Mark SDK versions as outdated and add version notes

This page contains Help content for SDK providers using Google Play SDK Console.

If you're an app developer looking for Google Play Console Help content, use the search bar or return to the homepage.

You can use SDK Console to communicate important information about your SDKs with the developers that use them. For example, you can report your SDK as being outdated or add a note for app developers if it has one or more known issues.

Report your SDK version as outdated or add a note for app developers

The SDKs page lists all of the SDKs you’ve claimed to date. From here, you can click on an SDK to see a list of its versions. For each version, you can see the proportion of apps that are using that version compared with other versions of the SDK.

Note that because SDK Console’s figures are based on apps which share their library dependencies with Google Play, there may be some discrepancy between the distribution across versions you see in your data compared with what is on this page.

You can report specific versions as outdated or add a note for app developers if it has one or more known issues. Once you report an issue, app developers using this version will see this status (or note) when creating a new app release in Google Play Console.

The screenshot below shows an example of how you can add or edit the note for app developers:

This information may also be displayed on other app developer-facing surfaces such as Android Studio and Google Play SDK Index.

Depending on the severity of the issue, you can choose whether new app releases should be allowed to include the version for which a message was added or has been reported as outdated. If you don't allow this, apps using this SDK version will be notified. Upon releasing a new app version, these apps will have 90 days to update to a newer SDK version. After 90 days, they will no longer be able to publish with the SDK version you reported. This action is not reversible.

Add a message for an SDK version to be displayed to app developers

To avoid fatigue and ensure app developers pay attention, you should only add a message if you need to convey highly important information. Try to make the description as specific and detailed as possible. The message will be shown to all app developers using this SDK version, so avoid addressing an individual developer or including salutations. A message can be edited but cannot be removed.

Here's an example that shows what your note will look like to app developers in Play Console:

To add a note to an SDK version:

1. Open SDK Console and select SDKs on the left menu.
2. Click the SDK that has an issue.
3. Click the three dots symbol (⋮) next to the SDK version you want to add a message to.
4. Click Add note for app developers.
5. Enter a description of the issue for app developers and choose whether the note will prevent app releases.
   • You can use up to 500 characters.
   • This message is shown to app developers using this SDK version in Play Console, Play SDK Index, and Android Studio. App developers will also receive an email notification. Please avoid addressing individual developers or using salutations in the message
6. Once submitted, the message will be in "pending" state. It may take a few days for it to go live and for developers to start seeing it.

Report a version of your SDK as outdated

Reporting a version of your SDK as outdated lets developers know they should no longer use this version. It will also encourage them to adopt a newer version.

You can only report an SDK version as outdated when at least 80% of apps are already using a newer version. This is to balance the movement of Google Play apps to newer software (which is generally better for users) and the extra work that migrating to a newer version requires for developers. SDK versions that are eligible to be reported as outdated will be highlighted with a special indicator.

Note: This feature isn’t intended to help you promote your newest SDK version, but to help you reduce the usage of old versions, and to remove outdated SDK versions from Google Play.

To report a version of your SDK as outdated:

1. Open SDK Console and select SDKs on the left menu.
2. Click the SDK that has an issue.
3. Click the three dot symbol (⋮) next to the SDK version you want to report as outdated.
4. Click Report as outdated and choose whether this should prevent app releases. This information is shown to app developers using this SDK version in Play Console, Play SDK Index, and Android Studio. App developers will also receive an email notification.