Develop Reference

Google Play Services : target=android-19 in project.properties

I am utilizing the library BaseGameUtils and google-play-services_lib. In the project.properties file I could see the below mentioned line .
target=android-19.
What is the significance of this? Can I change this to "target=android-21". This is just to be in sync with the App's manifest file
<uses-sdk
android:minSdkVersion="8"
android:targetSdkVersion="21" />

Yes. You can change this, Depending target only, packages load for you in eclipse.

What is the significance of target=android-19?
target = android-X in project properties file means that Eclipse will not allow use methods or classes from SDK higher than X. It will show compiler errors.
How to change target:
Right click your project.
Then click "Properties".
Then select "Android" from the tree on the left.
You can then select the target version on the right.
NOTE: Before doing this make sure your project.properties and classpath are not in read-only mode otherwise it won't work. Also don't try to edit this file manually.

As a general rule I use the following guidelines
android:minSdkVersion="8"
Set this to the minimum level you want to support. Check which Android version that it actually relates to and make sure that you have compatibility with that version. For example, I think 8 = Android 2.2, which could be a problem if you are using google play services libraries. It is good practice to at least test that you app will work properly on this version using the emulator, because otherwise you will get a lot of errors and bad reviews.
android:targetSdkVersion="21" />
I usually set this to the maximum version that I have actually tested my app on. I thin 21 is Android 4.4, so you should be making sure that your app works correctly on this version of Android. At the least, you should test that it will run in an emulator that is configured with this version of Android.
Hope this helps.

android <uses-sdk> does not update

Using Eclipse, I was using android:minSdkVersion="10", got the error message that this was too low, and updated it to 18. After cleaning the project, refreshing and building Android Environment, I still get the same error message!
In Properties -> Android -> Project Build Target, I have selected Android 4.4.2, with an API level of 19.
in AndroidManifest.xml:
<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="18" android:targetSdkVersion="19"/>
ERROR:
"Call requires API level 17(current min is10):android.app.AlertDialog.Builder#setOnDismissListener"
How do I make sure my update in AndroidManifest really works?
Thanks in advance.

It has been a while since I've used Eclipse for Android development. If you're new to Android, I'd highly recommend that you check out Android Studio, instead.
Anyway, this sounds like a build issue. I'm imagining that you're using the default ant build script so in that case the most likely culprit is your project properties file.
Look for a file called "project.properties"
and add/modify a line to contain the following:
# Project target
target=android-18
It sounds like it's currently pointing to android-10. You can find more information on this file and others here.

Changing android:minSdkVersion Has No Effect

I am developing an Android app using eclipse. When I try to run my project I get the error
Call requires API level 13 (current min is 8): android.view.Display#getSize which refers to the line display.getSize(size);.
So in the AndroidManifest.xml I made the following change:
<uses-sdk
android:minSdkVersion="13"
android:targetSdkVersion="17" />
However when I try running the project again, I still get the same error. The target SDK is Android 4.0. Does anyone know what is causing this error?

Try to clean your project. If it still shows error after cleaning then right click on project goto Properties>Android tab and select the Android Build target Android 3.2. And after performing this Build your project. I think it should work after this.

Using ActionBarSherlock in Mono Android

I am trying to implement the ActionBar in a Mono Android application. Could someone provide me steps to including the ActionBar project in my solution? I have seen the sample projected provided at this url
https://github.com/xamarin/monodroid-samples/tree/master/ActionBarSherlock
Do I have to simply add a reference of the ActionBarSherlock project in that sample? When I attempt to add a reference to that project I get many errors such as "Error retrieving parent for item: No resource found that matches the given name 'android:TextAppearance.Holo.Widget.ActionBar.Menu'." in file abs_styles.xml
Has anyone else successfully added ActionBarSherlock to a Mono Android Project? Could you please provide me steps to get a simple example working?

Ok, this is how I got it working...
Open up the sample project and build just the 'ActionBarSherlock' project on Release mode. Make sure that the minimum target android version is 4.0.3 (required)
Take the dll and reference it in your project. I have found that you can get it to compile fine if your project has a minimum android version of 2.2 - I found that if you used profile version 2.1 it doesn't work, but that just might of been my app. Maybe your minimum version is too low? I also set my 'target' android to be the latest... I don't know if this helps too.
The reason I say to reference the dll instead of the project is that you will get the correct intellisense. Otherwise as you can see in the example project it does not (Makes working on it a pain!).
Make sure you have a reference to the v4 support lib in your project (Mono.Android.Support.v4)
The final step is that need to change your default theme to use a Sherlock theme. (see xml below for example)
Use the ActionbarSherlock.* namespaces when adding Actionbars etc...
Example manifest after adding ActionbarSherlock:
<manifest ...>
<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="8" android:targetSdkVersion="16" />
<application android:label="IDNT" android:theme="#style/Theme.Sherlock.Light.DarkActionBar" android:icon="#drawable/Icon">
</application>
</manifest>
BEWARE: There is a small issue with all this... If your project has a minimum version of under 3.0 (ie 2.2 as per my example) and you compile with linking (ie SDK assemblies only) you will get an error 'Mono.Cecil.ResolutionException: Failed to resolve Android.Database.IDatabaseErrorHandler'. I am currently sending support messages about this to Xamarin and will edit this post once I work out a fix.
EDIT: To fix the issue I have mentioned above make sure that the project options -> Application -> Minimum Android to target option is at LEAST 4.0.3. Your minSdkVersion can still be 7/8 or whatever so it will still run in older android versions. It also means you have to be careful you dont code in stuff that is for higher versions.

Not able to use new resource identifiers in Android with targetSdkVersion defined in manifest

I'm developing an Android application that I'd like to be compatible with 1.5 (SDK version 4). I'm testing the application on 2.2 (SDK version 8). To do this, I'm including in the manifest file the line
<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="4" android:targetSdkVersion="8" />
I thought this would allow me to use the newest manifest elements and APIs, but I'm getting a compile error whenever I try to use them. For example, I try to define the element installLocation to allow the app to be installed on the SD card, but Eclipse gives me the error
No resource identifier found for attribute 'installLocation' in package 'android'
Is there something else I have to do to get this to work? If I can't get this to work, what benefit is defining targetSdkVersion?

Make sure that you are using building against the android 2.2 jars. Right click on your Eclipse project, choose, properties, go down to Android and make sure the correct sdk is selected.

Change the build target by editing the project properties in Eclipse, and choose a target with at least API Level 8: ("I'm testing the application on 2.2 (SDK version 8)").