Android SDK Build-Tools is a component of the Android SDK required for building Android apps. It's installed in the`/build-tools/` directory.

You should always keep your Build Tools component updated by downloading the latest version using the Android SDK Manager. If you're using or higher, your project automatically uses a default version of the build tools that the plugin specifies. To use a different version of the build tools, specify it using in your module's build.gradle, as follows:

Groovy

android {

buildToolsVersion "34.0.0"
...

Kotlin

android {

buildToolsVersion = "34.0.0"
...

Revisions

The sections below provide notes about releases of the Build Tools. To determine which revisions of the Build Tools are available in your SDK, refer to the Installed Packages listing in the Android SDK Manager.

Build Tools, Revision 34.0.0 RC3[April 2023]

General bug fixes and improvements.

Build Tools, Revision 34.0.0 [February 2023]

This update includes support for building with Android 14 preview APIs.

Build Tools, Revision 33.0.2 [February 2023]

This update fixes the following issue:

• core-lambda-stubs.jar version 33.0.0 differs on macOS versus Linux/Windows. [See issue

  237299698.]

Build Tools, Revision 33.0.1 [November 2022]

This update fixes the following issue:

• AIDL fails with build-tools 33.0.0. [See issue

  236167971]

Build Tools, Revision 30.0.0 rc4 [May 2020]

This update includes support for building with Android 11 Preview APIs.

Build Tools, Revision 29.0.3 [January 2020]

This update fixes the following issue:

• Build issue with Renderscript on macOS Catalina. [See issue

  142590626]

Build Tools, Revision 29.0.2 [August 2019]

This update fixes the following issue:

• librsjni_androidx.so SIGSEGV

Build Tools, Revision 29.0.0 [June 2019]

This update includes support for building with API level 29.

Build Tools, Revision 28.0.3 [September 2018]

This update includes support for and fixes the following issues:

• Fixed a JNI library bug that caused apps to crash when calling`androidx.renderscript.RenderScript.create[]`.
• Fixed a bug that caused Program type already present build errors with`androidx.annotation` resources.

Build Tools, Revision 28.0.2 [August 2018]

Includes the latest version of D8.

Build Tools, Revision 27.0.3 [December 2017]

Improves support for compiling lambdas when you enable Java 8 language features.

Build Tools, Revision 27.0.2 [December 2017]

Improves support for Java 8 language features.

Build Tools, Revision 27.0.1 [November 2017]

Adds support for legacy multidex for test APKs. [Issue

37324038]

Build Tools, Revision 26.0.2 [October 2017]

In addition to general bug fixes, this release includes the following updates:

• Updates apksigner to version 0.8:
  • Compatibility with Java 9. [Issue

    37137869]

  • New android {

       buildToolsVersion = "34.0.0"  
       ...  
    

    } 0 parameter to handle keystores and keys that are encrypted using non-ASCII passwords. If you switch to Java 9 and apksigner fails to decrypt your keystore or key, use this parameter to specify the character encoding you used to create the keystore or key. For more information, see the or run android {

       buildToolsVersion = "34.0.0"  
       ...  
    

    } 3 from the commandline.
  • Better error message when apksigner can't verify a JAR signature due to an unsupported digest or signature algorithm. [Issue

    63525618]

• Support for AAPT2 daemon mode when using Android plugin for Gradle android {

  buildToolsVersion = "34.0.0"  
  ...  
  

  } 5 or higher.

Build Tools, Revision 26.0.1 [July 2017]

In addition to general bug fixes, this release restores apksigner to the build tools package [it was omitted by mistake in version 26.0.0] and includes the following updates to the tool:

• Adds PKCS

  11 support to allow signing with keys held in secure hardware. [Issue

  37140484]

• Adds support for loading additional before signing.
• Honors android {

  buildToolsVersion = "34.0.0"  
  ...  
  

  } 7 when verifying APKs.
• When signing, rejects APKs with files that include 'CR' [carriage return], 'LF' [line feed], or 'NUL' [null] special characters in the file name.
• Fixes

  android {

  buildToolsVersion = "34.0.0"  
  ...  
  

  } 8 to correctly handle parameters containing spaces. [Issue

  38132450]

• Fixes a bug in JAR signature verification when multiple digests are present for the same entry in

  android {

  buildToolsVersion = "34.0.0"  
  ...  
  

  } 9. [Issue

  38497270]

Build Tools, Revision 26.0.0 [June 2017]

Adds support for building with API level 26 and contains general bug fixes.

Build Tools, Revision 25.0.3 [April 2017]

Updates to apksigner:

• Added /build-tools/`1 parameter for symmetry with existing /build-tools/`2 parameter.
• If you do not specify the key password using /build-tools/`3, `apksigner uses the keystore password as key password. However, if the key requires a different password, you are now prompted to enter the key password from the command line. [Issue

  37134986]

• Added compatibility with `/build-tools/`5 for non-ASCII passwords. [Issue

  37135737]

Build Tools, Revision 25.0.2 [December 2016]

Bug fixes.

Build Tools, Revision 25.0.1 [November 2016]

This release includes bug fixes and the following improvements to apksigner:

• Support for APKs with obfuscated JAR entry names.
• `/build-tools/`7 switch now also dumps MD5 fingerprints.

Build Tools, Revision 25.0.0 [October 2016]

Bug fixes for the Jack toolchain:

• Fixed issue with Jack supporting non-ASCII source files. [Issue

  218892]

• Fixed issue that causes an `/build-tools/`8 during some compilations. [Issue

  208414]

Build Tools, Revision 24.0.3 [September 2016]

• Added apksigner, an APK signing tool to replace`/build-tools/5. By default, `apksigner signs APKs using the conventional JAR signing scheme [used by /build-tools/`5] and the introduced in Android 7.0 [API level 24]. Any modification to an APK signed with APK Signature Scheme v2 invalidates its signature. Thus, APK post-processing, such as `buildToolsVersion`3, must be performed before `apksigner is invoked, not after. Invoking`buildToolsVersion`3 before apksigner works fine because`apksigner` preserves APK alignment and compression [unlike `/build-tools/`5].

Build Tools, Revision 23.0.3 [March 2016]

• Fix issues in the RenderScript Support Library on arm64 devices.
• Fix issues in the RenderScript Support Library on certain Jelly Bean devices.
• Support `buildToolsVersion`9 when using Android Plugin for Gradle, Revision 2.1.0 and above .

Build Tools, Revision 23.0.2 [November 2015]

• Improved the merging performance of the `build.gradle`0 tool.
• Fixed issues in the RenderScript compiler for Windows.

Build Tools, Revision 23.0.1 [October 2015]

Fixed issues in the RenderScript tools.

Build Tools, Revision 23.0.0 [August 2015]

Added support for the Android 6.0 [API level 23] release.

Build Tools, Revision 22.0.1 [March 2015]

Fixed compatibility issues with RenderScript kernels on Android 4.4 [API level 19] to Android 4.1 [API level 16] devices.