Question

My app is set to run on minSdk = 5, but the vast majority of users are using SDK 8 (FroYo) and higher. I want to be able to use the android:configChanges=”uiMode” for my main activity, but I can’t do it because that mode wasn’t introduced until SDK level 8. So, I was hoping that I could do it at runtime — check which SDK level is running on the device, and then use reflection to add that parameter.

Is that possible?

EDIT:
The problem is that whenever a user’s phone is connected to the dock, my app gets terminated, and then re-created. I’m trying to avoid that by including the android:configChanges=”uiMode”.

Answer 1

After much poring through the Android Reference, there is very little you can change from the manifest at runtime. This is due to security because through the PackageManager, one can gain very specific information about any application on the device. While it is easy to enable/disable a given Component, in most other circumstances, you can only read manifest information… not write it.

Alternatives

• You could potentially make a separate APK with API Level 8 support.

• You could manually check for configuration state and run your code when it changes. The object reference for configuration is here.

Edit: (new info)

While you cannot change the configChanges, I found this question that is closely related to yours. It turns out that you might not have to. It implies that you can use Android’s backward compatibility mode when supporting new configChanges. In case the link above is broken, here is the URL: https://stackoverflow.com/a/7893148/501932

To put this to use for you, it suggests setting a new targetSdk while maintaining your original minimumSdk. It also requires that you have the updated SDK, itself. Apparently, this was a huge deal for users that utilized that AdMob API.