Platform Pinning

Cordova CLI pins the supported platform version in conjunction with the version of CLI that is being used.

To see the pinned platforms for your CLI version, execute the command cordova platform list in a brand new project directory.

Example (Cordova CLI 9.x):

$ cordova platform list
Installed platforms:

Available platforms:
  android ^8.0.0
  browser ^6.0.0
  electron ^1.0.0
  ios ^5.0.0
  osx ^5.0.0
  windows ^7.0.0

Note: When a platform is installed, the "Installed platforms:" section will display the actual installed platform version. The installed platform will no longer display in the "Available platforms:" section until it is removed from the project.

Starting from Cordova CLI 9 and up, all platforms are pinned with an caret (^). It means that by installing a platform without a specified version, Cordova will fetch the latest version up to a minor release.

In Cordova CLI 8 and below, all platforms are pinned with a tilde (~). It means that by installing a platform without a specified version, Cordova will fetch the latest version up to a patch release.