Android Studio Empty Views Activity Templates Comparison

Note

This repository is designed to track, investigate, and compare the differences between the starter template projects ("Empty Views Activity" (Java)) generated by different versions of Android Studio.

📌 Target Versions

Template Directory	Android Studio Version	Build Number	Build Date
`Panda2JavaEmptyViewsActivity`	Android Studio Panda 2 (2025.3.2)	`AI-253.30387.90.2532.14935130`	Feb 25, 2026
`Panda3JavaEmptyViewsActivity`	Android Studio Panda 3 (2025.3.3 Patch 1)	`AI-253.31033.145.2533.15176040`	Apr 10, 2026
`Quail1JavaEmptyViewsActivity`	Android Studio Quail 1 (2026.1.1 Patch 2)	`AI-261.23567.138.2611.15646644`	Jun 16, 2026
`Quail4JavaEmptyViewsActivity`	Android Studio Quail 4 (2026.1.4 Patch 1)	`AI-261.26222.65.2614.16379836`	Sep 18, 2026
`Rabbit2JavaEmptyViewsActivity`	Android Studio Rabbit 2 (2026.2.2 Canary 2)	`AI-262.10315.125.2622.16434108`	Sep 24, 2026

📊 Comparison Matrix

Feature / Setting	Panda 2 (2025.3.2)	Panda 3 (2025.3.3 P1)	Quail 1 (2026.1.1 P2)	Quail 4 (2026.1.4 P1)	Rabbit 2 (2026.2.2 C2)
Android Gradle Plugin (AGP)	`9.1.1`	`9.1.1`	`9.2.1`	`9.4.1`	`9.5.0-alpha07`
Gradle Wrapper	`9.3.1`	`9.3.1`	`9.4.1`	`9.6.0`	`9.6.0`
Gradle Daemon Toolchain (`gradle-daemon-jvm.properties`)	JDK `21`	JDK `21`	JDK `21`	JDK `25`	JDK `25`
Configuration Cache (`gradle.properties`)	Not specified	Not specified	`true`	`true`	`true`
Release Optimization DSL (`app/build.gradle.kts`)	`isMinifyEnabled = false`	`isMinifyEnabled = false`	`optimization { enable = false }`	`optimization { enable = false }`	`optimization { enable = true; packageScope = ... }`
Keep Rules File	`app/proguard-rules.pro`	`app/proguard-rules.pro`	`app/src/main/keepRules/rules.keep`	`app/src/main/keepRules/rules.keep`	`app/src/main/keepRules/rules.keep`
Activity Dependency (`libs.versions.toml`)	`activity = "1.13.0"`	`activity = "1.8.0"`	`activity-ktx = "1.8.0"`	`activity-ktx = "1.13.0"`	`activity-ktx = "1.13.0"`
AndroidX / Material Versions	Newer (1.8.0 / 1.14.0)	Conservative (1.6.1 / 1.10.0)	Conservative (1.6.1 / 1.10.0)	Newer (1.8.0 / 1.14.0)	Conservative (1.6.1 / 1.10.0)
Manifest `windowSoftInputMode` (`AndroidManifest.xml`)	Not set	Not set	`adjustResize`	`adjustResize`	`adjustResize`
Edge-to-Edge Enable Method (`MainActivity.java`)	`EdgeToEdge.enable(this)`	`EdgeToEdge.enable(this)`	`EdgeToEdge.enable(this)`	`EdgeToEdge.enable(this)`	`WindowCompat.enableEdgeToEdge(getWindow())`
`settings.gradle.kts` `include(":app")`	Single line	Single line	Single line	Single line	Single line

🔍 Detailed Differences

1. Build Tools & Gradle Environment

Gradle Version Evolution:
- Panda 2 & Panda 3 use Gradle 9.3.1.
- Quail 1 adopts Gradle 9.4.1.
- Quail 4 & Rabbit 2 upgrade to Gradle 9.6.0.
Android Gradle Plugin (AGP):
- Versions evolve as: 9.1.1 (Panda 2 & 3) ➔ 9.2.1 (Quail 1) ➔ 9.4.1 (Quail 4) ➔ 9.5.0-alpha07 (Rabbit 2 Canary).
Gradle Daemon JVM Toolchain:
- Panda 2, Panda 3, and Quail 1 target JDK 21 (toolchainVersion=21 in gradle/gradle-daemon-jvm.properties).
- Quail 4 and Rabbit 2 bump toolchainVersion to JDK 25, downloading/using JDK 25 for the Gradle daemon via Foojay Disco API.
Gradle Configuration Cache:
- Starting in Quail 1, org.gradle.configuration-cache=true is enabled by default in gradle.properties for faster configuration and build execution.

