Is it possible to use Java 8 for Android development

Question

Searching the web  it is not clear if Java 8 is supported for Android development or not   Before I download setup Java 8  can some one point me at any  official  documentation that says Java 8 is or is not supported for Android development

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UPDATE 2017 11 04 - Android Studio 3 0 now has native support for Java 8  gradle-retrolambda is now no longer needed  See https   developer android com studio write java8-support html  The above link also includes migration instructions if you are using gradle-retrolambda  Original answer below     Android does not support Java 8  It only supports up to Java 7  if you have kitkat  and still it doesn t have invokedynamic  only the new syntax sugar   If you want to use lambdas  one of the major features of Java 8 in Android  you can use gradle-retrolamba  It s a gradle build dependency that integrates retrolambda  a tool that converts Java 8 bytecode back to Java 6 7  Basically  if you set the compiler in Android Studio to compile Java 8 bytecode  thus allowing lambdas  it ll convert it back to Java 6 7 bytecode which then in turn gets converted to dalvik bytecode  It s a hack for if you want to try out some JDK 8 features in Android in lieu of official support

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Yes  you can use Java 8 Language features in Android Studio but the version must be 3 0 or higher  Read this article for how to use java 8 features in the android studio   https   bijay-budhathoki blogspot com 2020 01 use-java-8-language-features-in-android-studio html

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Yes  Android Supports Java 8 Now  24 1 17   Now it is possible   But you will need to have your device rom run on java 1 8  and enable  jackOptions  to run it   Jack is the name for the new Android compiler that runs Java 8  https   developer android com guide platform j8-jack html  add these lines to build gradle       android           defaultConfig               jackOptions         enabled true             compileOptions       sourceCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8     targetCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8           Java 8 seem to be the running java engine of Android studio 2 0   But it still does not accept the syntax of java 8 after I checked  and you cannot chose a compiler from android studio now  However  you can use the scala plugin if you need functional programming mechanism in your android client

