Bit functionality;
  • AMD processor on Linux: AMD processor with support for AMD Virtualization (AMD-V) and Supplemental Streaming SIMD Extensions 3 (SSSE3);
  • AMD processor on Windows: Android Studio 3.2 or higher and Windows 10 April 2018 release or higher for Windows Hypervisor Platform (WHPX) functionality.

For an attached webcam to work with Android 8.1 (API level 27) and higher system images, it must have the capability to capture 720p frames.[38]

References

External links