2. ProGuard / R8 Optimization DSL & Keep Rules

Starting in Quail 1 (AGP 9.2+), the traditional ProGuard build configuration transitioned to AGP 9's new optimization DSL and convention-based keep rules:

`app/build.gradle.kts`

Panda 2 & Panda 3 (Legacy DSL):

buildTypes {
    release {
        isMinifyEnabled = false
        proguardFiles(
            getDefaultProguardFile("proguard-android-optimize.txt"),
            "proguard-rules.pro"
        )
    }
}

Quail 1 & Quail 4 (New Optimization DSL - Disabled):

buildTypes {
    release {
        optimization {
            enable = false
        }
    }
}

Rabbit 2 (New Optimization DSL - Partial Scoped Optimization):

buildTypes {
    release {
        optimization {
            enable = true
            packageScope = setOf("androidx.**", "kotlin.**", "kotlinx.**")
        }
    }
}

Keep Rules File Location

Panda 2 & Panda 3: Uses app/proguard-rules.pro.
Quail 1, Quail 4, Rabbit 2: app/proguard-rules.pro is removed. Keep rules are moved to app/src/main/keepRules/rules.keep.

AGP automatically combines all rule files in src/main/keepRules and passes them to R8.

3. Version Catalog (`gradle/libs.versions.toml`)

Activity Dependency

Panda 2 & 3:

[versions]
activity = "1.13.0" # (1.8.0 in Panda 3)
[libraries]
activity = { group = "androidx.activity", name = "activity", version.ref = "activity" }

Quail 1, Quail 4, Rabbit 2: Switches to Kotlin Extensions artifact (activity-ktx):

[versions]
activityKtx = "1.8.0" # (bumped to 1.13.0 in Quail 4 & Rabbit 2)
[libraries]
activity-ktx = { group = "androidx.activity", name = "activity-ktx", version.ref = "activityKtx" }

Library Version Trends

Panda 2 & Quail 4 reference newer versions:
- appcompat: 1.8.0
- material: 1.14.0
- constraintlayout: 2.2.2
- androidx.test.ext:junit: 1.3.0
- androidx.test.espresso:espresso-core: 3.7.0
Panda 3, Quail 1, Rabbit 2 reference conservative/long-term stable versions:
- appcompat: 1.6.1
- material: 1.10.0
- constraintlayout: 2.1.4
- androidx.test.ext:junit: 1.1.5
- androidx.test.espresso:espresso-core: 3.5.1

4. Manifest Updates (`app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml`)

Starting in Quail 1 (and continued in Quail 4 and Rabbit 2), android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustResize" is added to MainActivity:

<activity
    android:name=".MainActivity"
    android:exported="true"
    android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustResize">

This ensures that the layout resizes when the IME (software keyboard) appears in an Edge-to-Edge environment.

5. Edge-to-Edge Implementation (`MainActivity.java`)

Panda 2, Panda 3, Quail 1, Quail 4:

import androidx.activity.EdgeToEdge;
...
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    EdgeToEdge.enable(this);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
    ...
}

Rabbit 2 (Canary): Migrated to WindowCompat.enableEdgeToEdge:

import androidx.core.view.WindowCompat;
...
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    WindowCompat.enableEdgeToEdge(getWindow());
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
    ...
}

📂 Repository Layout

android-studio-empty-views-activity-templates/
├── README.md                          # Comparison report (English)
├── README.ja.md                       # 比較レポート (Japanese)
├── Panda2JavaEmptyViewsActivity/      # Android Studio Panda 2 (2025.3.2)
├── Panda3JavaEmptyViewsActivity/      # Android Studio Panda 3 (2025.3.3 P1)
├── Quail1JavaEmptyViewsActivity/      # Android Studio Quail 1 (2026.1.1 P2)
├── Quail4JavaEmptyViewsActivity/      # Android Studio Quail 4 (2026.1.4 P1)
└── Rabbit2JavaEmptyViewsActivity/      # Android Studio Rabbit 2 (2026.2.2 C2)

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Android Studio Empty Views Activity Templates Comparison

📌 Target Versions

📊 Comparison Matrix

🔍 Detailed Differences

1. Build Tools & Gradle Environment

2. ProGuard / R8 Optimization DSL & Keep Rules

`app/build.gradle.kts`

Keep Rules File Location

3. Version Catalog (`gradle/libs.versions.toml`)

Activity Dependency

Library Version Trends

4. Manifest Updates (`app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml`)

5. Edge-to-Edge Implementation (`MainActivity.java`)

📂 Repository Layout

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Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
.github		.github
Panda2JavaEmptyViewsActivity		Panda2JavaEmptyViewsActivity
Panda3JavaEmptyViewsActivity		Panda3JavaEmptyViewsActivity
Quail1JavaEmptyViewsActivity		Quail1JavaEmptyViewsActivity
Quail4JavaEmptyViewsActivity		Quail4JavaEmptyViewsActivity
Rabbit2JavaEmptyViewsActivity		Rabbit2JavaEmptyViewsActivity
.gitignore		.gitignore
README.ja.md		README.ja.md
README.md		README.md

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Android Studio Empty Views Activity Templates Comparison

📌 Target Versions

📊 Comparison Matrix

🔍 Detailed Differences

1. Build Tools & Gradle Environment

2. ProGuard / R8 Optimization DSL & Keep Rules

app/build.gradle.kts

Keep Rules File Location

3. Version Catalog (gradle/libs.versions.toml)

Activity Dependency

Library Version Trends

4. Manifest Updates (app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml)

5. Edge-to-Edge Implementation (MainActivity.java)

📂 Repository Layout

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`app/build.gradle.kts`

3. Version Catalog (`gradle/libs.versions.toml`)

4. Manifest Updates (`app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml`)

5. Edge-to-Edge Implementation (`MainActivity.java`)