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You can indeed use gradle-retrolamba gradle build dependency to use Java 8 for Android Development   Below is the complete guide that I have recently followed to run lambda expressions for Android development  The original source of this guide is mentioned at the end      In this guide  a method for bringing some Java 8 features into   Android Development Tools will be demonstrated  specifically aiming at   Eclipse IDE  However  steps which will be described throughout this guide might also be adapted to Google   s new uprising development   environment  Android Studio  It is based on the community edition of   popular IntelliJ Idea IDE by JetBrains and it has recently been   upgraded to its    beta    version by Google in early July 2014  slightly   before this guide was written  Eclipse will remain as the prominent   development environment  at least for a while  and considering the   fact that most Android projects have been developed using Eclipse  a   method for bringing new Java 8 features like lambda expressions into   ADT seems to be quite useful for developers       Android Development is based on a custom Java implementation called   Apache Harmony Project which was terminated back in 2011  The most   commonly used Java syntax in Android Development is Java 6  v1 6  and   Java 7  v1 7  is also partially supported on the KitKat edition    Android 4 4     Therefore  Java 8 features like lambda expressions   cannot be used directly in the Android App Development without   applying some tweaks into the development tools  Luckily  these   constructs are basically some    syntactic sugar    enhancements which   give developers the shortcomings of things like    anonymous classes      and they can be translated into Java 6 or Java 7 classes       A recent approach for translating a Java 8 source code into lower Java   versions is called RetroLambda  This library makes developers run   Java 8 code with lambda expressions on Java 7 or even lower    Unfortunately  Java 8 features other than lambda expressions are not   supported by RetroLambda for now but the concept of lambda expressions   is the biggest leap on Java 8 platform and it   s a great tool for   Android developers anyway        Details about this library can be found on its GitHub page       https   github com orfjackal retrolambda getting-started      Also  a Gradle plugin for RetroLambda created by another developer   allows Gradle-based builds to be implemented in Java or Android   Projects  However  the developer only mentions about integrating this   plugin into Android Studio environment  Details can be found on its   GitHub page       https   github com evant gradle-retrolambda      Using these infrastructures within an Eclipse-based development   environment cannot be approached directly but it   s doable and will be   demonstrated throughout this guide    Preparation  This guide assumes that the reader has a basic understanding of Android Development and it is based on ADT version 22 6 2 because recent ADT version 23 0 2 seems to have problems like layout folder creation  Details about this issue can be found under the following link   http   code google com p android issues detail id 72591  Steps in this guide will be given for a Windows 8 1  64-bit development machine but they can easily be adapted to other platforms  The new build system Gradle will be used for build clean processes and its installation procedure will also be provided  Also  both JDK 8 and JDK 7 must coexist on the development machine  Steps given below must be followed to install them    Go to JDK 8 early access preview page http   jdk8 java net Download JDK 8u20 and install it  JRE 8 installation is not necessary and it can be skipped Go to JDK 7 latest stable release page http   www oracle com technetwork java javase downloads jdk7-downloads-1880260 html Download JDK 7u65 and install it  JRE 7 installation is again not necessary and it can be skipped Add JDK 8 home folder and JDK 8 bin folder to your  PATH  variable Create a new environment variable JAVA HOME with the value of the path of JDK 8 home folder Create a new environment variable JAVA8 HOME again with the value of the path of JDK 8 home folder Create a new environment variable JAVA7 HOME with the value of the path of JDK 7 home folder Open a terminal window and run java -version command and verify that Java 8 is up and running Run javac -version command in the same window and verify that JDK 8 Java compiler is also up and running   Now  ADT-22 6 2 must be downloaded from the following link   http   dl google com android adt 22 6 2 adt-bundle-windows-x86 64-20140321 zip   Download ADT and unzip its contents into a folder  e g  D  adt Define a new environment variable called ANDROID HOME with the value of the path of your ADT installation folder  e g  D  adt sdk Add your Andoid SDK Platform Tools and Andoid SDK Tools folders  e g  D  adt sdk tools and D  adt sdk platform-tools  to your  PATH  variable Create a shortcut to Eclipse IDE if you like  It is located under your ADT installation folder  e g  D  adt eclipse Run Eclipse IDE and create a workspace  e g  D  adt workspace Click on the Android SDK Manager button which is located on the toolbar Select Android SDK Build tools Rev  19 1 and Android Support Library only  Un-select everything else and install these two packages    If everything goes well  ADT will be up and running   The installation of the following tools is also highly recommended    Eclipse Kepler Java 8 Support  It makes Eclipse recognize new Java 8 syntax extensions and makes you get rid of annoying red dots in your Java code editor  It might be installed through Help - gt  Install New Software in Eclipse  Enter http   download eclipse org eclipse updates 4 3-P-builds  into the Work with field and continue to install it  Nodeclipse Enide Gradle  It is mainly used to highlight Groovy language keywords  Groovy is used as the DSL for Gradle build scripts  This plugin can be installed through Eclipse Marketplace  However  Eclipse within ADT-22 6 2 does not come along with Eclipse Marketplace Client  Therefore  you will first need to install Eclipse Marketplace Client by means of Install New Software tool in Eclipse  Enter http   download