Android SDK 29 “unable to install additional SDK platform” issue & workaround

On Windows, to update the Android version manually on your Unity, you can:
1) Run CMD/Powershell as Administrator
2) Run this command:

C:/{UNITY_EDITOR_PATH}/Editor/Data/PlaybackEngines/AndroidPlayer/SDK/tools/bin/sdkmanager.bat "platforms;android-29"

Another way that probably works (and I have yet to test it) is installing the Unity Editor on a path different than "Program Files", something like

C:\Unity

. That way Unity won't need to have Administrator permissions to update files and hopefully, Unity will properly handle and accept the terms that shows up when you try to update Android SDK.

 

What I and a few others have done is copy the android 29 sdk directly into the folder that unity looks in for sdks.

1) Make sure you have the android 29 SDK:
Open Android Studio. After the splash screen has loaded, select the Configure button (bottom right, next to gear icon) and from the dropdown select SDK Manager and in the list make sure Android 10 (API 29) is checked, if it isn't check it and apply to download the SDK.

2) Get the path to the Android SDK directory
From the same window, note the path in the text field labeled Android SDK Location

3) Get the path to Unity's Android SDK directory
In Unity, click Edit => Preferences => External Tools. Scroll down and find a list of text fields with paths under the Android label. Note the path location in the field labeled Android SDK Tools Installed with Unity (recommended)

4) Copy the Android Studio SDK to Unity
Navigate to both paths in explorer. In each there will be a folder called 'platforms'. Go into this folder from the Android SDK path and copy the android-29 folder to the platforms folder in the Unity path.


Credit goes to this dude and the stack overflow post he credits that I can no longer find:

 

> With the Hub 2.4.2, the Android SDK installed with Unity Editor 2019.4LTS is now at API level 29.

This was quite a surprise to me. And it's pretty cumbersome to add another API level to the SDK, since you have to tweak Android Studio's SDK folder to do this. I think it would be better if Unity included at least a couple of most common used and supported SDKs instead of breaking existing build processes. Or, there should be an easier way to add or remove SDKs. If there is, I'd be happy to learn about it.

 

Another alternative workflow we suggest for our plugin users is as below.
Summary
Just copy to unity android sdk from Android Studio sdk folders!

Steps
1. Have the default android sdk installed path (For ex: installed through Android Studio). I call this DEFAULT_ANDROID_SDK
2. Have the path of unity's android sdk path. I call this UNITY_ANDROID_SDK
3. Go to DEFAULT_ANDROID_SDK
4. Copy build-tools/29.x (or 30.x) and platforms/android-29 (or android-30)
5. Paste it in corresponding folders in UNITY_ANDROID_SDK

This way you don't need to change any paths in Unity. Hope it's helpful.

 

I solved this by running Unity as an administrator.

 

How To Use Update in Windows.
1. Save this code to sdk.cmd.
2. Modify UNITY_VERSION
3. Add or change the SDK you need: platforms;android-XX
4. Run sdk.cmd as Administrator.

Code (CSharp):

1. set UNITY_VERSION=2020.1.8f1
2.  
3. c:
4. set JAVA_HOME=c:\Program Files\Unity\Hub\Editor\%UNITY_VERSION%\Editor\Data\PlaybackEngines\AndroidPlayer\OpenJDK\
5. set ANDROID_HOME=c:\Program Files\Unity\Hub\Editor\%UNITY_VERSION%\Editor\Data\PlaybackEngines\AndroidPlayer\
6. cd %ANDROID_HOME%SDK\tools\bin\
7. echo.> %USERPROFILE%\.android\repositories.cfg
8.  
9. cmd /C sdkmanager --update
10. cmd /C sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-29"
11. cmd /C sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-30"
12. cmd /C sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-31"
13.  

 

thx @skdev3 this worked for me

 

Thanks for this tip.

Running Unity Hub as Administrator allowed Unity to update to Android SDK 30 when prompted when performing a build – didn't need to do any command-line stuff, nor copy any folders anywhere, and no Android Studio either.

 

Saved my life, thanks a lot ~

 

unity extensions are not yet initialized so we cannot say if the c program compatible with platform android hatası veriyor anlayamadım

 

THANK. YOU. BLESS!

 

Awesome man, thanks for posting, worked perfectly.

 

this is awesome. error fix in just a few second

 

Thank you so much! This video was exactly what i needed for updating mine to API level 31

 

Thank you for the video. It really works. Saved me lot of time.

 

it seems that unity hub 3.0 has build tools and sdk vs 30 support.
but it doesnt seem to work.
what can we do?

 

hi , it seemed as it installed , and also the platform tools do exist in the correct folder.
so your script worked for me.
but i did another installation and it still makes the same error.

even when i open a new empty project, here is what i get after trying to build:
"
The specified Android SDK Build Tools version (28.0.3) is ignored, as it is below the minimum supported version (29.0.2) for Android Gradle Plugin 4.0.1.

