Android Studio gradle doesn't compile the specified version

Question

I've been developing this small project for some days now but suddenly today, Android Studio started to give me this error

Error:Execution failed for task ':app:processDebugManifest'.
> Manifest merger failed : uses-sdk:minSdkVersion 14 cannot be smaller than version 14 declared in library com.android.support:support-v4:21.0.0-rc1

I understood that it is because it's trying to compile the library of Android-L. The version I want it to compile is the old version but it won't. It keeps giving me the above error no matter which version I enter. Here is the dependencies.

dependencies {
    compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:20.+'
    compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:20.+'
}

UPDATE

I just installed Android Studio Beta and changed my dependencies to the one Eugen suggested below. But syncing the project gives the same error no matter which version of appcompat, support version I specify. It gives this error every single time I sync

uses-sdk:minSdkVersion 14 cannot be smaller than version L declared in library com.android.support:support-v4:21.0.0-rc1

My updated dependencies

dependencies {
    compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:19.+'
    compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:19.+'
}

UPDATE 2

I don't think I understand the dependencies system of Android Studio correctly. I just removed both the appcompat and support from the dependencies and it still gives me the same error. Do I have to remove the initially included libraries from somewhere?

build.gradle

*note - I added those two libraries back in again and tried syncing, just in case. But no chenges.

apply plugin: 'android'

android {
    compileSdkVersion 19
    buildToolsVersion "19.1.0"

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "taz.starz.footynews"
        minSdkVersion 14
        targetSdkVersion 19
        versionCode 1
        versionName "1.0"
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            runProguard false
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
        }
    }
}

dependencies {
    compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:19.+'
    compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:19.+'
    compile project(':ParallaxScroll')
    compile files('src/main/libs/Header2ActionBar-0.2.1.jar')
    compile 'com.arasthel:gnavdrawer-library:+'
    compile 'com.koushikdutta.ion:ion:1.2.4'
}

Top level build.gradle

// Top-level build file where you can add configuration options common to all sub-projects/modules.
buildscript {
    repositories {
        mavenCentral()
    }
    dependencies {
        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:0.12.+'
    }
}

allprojects {
    repositories {
        mavenCentral()
    }
}

It looks like you have multimodal project. What id your parent build.gradle? — Eugen Martynov
It's build.gradle file doesn't contain any dependencies and there's no .jar files either. So I'm assuming it doesn't have any dependencies? — Thahzan

TalkLittle TalkLittle · Accepted Answer · 2014-06-27T06:49:24

UPDATE: Found the real fix for my case. Make sure none of your dependencies are silently including support-v4 r21 by doing this in your build.gradle:

compile("com.blahblah:blah:123") {
    exclude group: 'com.android.support', module:'support-v4'
}

You can add the exclude to all libraries, then remove one-by-one until you figure out which one was pulling in support-v4 and giving you the error. And leave exclude on that one.

There is a new bug filed here: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=72430

Assuming you are using the Support Repository, the workaround is to comment or remove the line

<version>21.0.0-rc1</version>

in the local Maven repo listing file at <android-sdk>/extras/android/m2repository/com/android/support-v4/maven-metadata.xml

Android Studio gradle doesn't compile the specified version

7 Answers