eclipse org mpc kepler  into the Work with field and continue to install it  After installing Eclipse Marketplace Client  you may search for Nodeclipse Enide Gradle in the Eclipse Marketplace Client and install it  Genymotion Virtual Device  It is a great replacement of the default Android Virtual Device which comes along with ADT  AVD is annoyingly cumbersome and it keeps on crashing for no reason  Genymotion makes you prepare Android VD s using CyanogenMod images which are executed by Oracle VirtualBox  Its single user license is for free and it can be downloaded from http   www genymotion com  Only a login is required and it can also be integrated into Eclipse  Details can be found under    https   cloud genymotion com page doc  collapse8  Below is a screenshot of an Android 4 3 based CyanogenMod virtual device     It might be considered as a fully-fledge Android device running on a x86 or x64 based personal computer  In order to use Google services like Google PlayStore on this virtual device  a gapps image for the Android version that it uses must be flashed onto the device  A proper gapps image for the device might be downloaded from CyanogenMod website   http   wiki cyanogenmod org w Google Apps  Gradle installation is optional since it is also provided by Android SDK itself but its separate installation is highly recommended  Installation of it might be conducted by following these steps    Go to Gradle web site  http   www gradle org  Click Downloads Under Previous Releases choose version 1 10 and download either gradle-1 10-all zip or gradle-1 10-bin zip Unzip its contents into a folder  e g  D  adt gradle Define a new environment variable called GRADLE HOME with the value of the path of your Gradle installation folder  e g  D  adt gradle Add your Gradle binaries folder  e g  D  adt gradle bin  to your  PATH  variable Open a terminal window and run gradle -v command and verify that it s up and running If you have come up to this point successfully then it means that you are ready to create your first Android App using Java 8 features    Demo App  A simple app will be created to demonstrate the usage of the tools which were described in the previous section   You may simply follow the steps given below to get an insight on using lambda expressions in Android Developer Tools    Run Eclipse IDE and create a new Android App by selecting File - gt  New - gt  Other - gt  Android - gt  Android Application Project Fill in the form that comes up as shown below       Simply click the Next button on the following forms and click the Finish button on the last one  Wait till ADT finishes loading up the project Right-click on the project and select New - gt  Folder and name it builders Right-click on the gen  Generated Java Files  folder and delete it  Gradle will generate the same files for us soon and we will add them into the projects build path  Thegen  folder created by the default Ant builder is no longer needed and the artifacts under that folder will be obsolete Create following batch files under the builders folder    gradle build cmd gradle post build cmd gradle clean cmd  Fill in these batch files as follows    gradle build cmd     gradle post build cmd     gradle clean cmd      Un-select Project - gt  Build Automatically menu option Right-click on the project and select Properties - gt  Builders and un-select all default builders provided by ADT Click the New button in the same window and select Program and click OK New builder configuration window will appear  Fill in its tabs as follows    Main Tab of the new Builder Configuration    Refresh Tab of the new Builder Configuration    Environment Tab of the new Builder Configuration    Build Options Tab of the new Builder Configuration     Create the second builder called Gradle Post Build that uses gradle post build cmd as its program  All other settings of this builder must exactly be the same with the previously created builder  This builder will be responsible for copying the artifacts created by the build process into the bin folder  Create the third builder called Gradle Cleaner that uses gradle clean cmd as its program  Only Run the builder setting in the final tab must be set as During a Clean  All other settings of this builder must exactly be the same with the first builder  This builder will be responsible for cleaning the artifacts created by the build process as the name suggests    New Builders of the HelloLambda Project     Right-click on the project and select Export Select Android - gt  Generate Gradle Build Files and click Next Select the project in the next window and click Finish Go to your project s root folder and delete the files gradlew and gradlew bat  Also delete gradle folder Switch back to Eclipse and select Project - gt  Clean menu option  Fill in the form that shows up as follows    Clean Project Window     Click OK and wait till the cleaning process completes Add the Java code snippet given below right after the call to setContentView function in your MainActivity class       Change the beginning of the build gradle file till the sourceCompatibility section as follows       Right-click on the project and select Properties - gt  Java Compiler option and set all compliance levels to Java 8  This will make Eclipse recognize new Java 8 constructs like lambda expressions  Click No in the notification window Right-click on the project and select Build project  Eclipse will start building the project    Build Process    Right-click on the project and go to Properties - gt  Java Build Path  Add the following folders to the build path  also shown in below image     build source buildConfig debug build source r debug      Eclipse will now be able to recognize R java and buildConfig java files and it will not display any red dots which denote errors related to the resource files of the project    Create a new Run Configuration for your Android target platform by right-clicking on the project and then selecting Run As - gt  Run Configurations  For instance  this demo application looks like shown below on the Genymotion VD    HelloLambda Application    You may observe in the LogCat window that the code snippet with a simple lambda expression works properly    Source  Using Java 8 Lambda Expressions in Android Developer Tools

