Android export: minimum API level?

Hi,

in the build settings for Android, I'm wondering if the available "minimum API level" depends on the Unity build or if it depends on the version of the installed Android SDK?

I ask for that because I use the latest Unity build and the latest Android SDK (4.2), and I can't export my Unity project to Android 4.2 (actually, I can export from Android 2.0 to Android 4.1, but no 4.2).

If it depends on Unity, do you know when Unity will be able to export projects to Android 4.2?

Thank you!

 

Minimum has nothing to do with that. Its what API level you minimum need on the phone.
The question is why you use 4.2?
Very few phone use Jelly bean.

 

Thank you for your answer.
Actually, I know that only few devices use Jelly Bean, and I didn't mean to export my Unity project for Android 4.2 only. As a matter of fact, I was just wondering if it was normal that I couldn't export to Android 4.2 using the latest Unity and Android SDK...

 

I don't think it matters, I set it to 2.2 or 2.3, just to filter out devices that can't run it . You should be good at 2.3

 

Ok. Thank you for your answers.

 

It seems I can't build for 2.2... I don't know why, but it says I have to build for at least API level 14, which is 4.0.
I've read some people saying that this happens after Unity 3.2, so which Unity version are you using?

 

You that SDK version installed to build for it.

 

Okay, nevermind.

I just realised that you can select in player settings the version of android you want to build for.

 

Below links are very useful to know minimum API level of each version of the Android platform. Once you check it. http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/uses-sdk-element.html

 

How to decide which API level to chose when I export my game?
Higher = better? Or I always have to select the lowest level for maximum compatibility?
I do not understand the difference between them.

 

I've read many discussions about minimum API level and I still don't understand how to determine the right one for my game. I assume the lower it's set, the more devices it will be available to on Google Play. But if my game chokes on older devices, or doesn't work at all because of some code that only works for later APIs, not good. And does setting a lower API reduce how well my game would perform on devices with a higher/later API? I know I can test different situations using an emulator, but only running on an actual device would show true performance. So if the game runs fine on my wife's phone, which is the oldest Android device I have access to, do I just set the minimum API based on that, because it's the only thing I can be fairly certain of? Can anyone shed some light on the process for determining the best setting for Minimum API Level?

 

I came here to ask the exact same question e_v, I hope we get an answer.

 

@leftler please let me know if you gain any insights.