Checking the license for package Android SDK Build-Tools 29.0.2 in C:\Program Files\Unity\Hub\Editor\2020.3.20f1\Editor\Data\PlaybackEngines\AndroidPlayer\SDK\licenses
License for package Android SDK Build-Tools 29.0.2 accepted
"

 

SOLVED.
1. updated the hub version
2. changed the location of the installations to be without spaces.
3. installed unity version 2020.3.25 LTS
4. loaded the project with that version. 2020.3.25 LTS

build process works as normal.

 

@florianpenzkofer

It's 2022 now and the issue still exists. Play store now demands API 30+, so every android developer has to go and waste at least 20 minutes (at least on first encounter) to fix the issue. Please up the priority.

Edit: I just read that Hub 3 now includes API 30, but it doesn't look like the underlying issue of sdk updating through the Unity editor is fixed?

 

New 2022 flow. How To Use Update in Windows.
1. Save this code to sdk.cmd.
2. Add or change the SDK you need: platforms;android-XX
3. Run sdk.cmd as Administrator.

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. set work_dir="c:\Program Files\Unity\Hub\Editor"
3. for /D %%B in (%work_dir%\*) do (
4. c:
5. set JAVA_HOME=%%B\Editor\Data\PlaybackEngines\AndroidPlayer\OpenJDK\
6. set ANDROID_HOME=%%B\Editor\Data\PlaybackEngines\AndroidPlayer\
7. cd %%B\Editor\Data\PlaybackEngines\AndroidPlayer\SDK\tools\bin\
8. echo.> %USERPROFILE%\.android\repositories.cfg
9.  
10. cmd /C sdkmanager --update
11. cmd /C sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-29"
12. cmd /C sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-30"
13. cmd /C sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-31"
14. cmd /C sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-32"
15. )
16. pause
17.  

 

I performed the sdk.cmd. It did things.
I have min of api 29 to match Android v11.
The apk launches and then crashes per the Andy logcat with
2022/03/26 12:03:54.716 12512 12512 Error AndroidRuntime java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to get provider androidx.core.content.FileProvider: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: Didn't find class "androidx.core.content.FileProvider" on path: DexPathList[[zip file "/data/app/~~HrhIZf2R4Vo9fQBnL2ohdw==/com.PhyzxEngineering.RollerSpace-3WyAJkjzd-zMALDB8FUuDg==/base.apk"],nativeLibraryDirectories=[/data/app/~~HrhIZf2R4Vo9fQBnL2ohdw==/com.PhyzxEngineering.RollerSpace-3WyAJkjzd-zMALDB8FUuDg==/lib/arm64, /data/app/~~HrhIZf2R4Vo9fQBnL2ohdw==/com.PhyzxEngineering.RollerSpace-3WyAJkjzd-zMALDB8FUuDg==/base.apk!/lib/arm64-v8a, /system/lib64, /system_ext/lib64]]

The layers are JDK then SDK then Gradle.
The build worked and the apk copied but that is not the whole story.
How does one go about finding the problem or what layer is starts or ends up in at?
The previous situation worked before I upgraded the Hub and the Unity version.

...and the Unity Hub 3.1.1 removes the ability to modify installs like before?
Where tf do these people get their system configuration ideas from?
And if one runs the Hub as Admin what new workflow hooper does one have go through to modify the install or do I nuke the previous one to make a new one? And what will that cluster?

 

Using IL2CPP an ArmV64
On a whim I turned off Google Play protect on my phone.
Build finished but might not be correct and still crashed.

 

Update flow.
How To Use Update in Windows.
1. Save this code to sdk.cmd.
2. Add or change the SDK you need: platforms;android-XX
3. Run sdk.cmd as Administrator.
P.S. Some libraries may require older versions of android SDK. Also, check the path, some paths may be different for different installations. Also check the path to Java, if Java is installed differently, you need to fix JAVA_HOME.

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2.  
3. set work_dir="c:\Program Files\Unity\Hub\Editor"
4. for /D %%B in (%work_dir%\*) do (
5. c:
6. set JAVA_HOME=%%B\Editor\Data\PlaybackEngines\AndroidPlayer\OpenJDK\
7. set ANDROID_HOME=%%B\Editor\Data\PlaybackEngines\AndroidPlayer\
8. cd %%B\Editor\Data\PlaybackEngines\AndroidPlayer\SDK\tools\bin\
9. echo.> %USERPROFILE%\.android\repositories.cfg
10.  
11. cmd /C sdkmanager --update
12. cmd /C sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-27"
13. cmd /C sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-28"
14. cmd /C sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-29"
15. cmd /C sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-30"
16. cmd /C sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-31"
17. cmd /C sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-32"
18. cmd /C sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-33"
19. )
20.  
21.  

 

Thank you and yes this works. The fix enabled me to get an APK push to the device, Nord N200, Andy 11.
The APK is built and pushed but when launched on the android a black screen is shown, a horizontal white line is produced(I assume it is the 'Made in Unity pitch') then the apk closes.

 

Well I dont understand any of this.
I have Hub 3.2.0 beta 3 installed in default location
Unity 2020.3.36f1 installed in default location

Trying to build my project, it says it needs NDK 19 and the one it installed from hub doesnt work...