User · Answer

Google just announced that Java 8 will be natively support by Android and that the Jack toolchain will deprecate      We ve decided to add support for Java 8 language features directly into the current javac and dx set of tools  and deprecate the Jack toolchain  With this new direction  existing tools and plugins dependent on the Java class file format should continue to work  Moving forward  Java 8 language features will be natively supported by the Android build system  We re aiming to launch this as part of Android Studio in the coming weeks  and we wanted to share this decision early with you     More Info here  https   android-developers googleblog com 2017 03 future-of-java-8-language-feature html

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I wrote a similar answer to a similar question on Stack Overflow  but here is part of that answer  Android Studio 2 1  The new version of Android Studio  2 1  has support for Java 8 features  Here is an extract from the Android Developers blogspot post       Android Studio 2 1 release includes support for the new Jack compiler and support for Java 8      To use Java 8 language features when developing with the N Developer Preview  you need to use the Jack compiler  The New Project Wizard  File  New  Project  generates the correct configurations for projects targeting the N    Prior to Android Studio 2 1  Android does not support Java 1 8 yet  it only supports up to 1 7   so you cannot use Java 8 features like lambdas  This answer gives more detail on Android Studio s compatibility  it states   If you want to use lambdas  one of the major features of Java 8 in Android  you can use gradle-retrolamba  If you want to know more about using gradle-retrolambda  this answer gives a lot of detail on doing that

User · Answer

Easiest way to add Java 8 support    compileOptions       targetCompatibility    1 8      sourceCompatibility    1 8       Just add it in your build gradle file

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I figured I would post an updated answer for those looking at for something a little more current    Currently Android and Android Studio are supporting a subset of Java 8 features  According to the Android documentation located on their website  Google says       Support for Java 8 language features requires a new compiler called Jack  Jack is supported only on Android Studio 2 1 and higher  So if you want to use Java 8 language features  you need to use Android Studio 2 1 to build your app       If you already have Android Studio installed  make sure you update to the latest version by clicking Help   Check for Update  on Mac  Android Studio   Check for Updates   If you don t already have the IDE installed on your workstation  download Android Studio here       Supported Java 8 Language Features and APIs      Android does not support all Java 8 language features  However  the following features are available when developing apps targeting Android 7 0  API level 24           Default and static interface methods Lambda expressions  also    available on API level 23 and lower     Repeatable annotations    Method References  also available on API level 23 and lower     Type Annotations  also available on API level 23 and lower       Additionally  the following Java 8 language APIs are also available      Reflection and language-related APIs          java lang FunctionalInterface   java lang annotation Repeatable   java lang reflect Method isDefault   and Reflection APIs associated with repeatable annotations  such as   AnnotatedElement getAnnotationsByType Class          Utility APIs          java util function   java util stream         In order to use the new Java 8 language features  you need to also use the Jack toolchain  This new Android toolchain compiles Java language sources into Android-readable DEX bytecode  has its own  jack library format  and provides most toolchain features as part of a single tool  repackaging  shrinking  obfuscation and multidex       Here is a comparison of the two toolchains used to build Android DEX files   Legacy javac toolchain      javac   java    class    dx   class    dex      New Jack toolchain      Jack   java    jack    dex

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java 8  Android supports all Java 7 language features and a subset of Java 8 language features that vary by platform version   To check which features of java 8 are supported   Use Java 8 language features     We ve decided to add support for Java 8 language features directly into the current javac and dx set of tools  and deprecate the Jack toolchain  With this new direction  existing tools and plugins dependent on the Java class file format should continue to work  Moving forward  Java 8 language features will be natively supported by the Android build system  We re aiming to launch this as part of Android Studio in the coming weeks  and we wanted to share this decision early with you     Future of Java 8 Language Feature Support on Android  Eclipse Users   For old developers who prefer Eclipse  google stops support Eclipse Android Developer tools  if you installed Java 8 JDK  then give it a try  if any problems appears try to set the compiler as 1 6 in Eclipse from window menu   Preferences   Java   Compiler  Java 7 will works too        Java 7 or higher is required if you are targeting Android 5 0 and   higher    install multiple JDK and try

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Android uses a Java that branches off of Java 6   As of Android SDK version 19  you can use Java 7 features by doing this   No full support for Java 8  yet

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Android OFFICIALLY supports Java 8 as of Android N    Feature announcements are here  the Java 8 language announcement is      Improved Java 8 language support - We   re excited to bring Java 8 language features to Android  With Android s Jack compiler  you can   now use many popular Java 8 language features  including lambdas and   more  on Android versions as far back as Gingerbread  The new features   help reduce boilerplate code  For example  lambdas can replace   anonymous inner classes when providing event listeners  Some Java 8   language features --like default and static methods  streams  and   functional interfaces -- are also now available on N and above  With   Jack  we   re looking forward to tracking the Java language more closely   while maintaining backward compatibility

