Using Android Studio with Java 1.7

Question

I was trying to get Android Studio to use Java 1.7 on Mac OS X (Mountain Lion)

I went to File > Project Structure... and then tried to add a JDK with

Answer 1

I went to Java SE Downloads and downloaded Java 7 again. The method mentioned above worked for Eclipse.

Running the installer from this manual download placed the JDK in /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_21.jdk/Contents/Home, which was accepted by Android Studio.

Answer 2

There is simple way to do this. Please add following lines in build.gradle in android section:

compileOptions {
    sourceCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_7
    targetCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_7
}

and sync project with Gradle files. Android Studio will detect change (language Level) and ask to reload the project.

Answer 3

Similar to Perty's answer above, edit /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/Info.plist, but change the xml key JVMVersion from 1.6* to 1.6+. As per Apple's Docs, a star (*) means exactly the named version, whereas a plus (+) means at least that version.

The "exactly 6" setting was implemented after AS 0.5.0 was released, when per the release notes some users had trouble opening AS with Java 7.

Answer 4

I have the same problem on Android Studio 2.1 and I have java 6 and 7 installed.

When I run java -version or javac -version it shows 1.7.0_79, but Android Studio insists using 1.6.

I had to change the info.plist from 1.6*,1.7+ to 1.7+. Now it works and stop complaining about download updates securely.

Answer 5

For those wonder how you start the actual program Android Studio with Java 7: edit the plist located in /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/Info.plist

Change the xml key JVMVersion which is 1.6* to 1.7* (Java 7) or 1.6+ (latest version)

I don't know if there are any problems by doing this so take it easy.

Answer 6

On a mac, check your java version by running this command:

java -version

And you should see a version higher than 1.7. If not, then just run your system updates to get the latest version of java. (Click the "Apple" logo in the upper left and choose About this Mac then click the Software Update... button and install the latest java from there.) In other words, get your latest java from Apple's Updates, if you can–it's easier that way.

Once you have the latest version, then simply run the following command:

/usr/libexec/java_home

This will tell you your Java Home location, which is what Android Studio wants. For me, this value was

/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_65.jdk/Contents/Home

If you'd like to set this as a default for all projects, follow the instructions in this related answer (which deals with how to set your Android SDK but the Java SDK is set in the same screen). In a nutshell, close all projects to get to the Welcome to Android Studio screen then select > Configure > Project Defaults > Project Structure > Android SDK and then input your JDK location, given by the java_home utility.

I just took these steps while creating a project targeting "Lollipop" and it worked like a charm.