[android] How can you get the build/version number of your Android application?

I need to figure out how to get or make a build number for my Android application. I need the build number to display in the UI.

Do I have to do something with AndroidManifest.xml?

If you're using PhoneGap, then create a custom PhoneGap plugin:

Create a new class in your app's package:

package com.Demo; //replace with your package name

import org.json.JSONArray;

import android.content.pm.PackageInfo;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager.NameNotFoundException;

import com.phonegap.api.Plugin;
import com.phonegap.api.PluginResult;
import com.phonegap.api.PluginResult.Status;

public class PackageManagerPlugin extends Plugin {

    public final String ACTION_GET_VERSION_NAME = "GetVersionName";

    @Override
    public PluginResult execute(String action, JSONArray args, String callbackId) {
        PluginResult result = new PluginResult(Status.INVALID_ACTION);
        PackageManager packageManager = this.ctx.getPackageManager();

        if(action.equals(ACTION_GET_VERSION_NAME)) {
            try {
                PackageInfo packageInfo = packageManager.getPackageInfo(
                                              this.ctx.getPackageName(), 0);
                result = new PluginResult(Status.OK, packageInfo.versionName);
            }
            catch (NameNotFoundException nnfe) {
                result = new PluginResult(Status.ERROR, nnfe.getMessage());
            }
        }

        return result;
    }
}

In the plugins.xml, add the following line:

<plugin name="PackageManagerPlugin" value="com.Demo.PackageManagerPlugin" />

In your deviceready event, add the following code:

var PackageManagerPlugin = function() {

};
PackageManagerPlugin.prototype.getVersionName = function(successCallback, failureCallback) {
    return PhoneGap.exec(successCallback, failureCallback, 'PackageManagerPlugin', 'GetVersionName', []);
};
PhoneGap.addConstructor(function() {
    PhoneGap.addPlugin('packageManager', new PackageManagerPlugin());
});

Then, you can get the versionName attribute by doing:

window.plugins.packageManager.getVersionName(
    function(versionName) {
        //do something with versionName
    },
    function(errorMessage) {
        //do something with errorMessage
    }
);

Derived from here and here.

Kotlin one-liners

val versionCode = BuildConfig.VERSION_CODE
val versionName = BuildConfig.VERSION_NAME

Make sure to import BuildConfig into your class.

Java one-liners

String versionCode = String.valueOf(BuildConfig.VERSION_CODE);
String versionName = String.valueOf(BuildConfig.VERSION_NAME);

Here is a clean solution, based on the solution of scottyab (edited by Xavi). It shows how to get the context first, if it's not provided by your method. Furthermore, it uses multiple lines instead of calling multiple methods per line. This makes it easier when you have to debug your application.

Context context = getApplicationContext(); // or activity.getApplicationContext()
PackageManager packageManager = context.getPackageManager();
String packageName = context.getPackageName();

String myVersionName = "not available"; // initialize String

try {
    myVersionName = packageManager.getPackageInfo(packageName, 0).versionName;
} catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

Now that you received the version name in the String myVersionName, you can set it to a TextView or whatever you like..

// Set the version name to a TextView
TextView tvVersionName = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.tv_versionName);
tvVersionName.setText(myVersionName);

Example for inside Fragment usage.

import android.content.pm.PackageManager;
.......

private String VersionName;
private String VersionCode;
.......


Context context = getActivity().getApplicationContext();

/* Getting application version name and code */
try
{
     VersionName = context.getPackageManager().getPackageInfo(context.getPackageName(), 0).versionName;

     /* I find it useful to convert vervion code into String,
        so it's ready for TextViev/server side checks
     */

     VersionCode = Integer.toString(context.getPackageManager().getPackageInfo(context.getPackageName(), 0).versionCode);
}
catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e)
{
     e.printStackTrace();
}

// Do something useful with that

Use:

try {
    PackageInfo pInfo = context.getPackageManager().getPackageInfo(context.getPackageName(), 0);
    String version = pInfo.versionName;
} catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

And you can get the version code by using this

int verCode = pInfo.versionCode;

Use the following to get the app version or build code which is used to identify the APK file by its version code. The version code is used to detect the actual build configuration at the time of update, publishing, etc.

int versionCode = BuildConfig.VERSION_CODE;

The version name is used to show the users or the developers of the development sequence. You can add any kind of version name as you want.

