Android Gradle Plugin 8.9.0 (March 2025)

Android Gradle Plugin 8.9.0 is a major release that includes a variety of new features and improvements.

Compatibility

The maximum API level that Android Gradle plugin 8.9 supports is API level 35. Here is other compatibility info:

	Minimum version	Default version	Notes
Gradle	8.11.1	8.11.1	To learn more, see updating Gradle.
SDK Build Tools	35.0.0	35.0.0	Install or configure SDK Build Tools.
NDK	N/A	27.0.12077973	Install or configure a different version of the NDK.
JDK	17	17	To learn more, see setting the JDK version.

Fixed issues

Android Gradle plugin 8.9.0

Fixed Issues
Android Gradle Plugin	Issue #331016661 Provide an actionable error message when GMD setup task fails with insufficient disk space Issue #317358817 com.android.settings plugin doesn't recognize targetSdk Issue #373478537 Unhelpful error ''compileSdkVersion is not specified. Please add it to build.gradle" Issue #378314205 Missing "Clean build" in Build menu Issue #340315591 Maybe let AGP's built-in Kotlin support auto-add kotlin stdlib dependency Issue #338596003 Update shouldConfigureKotlinPlatformAttribute to handle built-in kotlin support Issue #378724144 Give kotlin gradle syntax in error message for `checkTestedAppObfuscationRelease` Issue #383184394 Fused Library error when unresolved dependency could be improved Issue #380110863 System Properties from gradle.properties are not passed to R8 Gradle Workers in separate processes Issue #241582907 Make BuiltArtifact.outputFile as File type Issue #383182777 Not providing namespace on fused library does not give a good error message Issue #196209595 lint options in AGP 7.1.0-alpha08 doesn't allow for stdout Issue #317215060 Android Gradle Plugin: Variants should expose source set names Issue #379657438 Configuration cache is brittle to the setting of the TERM environment variable Issue #393189008 AndroidComponentsExtension.addSourceSetConfigurations broken when stats are enabled Issue #394384907 Initialization script 'C:\Users\mypc\AppData\Local\Temp\ijresolvers2.gradle' line: 162 Issue #393189008 AndroidComponentsExtension.addSourceSetConfigurations broken when stats are enabled
Dexer (D8)	Issue #395140848 java.lang.VerifyError: Verifier rejected class: [0x430] copy1 v2<-v264 type=Undefined cat=3
Lint	Issue #377475534 Lint crashes with Lint gradle checks Issue #377642757 Lint fails with InstantiationException without exception message in lint stacktrace Issue #375352607 False positive lint check android.permission.SCHEDULE_EXACT_ALARM is only granted to system apps Issue #370343337 StringFormatInvalid check should be applied to Compose stringResource method Issue #374896332 RequiresFeature annotation does not work for Kotlin files Issue #376498180 kotlin android.os.Handler removeCallbacks Runnable Issue #378128668 WrongConstant lint on definition instead of usage of constant using shift Issue #370778975 WrongConstant lint appearing twice Issue #381126163 Runtime exception below API 26 with unsupported Java nio API (with no lint error) Issue #382253664 Lint prevents usage of RequiresApi even on private helper method in test Issue #360354551 K2 Mode throws RestrictedApi warning when using .hasRoute(Route::class) in Android Studio Issue #382043552 Lint suggests replacing @RequiresExtension on test with @SdkSuppress, which doesn't support SDK extensions Issue #383595384 Lint incorrectly reports an uncessary nested layout when a FrameLayout used with fitSystemWindows to wrap a child RelativeLayout that that requires custom padding. Issue #383595395 CoarseFineLocation lint rule doesn't account for a maxSdkVersion attribute Issue #385875832 AppLinkSplitToWebAndCustom is UnknownIssue in lint 8.7.3 Issue #387281249 Lint check StringEscapeDetector crash on "\\ " Issue #389023409 Wrong lint warning for `@Parcelize` annotation on sealed interfaces Issue #382396705 AS 2024.3.1.4 hang intermittently when editing kotlin texts.
Lint Integration	Issue #383661626 lintVitalRelease doesn't run automatically when building app bundle
Shrinker (R8)	Issue #394185143 Gson proguard is not working properly after upgrading to AGP 8.8 Issue #391417819 java.lang.VerifyError: Verifier rejected class Issue #395489597 Leanback crashes when minified with R8 included in AGP 8.10.0-alpha04

Android Gradle plugin 8.9.1

Fixed Issues
Dexer (D8)	Issue #401489623 Backporting of android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES_FULL incorrect for Baklava
Shrinker (R8)	Issue #401546693 Unable to Generate Signed APK after updating to AGP 8.9.0 Issue #397737234 Analyze written-before-read property at allocation sites encounters error when generating classfile Issue #389737060 Problem regarding Java SPI in R8 shrinker of versions 8.6.*, 8.7.*, 8.8.0

Android Gradle plugin 8.9.2

Fixed Issues
Shrinker (R8)	Issue #404745556 Resource Shrinking Issue in AGP 8.9 Causing Missing Resources in Dynamic Feature Modules Issue #401515589 ClassCastException from a safe cast in class init Issue #400746842 Cannot invoke com.android.tools.r8.internal.H5.x()