Backwards compatibility of SDK versions (v21+)

[MatrixAndrew]

My question is a follow-up of this this topic: Cocos2d-x v3.13 and sdk/ndk versions .
It was discussed there that compiling against SDK version >=21 might break compatibility for devices running versions <21.
So if we wanted to aim version >=21, would the best way to publish be to upload 2 distinct APK’s? One for version >=21, using the latest SDK (23 or 24) and one for version <21 (using version 20)?

It might be also an option to ignore API versions above 20 altogether, but I’m not sure how Google Play Services and Game Tools would work at its full potential that way plus it’s advised to use the latest SDK anyways.

[schngrg]

The android sdk level set in Gradle can be different from the android sdk level used for NDK build. You can use any Android SDK level in in Gradle, but recommended level for NDK build (as set in project.properties) is 13.

I had tried to summarize the details here:

Cocos2d-x v3.13 and sdk/ndk versions

If you are using Android Studio, do this: In your gradle files, set the compile SDK version, the min SDK version, and target SDK version as you want. You can use ANY version that you want to use. I prefer to use the latest 23 or 24 for compile SDK and 22 for target SDK to not trigger Android 6 permissions, and I use min SDK as 14 as our app can’t run well on very old devices with very low power GPUs. But you can use any versions you want without worrying about any NDK related build issues or cr…