String versionName = BuildConfig.VERSION_NAME;

package com.sqisland.android.versionview;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.pm.PackageInfo;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class MainActivity extends Activity {
  @Override
  public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

    TextView textViewversionName = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.text);

    try {
        PackageInfo packageInfo = getPackageManager().getPackageInfo(getPackageName(), 0);
        textViewversionName.setText(packageInfo.versionName);

    }
    catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {

    }
  }
}

Try this one:

try
{
    device_version =  getPackageManager().getPackageInfo("com.google.android.gms", 0).versionName;
}
catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e)
{
    e.printStackTrace();
}

First:

import android.content.pm.PackageManager.NameNotFoundException;

and then use this:

PackageInfo pInfo = null;
try {
     pInfo = getPackageManager().getPackageInfo(getPackageName(), 0);
} 
catch (NameNotFoundException e) {
     e.printStackTrace();
}

String versionName = pInfo.versionName;

Always do it with a try catch block:

String versionName = "Version not found";

try {
    versionName = context.getPackageManager().getPackageInfo(context.getPackageName(), 0).versionName;
    Log.i(TAG, "Version Name: " + versionName);
} catch (NameNotFoundException e) {
    // TODO Auto-generated catch block
    Log.e(TAG, "Exception Version Name: " + e.getLocalizedMessage());
}

If you want to use it on XML content then add the below line in your Gradle file:

applicationVariants.all { variant ->
    variant.resValue "string", "versionName", variant.versionName
}

And then use it on your XML content like this:

<TextView
        android:gravity="center_horizontal"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/versionName" />

PackageInfo pinfo = null;
try {
    pinfo = getPackageManager().getPackageInfo(getPackageName(), 0);
}
catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}
int versionNumber = pinfo.versionCode;
String versionName = pinfo.versionName;

For Xamarin users, use this code to get version name and code

1. Version Name:

    public string getVersionName(){
        return Application.Context.ApplicationContext.PackageManager.GetPackageInfo(Application.Context.ApplicationContext.PackageName, 0).VersionName;
    }
   

2. Version code:

    public string getVersionCode(){
        return Application.Context.ApplicationContext.PackageManager.GetPackageInfo(Application.Context.ApplicationContext.PackageName, 0).VersionCode;
    }
   

Kotlin example:

override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
    setContentView(R.layout.act_signin)

    packageManager.getPackageInfo(packageName, PackageManager.GET_ACTIVITIES).apply {
        findViewById<TextView>(R.id.text_version_name).text = versionName
        findViewById<TextView>(R.id.text_version_code).text =
            if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.P) "$longVersionCode" else "$versionCode"
    }

    packageManager.getApplicationInfo(packageName, 0).apply{
        findViewById<TextView>(R.id.text_build_date).text =
            SimpleDateFormat("yy-MM-dd hh:mm").format(java.io.File(sourceDir).lastModified())
    }
}

If you're using the Gradle plugin/Android Studio, as of version 0.7.0, version code and version name are available statically in BuildConfig. Make sure you import your app's package, and not another BuildConfig:

import com.yourpackage.BuildConfig;
...
int versionCode = BuildConfig.VERSION_CODE;
String versionName = BuildConfig.VERSION_NAME;

No Context object needed!

Also make sure to specify them in your build.gradle file instead of the AndroidManifest.xml.

defaultConfig {
    versionCode 1
    versionName "1.0"
}

For API 28 (Android 9 (Pie)), the PackageInfo.versionCode is deprecated, so use this code below:

Context context = getApplicationContext();
PackageManager manager = context.getPackageManager();
try {
    PackageInfo info = manager.getPackageInfo(context.getPackageName(), 0);
    myversionName = info.versionName;
    versionCode = (int) PackageInfoCompat.getLongVersionCode(info);
}
catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
    myversionName = "Unknown-01";
}

Slightly shorter version if you just want the version name.

String versionName = context.getPackageManager()
    .getPackageInfo(context.getPackageName(), 0).versionName;

There are some ways to get versionCode and versionName programmatically.

1. Get version from PackageManager. This is the best way for most cases.

    try {
        String versionName = packageManager.getPackageInfo(packageName, 0).versionName;
        int versionCode = packageManager.getPackageInfo(packageName, 0).versionCode;
    } catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
   

2. Get it from generated BuildConfig.java. But notice, that if you'll access this values in library it will return library version, not apps one, that uses this library. So use only in non-library projects!

    String versionName = BuildConfig.VERSION_NAME;
    int versionCode = BuildConfig.VERSION_CODE;
   

There are some details, except of using second way in library project. In new Android Gradle plugin (3.0.0+) some functionalities removed. So, for now, i.e. setting different version for different flavors not working correct.

Incorrect way:

applicationVariants.all { variant ->
    println('variantApp: ' + variant.getName())

    def versionCode = {SOME_GENERATED_VALUE_IE_TIMESTAMP}
    def versionName = {SOME_GENERATED_VALUE_IE_TIMESTAMP}

    variant.mergedFlavor.versionCode = versionCode
    variant.mergedFlavor.versionName = versionName
}

Code above will correctly set values in BuildConfig, but from PackageManager you'll receive 0 and null if you didn't set version in default configuration. So your app will have 0 version code on device.

