SDK Build Tools Release Notes

Build Tools is a component of the Android SDK required for building Android application code. The latest version of these tools is included in the SDK starter package and installed in the <sdk>/build-tools/ directory.

You should always keep your Build Tools component updated by downloading the latest version using the Android SDK Manager. By default, the Android SDK uses the most recent downloaded version of the Build Tools. If your projects depend on older versions of the Build Tools, the SDK Manager allows you to download and maintain separate versions of the tools for use with those projects.

To use a specific version of the Build Tools in your application project:

Using Eclipse

  1. In the root folder of your application project, find the project.properties file.
  2. Open the file and specify the Build Tools version by adding a buildtools property on a separate line: 
    sdk.buildtools=17.0.0

Using Android Studio

  1. In the root folder of your application project, find the build.gradle file.
  2. Open the file and specify the Build Tools version by adding a buildToolsVersion property to the android section: 
    android {
    ...
    buildToolsVersion "17.0.0"
    ...
}

Revisions

The sections below provide notes about releases of the Build Tools. To determine which revisions of the Build Tools are available in your SDK, refer to the Installed Packages listing in the Android SDK Manager.

Build Tools, Revision 21.1.1 (November 2014)

Fixed multidex script issues.

Build Tools, Revision 21.1 (October 2014)

Added multidex file support for APKs and Jack suppport to address the 64K method reference limit.

Build Tools, Revision 21.0.2 (October 2014)

Complete updates for Eclipse ADT to solve instability issues on Windows platforms.

Build Tools, Revision 21.0.1 (October 2014)

Initial updates for Eclipse ADT on Windows. Please use Revision 21.0.2.

Build Tools, Revision 21.0.0 (October 2014)

General Notes:
  • Added support for Android 5.0 (API level 21).
  • RenderScript now supports seamless 32/64-bit operation for API level 21 and higher.
  • Fixed issue with the Gradle build system when using the JaCoCo plugin. (Issue 69174)
  • Added an input-list option for use with long command lines on Windows.

Build Tools, Revision 20.0.0 (June 2014)

General Notes:
  • Added support for Android Wear.

Build Tools, Revision 19.1.0 (May 2014)

General Notes:
  • Added zipalign to the Build Tools.
  • Modified aapt to ignore XML files that fail to compile.

Build Tools, Revision 19.0.3 (March 2014)

Fixed an issue with RenderScript support.

Build Tools, Revision 19.0.2 (February 2014)

Fixed RenderScript build issues:
  • Fixed a problem with RenderScript bitcode encoding. (Issue 64775)
  • Fixed a problem with RenderScript missing math symbols (Issue 64110)

Build Tools, Revision 19.0.1 (December 2013)

Fixed miscellaneous build issues:
  • Fixed support for compiling RenderScript in NDK mode with Gradle.
  • Fixed BufferOverflowException problem in the dx build. (Issue 61710)

Build Tools, Revision 19 (October 2013)

Added support for Android 4.4 (API level 19) build targets.

Build Tools, Revision 18.1.1 (September 2013)

Fixed several minor build issues.

Build Tools, Revision 18.1.0 (September 2013)

Fixed issue with RenderScript support mode.

Build Tools, Revision 18.0.1 (July 2013)

Added support for Android 4.3 (API level 18) build targets.

Build Tools, Revision 17 (May 2013)

Initial release.

General Notes:
  • Included support for Android 4.2 (API level 17) build targets.
  • Decoupled the build-specific components of the Android SDK from the platform-tools component, so that the build tools can be updated independently of the integrated development environment (IDE) components.