Update to Gradle 8.0 and Android 34 requires build system update

[codeanticode]

Right now the entire build system is stuck at Gradle 7.2 and Android 33 because anything higher would require moving to Gradle 8. which is not backwards-compatible.

The official upgrade docs may be useful: https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/upgrading_version_7.html

[sandrobenigno]

Google is denying the use of Android 33 and Gradle 7.2 for publishing apps.

"We've detected that your app is targeting an old version of Android. To provide users with a safe and secure experience, Google Play requires all apps to meet target API level requirements.

From August 31, 2024, if your target API level is not within 1 year of the latest Android release, you won't be able to update your app."

Your highest non-compliant target API level is Android 13 (API level 33).

To ensure that you can continue to make updates to your app you must:

Update your app to target Android 14 (API level 34) or higher.
Publish a new version of your app to production. Before you do this, you can test your app using internal, closed, or open testing.

[codeanticode]

So this needs to be fixed asap :-)

[SableRaf]

Thanks for the heads up @sandrobenigno 🙏

@codeanticode: what amount of work would be needed for this update? Can I help coordinate this in any way?

cc @ranaaditya @Stefterv

[codeanticode]

It may take a substantial amount of work because there is quite a bit of custom Gradle code that needs to be updated to be compatible with 8.0.

[sandrobenigno]

(FYI) From now on, Google will no longer accept apps created using the current Processing for Android mode.
I asked for an extension for my app, but now they no longer allow updates or even closed testing.

[codeanticode]

@sandrobenigno I'm sorry that there is no solution currently for this issue, I will do my best to find a time sometime soon (although I don't think I will be able to work on it until next month or so). For the time being, a workaround would be to export your sketch as Gradle project, so you continue the development from Android Studio. You should be able to fully utilize the Processing API, while upgrading the latest version of Gradle, etc. to pass through Google's latest review requirements.

[Stefterv]

Maybe it makes sense for me and @SableRaf to write a tutorial on how to do the upgrade from within Android Studio?

[codeanticode]

@Stefterv yes that would be a great resource, thank you. The processing android book has an appendix precisely on that that you could use as a starting point.

[SableRaf]

Thanks for the nudge @Stefterv!

Please file in an issue on the Processing for Android website repo describing the tutorial needed:

https://github.com/processing/processing-android-website/issues/new

Could be a good opportunity for a contributor maybe? @ranaaditya @JakubValtar would you be up for it or can you recommend anyone?

[JakubValtar]

@SableRaf Thanks for the ping, sadly I'm not up to date with the state of the Android SDK and don't have the bandwidth right now to look into it. I hope somebody else will be able to pick this up!