There is a workaround - set version for output apk file manually:

applicationVariants.all { variant ->
    println('variantApp: ' + variant.getName())

    def versionCode = {SOME_GENERATED_VALUE_IE_TIMESTAMP}
    def versionName = {SOME_GENERATED_VALUE_IE_TIMESTAMP}

    variant.outputs.all { output ->
        output.versionCodeOverride = versionCode
        output.versionNameOverride = versionName
    }
}

This code was mentioned above in pieces, but here it is again all included. You need a try/catch block, because it may throw a "NameNotFoundException".

try {
    String appVersion = getPackageManager().getPackageInfo(getPackageName(), 0).versionName;
}
catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

I hope this simplifies things for someone down the road. :)

No, you don't need to do anything with AndroidManifest.xml

Basically, your app's version name and version code is inside the app level Gradle file, under defaultConfig tag:

defaultConfig {
   versionCode 1
   versionName "1.0"
}

Note: When you wish to upload an app to the playstore, it can give any name as the version name, but the version code have to be different than the current version code if this app is already in the play store.

Simply use the following code snippet to get the version code & version name from anywhere in your app:

try {
    PackageInfo pInfo =   context.getPackageManager().getPackageInfo(context.getPackageName(), 0);
    String version = pInfo.versionName;
    int verCode = pInfo.versionCode;
} catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

I have solved this by using the Preference class.

package com.example.android;

import android.content.Context;
import android.preference.Preference;
import android.util.AttributeSet;

public class VersionPreference extends Preference {
    public VersionPreference(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);
        String versionName;
        final PackageManager packageManager = context.getPackageManager();
        if (packageManager != null) {
            try {
                PackageInfo packageInfo = packageManager.getPackageInfo(context.getPackageName(), 0);
                versionName = packageInfo.versionName;
            } catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {
                versionName = null;
            }
            setSummary(versionName);
        }
    }
}

Using Gradle and BuildConfig

Getting the VERSION_NAME from BuildConfig

BuildConfig.VERSION_NAME

Yep, it's that easy now.

Is it returning an empty string for VERSION_NAME?

If you're getting an empty string for BuildConfig.VERSION_NAME then read on.

I kept getting an empty string for BuildConfig.VERSION_NAME, because I wasn't setting the versionName in my Grade build file (I migrated from Ant to Gradle). So, here are instructions for ensuring you're setting your VERSION_NAME via Gradle.

File build.gradle

def versionMajor = 3
def versionMinor = 0
def versionPatch = 0
def versionBuild = 0 // Bump for dogfood builds, public betas, etc.

android {

  defaultConfig {
    versionCode versionMajor * 10000 + versionMinor * 1000 + versionPatch * 100 + versionBuild

    versionName "${versionMajor}.${versionMinor}.${versionPatch}"
  }

}

Note: This is from the masterful Jake Wharton.

Removing versionName and versionCode from AndroidManifest.xml

And since you've set the versionName and versionCode in the build.gradle file now, you can also remove them from your AndroidManifest.xml file, if they are there.

try {
    PackageInfo packageInfo = getPackageManager().getPackageInfo(getPackageName(), 0);
    String versionName = packageInfo.versionName;
    int versionCode = packageInfo.versionCode;
    //binding.tvVersionCode.setText("v" + packageInfo.versionName);
}
catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

For someone who doesn’t need the BuildConfig information for application's UI, however wants to use this information for setting a CI job configuration or others, like me:

There is an automatically generated file, BuildConfig.java, under your project directory as long as you build your project successfully.

{WORKSPACE}/build/generated/source/buildConfig/{debug|release}/{PACKAGE}/BuildConfig.java

/**
* Automatically generated file. DO NOT MODIFY
*/
package com.XXX.Project;

public final class BuildConfig {
    public static final boolean DEBUG = Boolean.parseBoolean("true");
    public static final String APPLICATION_ID = "com.XXX.Project";
    public static final String BUILD_TYPE = "debug";
    public static final String FLAVOR = "";
    public static final int VERSION_CODE = 1;
    public static final String VERSION_NAME = "1.0.0";
}

Split information you need by a Python script or other tools. Here’s an example:

import subprocess
# Find your BuildConfig.java
_BuildConfig = subprocess.check_output('find {WORKSPACE} -name BuildConfig.java', shell=True).rstrip()

# Get the version name
_Android_version = subprocess.check_output('grep -n "VERSION_NAME" ' + _BuildConfig, shell=True).split('"')[1]
print('Android version: ’ + _Android_version)

Here is the method for getting the version code:

public String getAppVersion() {
    String versionCode = "1.0";
    try {
        versionCode = getPackageManager().getPackageInfo(getPackageName(), 0).versionName;
    } catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {
        // TODO Auto-generated catch block
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    return versionCode;
}

Use the BuildConfig class:

String versionName = BuildConfig.VERSION_NAME;
int versionCode = BuildConfig.VERSION_CODE;

File build.gradle (app)

defaultConfig {
    applicationId "com.myapp"
    minSdkVersion 19
    targetSdkVersion 27
    versionCode 17
    versionName "1.0"
}

Useful for build systems: there is a file generated with your APK file called output.json which contains an array of information for each generated APK file, including the versionName and versionCode.

