Android: Using SVG in res leads to error: “The file name must end with .xml or .png”

Question

I just updated Android Studio 1.2.1.1 and now gradle got problems with svg in my resources folder. I was always using SVGs with no problem and I hope they will be \"allowed\

Answer 1

SVG files are not supported by Android as drawables. Even if you put them there, the system cannot decode them as you would expect. Instead try to put them in src/main/res/raw or src/main/assets folder and load them appropriately (via an external library). Most people confuse SVG and Vector-drawables, they're not the same thing. Vector-drawables use SVG-compatible path mini-language, but that's about it.

The current accepted solution is to revert back to an archaic version of the Gradle plugin, which is counterproductive in most cases. The tools team is investing a lot of effort in making the build much better (it's really noticable).

Instead of reverting you should pull forward to 1.5.0 (has been stable for a while now) and add android.disableResourceValidation=true into your gradle.properties file (usually located in the root project next to settings.gradle) to enable the pre-1.2.2 behavior.

For more info see http://b.android.com/192493