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We Can Use Java 8 using      In build gradle  Project  myProject  add following  classpath  me tatarka gradle-retrolambda x x x    x x x is recent version  In build gradle  Module  myModule  add following  apply plugin   me tatarka retrolambda   compileOptions       sourceCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8     targetCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8

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UPDATE 2020 01 17  Android Studio 4 0 includes support for using a number of Java 8 language APIs  by using technique called desugaring  without requiring a minimum API level for your app  https   developer android com studio preview features j8-desugar     The following set of APIs is supported in this release          Sequential streams  java util stream    A subset of java time   java util function   Recent additions to java util  Map Collection Comparator    Optionals  java util Optional  java util OptionalInt and java util OptionalDouble  and some other new classes useful with the   above APIs   Some additions to java util concurrent atomic  new methods on AtomicInteger  AtomicLong and AtomicReference    ConcurrentHashMap  with bug fixes for Android 5 0          To support these language APIs  D8 compiles a separate library DEX   file that contains an implementation of the missing APIs and includes   it in your app  The desugaring process rewrites your app   s code to   instead use this library at runtime       To enable support for these language APIs  include the following in   your module   s build gradle file   android     defaultConfig          Required when setting minSdkVersion to 20 or lower     multiDexEnabled true        compileOptions          Flag to enable support for the new language APIs     coreLibraryDesugaringEnabled true        Sets Java compatibility to Java 8     sourceCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8     targetCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8        dependencies     coreLibraryDesugaring  com android tools desugar jdk libs 1 0 4         ORIGINAL POST FROM 2017  Android Studio 3 0 started to provide built-in support for some of Java 8 language features  which are    Lambda expressions Method references Type Annotations  information is available at compile time  but not at runtime  Repeating annotations Default and static interface methods   Also starting from API level 24 the following Java 8 API are available    java util stream java util function java lang FunctionalInterface java lang annotation Repeatable java lang reflect AnnotatedElement getAnnotationsByType Class  java lang reflect Method isDefault     Besides that  the try-with-resources support was extended to all Android API levels   More Java 8 features are promised to be added in the future      To start using supported Java 8 language features  update the Android   plugin to 3 0 0-alpha1  or higher  and add the following to your   module   s build gradle file   android           compileOptions       sourceCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8     targetCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8          For more details visit  https   developer android com studio write java8-support html

User · Answer

Add this config build gradle and sync gradle   android               defaultConfig                       jackOptions               enabled true                      compileOptions           sourceCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8         targetCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8            or           sourceCompatibility 1 8           targetCompatibility 1 8

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Follow this link for new updates  Use Java 8 language features  Old Answer  As of Android N preview release Android support limited features of Java 8 see Java 8 Language Features     To start using these features  you need to download and set up Android   Studio 2 1  and the Android N Preview SDK  which includes the   required Jack toolchain and updated Android Plugin for Gradle  If you   haven t yet installed the Android N Preview SDK  see Set Up to Develop   for Android N    Supported Java 8 Language Features and APIs     Android does not currently support all Java 8 language features    However  the following features are now available when developing apps   targeting the Android N Preview    Default and static interface methods  Lambda expressions  also available on API level 23 and lower   Repeatable annotations  Method References  also available on API level 23 and lower   There are some additional Java 8 features which Android support  you can see complete detail from Java 8 Language Features  Update     Note  The Android N bases its implementation of lambda expressions on   anonymous classes  This approach allows them to be backwards   compatible and executable on earlier versions of Android  To test   lambda expressions on earlier versions  remember to go to your   build gradle file  and set compileSdkVersion and targetSdkVersion to   23 or lower    Update 2  Now Android studio 3 0 stable release support Java 8 libraries and Java 8 language features  without the Jack compiler

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When I asked this question almost 2 years ago the answer really was    officially    no   but as pointed out by ekcr1 s answer you can get one of the most highly anticipated features  lambdas  to work if you  use retrolamba   At the time I was still using eclipse  as Android Studio was in    preview    mode   so I never did pursue this path   Today  I think the    official    answer is still no   and while retrolamba still seems like a good way to go  there is another option for those willing to go down a somewhat    unofficial     route can take  namely Kotlin   Today Kotlin reached 1 0 0   For those not familiar with Kotlin   more info can be found at their website found here   https   kotlinlang org  or watch this utube video of a talk given by Jake Wharton  https   www youtube com watch v A2LukgT2mKc