For example,

[
    {
        "apkInfo": {
            "baseName": "x86-release",
            "enabled": true,
            "filterName": "x86",
            "fullName": "86Release",
            "outputFile": "x86-release-1.0.apk",
            "splits": [
                {
                    "filterType": "ABI",
                    "value": "x86"
                }
            ],
            "type": "FULL_SPLIT",
            "versionCode": 42,
            "versionName": "1.0"
        },
        "outputType": {
            "type": "APK"
        },
        "path": "app-x86-release-1.0.apk",
        "properties": {}
    }
]

As I had to get only the version code and check whether app was updated or not, if yes, I had to launch the playstore to get updated one. I did it this way.

public class CheckForUpdate {

    public static final String ACTION_APP_VERSION_CHECK = "app-version-check";

    public static void launchPlayStoreApp(Context context)
    {
        // getPackageName() from Context or Activity object
        final String appPackageName = context.getPackageName();
        try {
            context.startActivity(new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW,
                                  Uri.parse("market://details?id=" + appPackageName)));
        }
        catch (android.content.ActivityNotFoundException anfe) {
            context.startActivity(new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW,
                                  Uri.parse("https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=" +
                                             appPackageName)));
        }
    }

    public static int getRemoteVersionNumber(Context context)
    {
        int versionCode = 0;
        try {
            PackageInfo pInfo = context.getPackageManager().getPackageInfo(context.getPackageName(), 0);
            String version = pInfo.versionName;
            versionCode = pInfo.versionCode;
        }
        catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        return versionCode;
    }

}

Then I saved version code using shared preference by creating an util class.

public class PreferenceUtils {

    // This is for version code
    private  final String APP_VERSION_CODE = "APP_VERSION_CODE";
    private  SharedPreferences sharedPreferencesAppVersionCode;
    private SharedPreferences.Editor editorAppVersionCode;
    private static Context mContext;

    public PreferenceUtils(Context context)
    {
        this.mContext = context;
        // This is for the app versioncode
        sharedPreferencesAppVersionCode = mContext.getSharedPreferences(APP_VERSION_CODE,MODE_PRIVATE);
        editorAppVersionCode = sharedPreferencesAppVersionCode.edit();
    }

    public void createAppVersionCode(int versionCode) {

        editorAppVersionCode.putInt(APP_VERSION_CODE, versionCode);
        editorAppVersionCode.apply();
    }

    public int getAppVersionCode()
    {
        return sharedPreferencesAppVersionCode.getInt(APP_VERSION_CODE,0); // As the default version code is 0
    }
}

There are two parts you need:

• android:versionCode
• android:versionName

versionCode is a number, and every version of the app you submit to the market needs to have a higher number than the last.

VersionName is a string and can be anything you want it to be. This is where you define your app as "1.0" or "2.5" or "2 Alpha EXTREME!" or whatever.

Example:

Kotlin:

val manager = this.packageManager
val info = manager.getPackageInfo(this.packageName, PackageManager.GET_ACTIVITIES)
toast("PackageName = " + info.packageName + "\nVersionCode = "
            + info.versionCode + "\nVersionName = "
            + info.versionName + "\nPermissions = " + info.permissions)

Java:

PackageManager manager = this.getPackageManager();
PackageInfo info = manager.getPackageInfo(this.getPackageName(), PackageManager.GET_ACTIVITIES);
Toast.makeText(this,
     "PackageName = " + info.packageName + "\nVersionCode = "
       + info.versionCode + "\nVersionName = "
       + info.versionName + "\nPermissions = " + info.permissions, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();

As in 2020: As of API 28 (Android 9 (Pie)), "versionCode" is deprecated so we can use "longVersionCode".

Sample code in Kotlin

val manager = context?.packageManager
val info = manager?.getPackageInfo(
    context?.packageName, 0
)

val versionName = info?.versionName
val versionNumber = if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.P) {
                        info?.longVersionCode
                    } else {
                        info?.versionCode
                    }

version name : BuildConfig.VERSION_NAME version code : BuildConfig.VERSION_CODE

private String GetAppVersion() {
    try {
        PackageInfo _info = mContext.getPackageManager().getPackageInfo(mContext.getPackageName(), 0);
        return _info.versionName;
    }
    catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
        return "";
    }
}

private int GetVersionCode() {
    try {
        PackageInfo _info = mContext.getPackageManager().getPackageInfo(mContext.getPackageName(), 0);
        return _info.versionCode;
    }
    catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
        return -1;
    }
}