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Cordova Android 14.0.0 Released!
By: Bryan Ellis
26 Mar 2025

We are happy to announce that we have just released Cordova Android 14.0.0! This is one of Cordova's supported platforms for building Android applications.

To upgrade:

cordova platform remove android
cordova platform add android@14.0.0

To install:

cordova platform add android@14.0.0

Release Highlights

BREAKING CHANGES

  • Increased Target SDK

    This release has increased the target SDK to 35 (Android 15).

  • Project Dependencies

    The following Gradle dependencies were bumpped:

    • Gradle: 8.13
    • Android Gradle Plugin (AGP): 8.7.3

    Additionally, the following libraries have been upgraded:

    • AndroidX App Compat - 1.7.0
    • AndroidX WebKit - 1.12.1
    • AndroidX SplashScreen Core - 1.0.1
    • Google Services Gradle Plugin - 4.4.2

    If you or a plugin has made changes to any of the following configuration preferences, the build results might not match the expected outcomes with this release:

    Preference Default Value
    android-minSdkVersion 24
    android-maxSdkVersion Not set
    android-targetSdkVersion 35
    android-compileSdkVersion android-targetSdkVersion configured value
    android-buildToolsVersion 35.0.0
    GradleVersion 8.13
    AndroidGradlePluginVersion 8.7.3
    GradlePluginKotlinVersion 1.9.24
    AndroidXAppCompatVersion 1.7.0
    AndroidXWebKitVersion 1.12.1
    GradlePluginGoogleServicesVersion 4.4.2

    Please take note of the versions that have been updated in this release. If you have manually modified any of these values, it is recommended to review and update the preference values accordingly.

  • Increased Android Studio Requirement

    With the increase of Android Gradle Plugin, Android Studio Ladybug is the minimum required version for building and running projects in Android Studio. This aligns with the Android Gradle plugin and Android Studio compatibility documentation.

  • Required Build Tools

    To use cordova-android@14.0.0, SDK Platform 35 and SDK Build Tools 35.0.0 must be installed. Older build tools version can be uninstalled if older versions of cordova-android is no longer used in any of your projects.

    Upgrade with Command-line tools:

    The recommended way to install SDK Platform 35 and SDK Build Tools 35.0.0 is by using sdkmanager, which is part of Android's Command-line tools package. The command-line tools is useful as it does not require Android Studio.

    At the time of writing, version 19 of the Command-line tools was downloaded from Android Studio's SDK Manager and used. It can also be downloaded from the Android Developers website.

      sdkmanager 'build-tools;35.0.0' 'platforms;android-35'

    You may need to run the update flag first:

      sdkmanager --update

    Upgrade with Android Studio:

    To install SDK Platform 35:

    1. Open Android Studio's SDK Manager:
    2. Click on SDK Platforms tab
    3. Check Android 15.0 ("VanillaIceCream") which has the API Level of 35
    4. Click Apply

    Android SDK Platform

    To install SDK Build Tools 35.0.0:

    1. Open Android Studio's SDK Manager:
    2. Click on SDK Tools tab
    3. Check Show Package Details
    4. Expand Android SDK Build-Tools
    5. Check 35.0.0
    6. Click Apply

    Android SDK Build Tools

  • Increased Java Source & Target Compatibility

    The Java Source & Target Compatibility has been increased to version 11. This aligns with the default settings used when creating a blank native project.

  • Increased Node.js Engine Requirement

    The Node.js engine requirement in this release has been increased to version 20.5.0 or later.

  • Deprecated CordovaPlugin's initialize Method

    The initialize method of the CordovaPlugin class has been marked as deprecated and will be removed in a future release. While this method was always considered deprecated, it was not properly annotated to notify plugin developers.

    We recommend using the pluginInitialize method as a replacement for initialize.

  • Replaced Library kotlin-stdlib-jdk* with kotlin-stdlib

    The kotlin-stdlib-jdk* libraries have been replaced with kotlin-stdlib. Both kotlin-stdlib-jdk7 and kotlin-stdlib-jdk8 are merged into kotlin-stdlib.

Feature

  • Added AndroidEdgeToEdge Preference Support

    By default, Android 15 enforces the Edge-to-Edge feature, which may affect some Apache Cordova apps.

    In this major release, Apache Cordova has opted out of the Edge-to-Edge feature to retain the original behavior and allow app developers ample time to make the necessary adjustments to support Edge-to-Edge.

    Users can re-enable the Edge-to-Edge feature using this new preference flag.

    It is expected that in Android's next major release, opting out of Edge-to-Edge will no longer be possible.

    Apache Cordova will continue to prepare for this expected future behavior change.

Changes include:

Breaking Changes:

  • GH-1788 dep!: bump npm packages
    • nyc@17.1.0
    • which@5.0.0
    • semver@7.7.1
    • jasmine@5.6.0
    • android-versions@2.1.0
    • cordova-common@5.0.1
    • fast-glob@3.3.3
    • nopt@8.1.0
  • GH-1789 feat!: bump node engine requirement >=20.5.0
  • GH-1784 feat!: bump java default targets to 11
  • GH-1771 feat!: deprecate CordovaPlugin's method initialize
  • GH-1767 feat!: use kotlin-stdlib instead of kotlin-stdlib-jdk*
  • GH-1763 feat!: SDK 35 Support

Features:

  • GH-1785 feat: bump gradle to 8.13
  • GH-1779 feat: add AndroidEdgeToEdge preference & theme flag
  • GH-1778 feat: Account for Node security patch
  • GH-1768 feat: androidx.core:core-splashscreen@1.0.1
  • GH-1766 feat: com.google.gms:google-services@4.4.2
  • GH-1765 feat: androidx.webkit:webkit@1.12.1
  • GH-1764 feat: androidx.appcompat:appcompat@1.7.0

Fixes:

  • GH-1790 fix: replace fs-extra.ensureFileSync with fs.writeFileSync
  • GH-1781 fix: copy gradle wrapper from tools to platform root dir
  • GH-1770 fix: creation of cdv-gradle-config.json w/ --link flag
  • GH-1739 fix(docs): Incorrect JDK requirement stated in README
  • GH-1718 fix: app restart when BT keyboard is connected in some devices

Chores & Refactoring:

  • GH-1786 chore: add AndroidX build test to gitignore
  • GH-1774 style: update & resolve doc block warnings
  • GH-1772 refactor: replace fs-extra with node:fs
  • GH-1769 refactor: prefix node:*
  • GH-1748 chore(deps): bump cross-spawn from 7.0.3 to 7.0.6
  • GH-1750 chore(ci): Fix dependabot PR failures
  • GH-1736 chore(deps): bump micromatch from 4.0.5 to 4.0.8
  • GH-1716 chore(deps): bump braces from 3.0.2 to 3.0.3