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Yes  We will use Java 8 soon      We ve decided to add support for Java 8 language features directly into the current javac and dx set of tools  and deprecate the Jack toolchain  With this new direction  existing tools and plugins dependent on the Java class file format should continue to work  Moving forward  Java 8 language features will be natively supported by the Android build system  We re aiming to launch this as part of Android Studio in the coming weeks  and we wanted to share this decision early with you     https   android-developers googleblog com 2017 03 future-of-java-8-language-feature html

User · Answer

Easy way  You can enable java 1 8 support for android project    Open Project Structure   Either by pressing Ctrl   Shift   Alt   S Or File  gt  Project Structure  Update the Source Compatibility and Target Compatibility to 1 8 in the Project Structure dialog as shown  click File   Project Structure       Or you can use gradle   android      compileOptions          sourceCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8        targetCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8        Sync project  And that s it   Note  Java 1 8 support can be enabled for Android Studio 3 0 0 or higher  See Documentation for further reading

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UPDATE 2019 10 28  Android Studio 4 0 solves this issue   The D8 compiler patches a backport of the Java 8 native APIs into your APK at compile time and your app will use that code  instead of the native APIs  at runtime   The process is called desugaring

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All the above solutions doesn t seem to work in 2019 with the latest Android Studio 3 4    I figured out a perfect and up to date solution to migrate or upgrade your Android Project to Java 8   Solution  Click on File -  Project Structure -  Modules -  Properties tab  Change the Source Compatibility and Target Compatibility to 1 8  Java 8

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Adding the following fixed the problem for me  Android studio 2 3 2    build gradle  Project   buildscript   repositories               jcenter     dependencies               classpath  me tatarka gradle-retrolambda 3 4 0     DEPENDENCY                  build gradle  Module  app   apply plugin   com android application  apply plugin   me tatarka retrolambda    PLUGIN  android               compileOptions           sourceCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8         targetCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8          SET JAVA VERSION

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Latest news   Google announce that with Android N and Android Studio 2 1   platform will support Java 8  Also stable version of studio 2 1 was released    At last we can use lambda expressions  No more list filter in for loop  Horeeey

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addd this line into module lvl build gradel  compileOptions           sourceCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8         targetCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8

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A subset of Java 8 is supported now on Android Studio  Just make the Source and Target Compatibility adjustments from the window below   File --  Project Structure    More information is given in the below link   https   developer android com studio write java8-support html

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Native Java 8 arrives on android  Finally      remove the Retrolambda plugin and retrolambda block from each module s   build gradle file       To disable Jack and switch to the default toolchain  simply remove the   jackOptions block from your module   s build gradle file   To start using supported Java 8 language features  update the Android plugin to 3 0 0  or higher   Starting with Android Studio 3 0   Java 8 language features are now natively supported by android    Lambda expressions Method references Type annotations  currently type annotation information is not available at runtime but only on compile time   Repeating annotations Default and static interface methods  on API level 24 or higher  no instant run support tho     Also from min API level 24 the following Java 8 API are available    java util stream java util function java lang FunctionalInterface java lang annotation Repeatable java lang reflect AnnotatedElement getAnnotationsByType Class  java lang reflect Method isDefault     Add these lines to your application module   s build gradle to inform the project of the language level    android      compileOptions          sourceCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8        targetCompatibility JavaVersion VERSION 1 8        Disable Support for Java 8 Language Features by adding the following to your gradle properties file   android enableDesugar false   You   re done  You can now use native java8

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I asked this question over 3 years ago and obviously the answers have changed over the years   As many above have already answered  as of sometime back  the answer became Yes    I have never updated the accepted answer because it was the correct answer at the time   I am not sure what the Stack Overflow policy is on that   I just wanted to add another answer for those who still search for this topic  As of  5 17 2017 Google also announced that Kotlin is also an official language for Android development   I have not found an official press release  but I did watch some of the Google I O videos where it was announced   Here is a link to a blog post by the Kotlin team on the announcement

[java] Is it possible to use Java 8 for Android development?

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