Starting November 1, we must target API level 26. We currently target 11.

[Jolt151]

On my android studio + gradle fork, I was able to successfully compile and run diode by just changing the targetSdkVersion, even though it gave me a warning that the compileSdkVersion shouldn't be higher than the target. Changing the compile version resulted in tons of errors that don't look like we're ever going to fix.

Also, we should migrate the project to gradle so its easier for newer people to start using it.

[zagaberoo]

Did you try playing around with a build made with the new target API? That's what keeps me procrastinating making the change.

In terms of moving to Gradle, I totally agree. However, I've found Gradle to be quite a bit more finicky for my setup, so it'll probably stay Ant unless someone comes along and is willing to take over responsibility for the project as a whole.

[Jolt151]

I've been using it for the last 12 hours or so and everything seems fine for now. We can push it off longer to confirm that there aren't any problems.

The first time I tried moving the project to gradle around last year, it was a pain and things weren't working. When I did it this time, the auto-import became much simpler. Try cloning my gradle branch into Android Studio and see if it works easily. I just tried cloning it myself and the only problems were the gradle files wouldn't be recognized or update on the first try, so you might have to restart android studio once and hit the sync gradle files a couple of times.

[zagaberoo]

I actually don't use AS, which is part of the problem. I've always worked on the command line with vim, and that's where the complexity difference between Gradle and Ant (combined with my reluctance to spend significant time on this project nowadays) has been a killer.

[Jolt151]

So far, I've noticed that I can't click on the diode icon to return to the front page, and it also seems like I'm not getting notifications of new inbox messages.

[zagaberoo]

The notification issue is bad news indeed. If that's the case we should hold off until it's absolutely required to upgrade. Even then that just delays the breakage unless someone decides to troubleshoot it.

Really appreciate your thorough testing.

[Jolt151]

"When you target Android 8.0 (API level 26), you must implement one or more notification channels. If your targetSdkVersion is set to 25 or lower, when your app runs on Android 8.0 (API level 26) or higher, it behaves the same as it would on devices running Android 7.1 (API level 25) or lower."

It looks like our only issue is notification channels. That should be a straightforward fix, I'll try something soon.

[Jolt151]

I tried adding notification channels, but it turns out that we can only use them if the compile sdk version is also 26. Making the compile sdk version results in not being able to find org.apache.http package because it was removed from android at some point. We can add them by including org.apache.httpcomponents to the dependencies, but there are a few more errors mostly relating to the browser and notifications.

[zagaberoo]

Sounds tractable, at least. If converting the project to Gradle/AS would make working on the project significantly easier, by all means send a pull request to migrate the project. I can suck it up and learn my way around Gradle for as often as I actually do dev work 😁

[Jolt151]

Haha, done.

[MikaelaMuller]

That would suck for older devices, targeting Android 4.0 and above would be better cause with the way this app is designed it works so well for old devices

[MikaelaMuller]

hmm