Adapt layout to Android platform or API level

Question

For the application I am currently developing, I need to adapt the layout of the different activities to the user\'s Android API level.

Is there a way to do this?

Answer 1

If what you're trying to do is show a different layout depending on which API version is available on the device, you want to use configuration qualifiers. The specifics for alternative resources are also documented.

The most basic way to do it is to create a layout folder for each API level you want to use, formatted as follows:

res/layout/mylayout.xml       (Default)
res/layout-v4/mylayout.xml    (Android 1.6)
res/layout-v11/mylayout.xml   (Android 3.0)

and so on, where vN is the API level. The specific API levels can be found on this page.