page.title=Set Up the Preview SDK
page.image=images/cards/card-set-up_16-9_2x.png
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<div id="qv-wrapper">
<div id="qv">
<h2>In this document</h2>
<ol>
<li><a href="#get-as13">Get Android Studio 1.3</a></li>
<li><a href="#get-sdk">Get the Preview SDK</a></li>
<li><a href="#create-update">Create or Update a Project</a></li>
<li><a href="#setup-test">Set Up for Testing</a></li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<p>The M Developer Preview SDK is available from the Android SDK Manager.
This document assumes that you are familiar with Android app development, such
as using the Android SDK Manager and creating projects. If you are new to
Android, see <a href="{@docRoot}training/basics/firstapp/index.html">Building Your First
App</a> training lesson first.</a></p>
<h2 id="get-as13">Get Android Studio 1.3</h2>
<p>The Developer Preview is best used with Android Studio 1.3, which is in
preview status. It is highly recommended that you install the preview version of
Android Studio 1.3 to work with the Preview SDK.</p>
<p class="caution"><strong>Caution:</strong> The canary preview of Android
Studio 1.3 is still in active development. If you are using your primary development
machine to test the developer preview, you can create a second installation
of Android Studio to use for testing.</p>
<p>To install the Android Studio 1.3 preview:</p>
<ol>
<li>Download and launch <a href="{@docRoot}tools/studio/index.html">Android
Studio</a>.
</li>
<li>Open the <strong>Settings</strong> window (on Windows, you can do this
by choosing <strong>File > Settings</strong>). Choose the
<strong>Appearance & Behavior > System
Settings > Updates</strong> panel.
<p class="aside">On OSX, you can find the <strong>Appearance &
Behavior</strong> panel
in Android Studio's <strong>Preferences</strong> window.</p>
</li>
<li> On the <strong>Updates</strong> panel, choose the option
<strong>Automatically check updates for: Canary Channel</strong>.
</li>
<li>On the <strong>Updates</strong> panel, select <strong>Check Now</strong>
to check for the latest canary build. Download and install the build when you
are prompted.
</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="get-sdk">Get the Preview SDK</h2>
<p>To add the Preview SDK components to your development environment:</p>
<ol>
<li>Launch the Android Studio 1.3 preview.
</li>
<li>Open the <strong>Settings</strong> window (on Windows, you can do this
by choosing <strong>File > Settings</strong>). Choose the
<strong>Appearance & Behavior > System
Settings > Updates</strong> panel.
<p class="aside">On OSX, you can find the <strong>Appearance &
Behavior</strong> panel
in Android Studio's <strong>Preferences</strong> window.</p>
</li>
<li>On the <strong>Updates</strong> panel, choose the options
<strong>Automatically check updates for: Canary Channel</strong> and
<strong>Automatically check updates for Android SDK: Preview Channel</strong>.
</li>
<li>Launch the <strong>Android SDK Manager</strong>. (With Android Studio 1.3,
the SDK Manager is integrated into Android Studio instead of being a
standalone application.)
</li>
<li>Under the <strong>Platforms</strong> section, select <strong>Android MNC
Preview</strong>.
</li>
<li>In the <strong>Tools</strong> section, select the latest Android <strong>
SDK Tools</strong>, <strong>Platform-tools</strong>, and
<strong>Build-tools</strong>.
</li>
<li>Click <strong>Install packages</strong> and accept the licensing
agreement for all of the packages.
</li>
<li>Verify that the M Developer Preview is installed by opening the <strong>
Settings</strong> window and choosing the <strong>Appearance & Behavior
> System Settings > Android SDK</strong> panel.</li>
<li>On the <strong>Android SDK</strong> panel, choose
the <strong>SDK Platforms</strong> tab. <strong>Android MNC
Preview</strong> should be listed as <em>Installed</em>. Also, open the
<strong>SDK Tools</strong> tab to verify that the latest tools are
installed.
</li>
</ol>
<p>After completing these steps, the preview components are available in your development
environment. </p>
<h2 id="create-update">Create or Update a Project</h2>
<p>
In order to use the preview APIs, you must create or update a development project to use
the preview components.
</p>
<h3 id="create">Create a new project</h3>
<p>
We recommend using Android Studio to create a project with the preview. Follow the steps
described in <a href="{@docRoot}sdk/installing/create-project.html">Creating a Project</a>
until you arrive at the <em>Form Factors</em> screen in the project wizard. Then perform
the following steps to create a project configured for the preview.
</p>
<ul>
<li>Check <strong>Phone and Tablet</strong>.</li>
<li>Select <strong>MNC: Android M (Preview)</strong> in <strong>Minimum
SDK</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="update">Update an existing project</h3>
<p>
For existing projects, you must modify the project configuration to enable the preview APIs. In
your development environment, open the <code>build.gradle</code> file for your module and
set these values as follows:
</p>
<ul>
<li><code>compileSdkVersion</code> is set to <code>'android-MNC'</code></li>
<li><code>minSdkVersion</code> is set to <code>'MNC'</code></li>
<li><code>targetSdkVersion</code> is set to <code>'MNC'</code></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="setup-test">Set Up for Testing</h2>
<p>
Testing an app with the preview requires that you have a device or virtual device configured with
the preview version of the platform. If you have a compatible device, you can install the preview
platform for testing. Otherwise, you can configure a virtual device for testing.
</p>
<h3 id="setup-device">Set up a physical device</h3>
<p>
If you have a Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, or Android TV, you can install a preview
system image on these devices for testing your app.
You can set up a virtual device with the preview version of the platform from within Android Studio
using the Android Virtual Device Manager tool.
</p>
<p class="caution">
<strong>Important:</strong> Installing a preview image on a device <em>removes all data from
it</em>, so you should backup any data before installing a preview image.
</p>
<h3 id="setupAVD">Set up a virtual device</h3>
<p>
You can set up virtual device with the preview version of the platform from within Android Studio
using the Android Virtual Device Manager tool.
</p>
<p>To create an AVD with the AVD Manager:</p>
<ol>
<li>Install the Preview SDK in your development environment, as described
in <a href="{@docRoot}preview/setup-sdk.html">Setting Up the Preview
SDK.</a></li>
<li>Follow the steps in
<a href="{@docRoot}tools/devices/managing-avds.html">Managing AVDs with AVD
Manager</a>. Use the following settings:
<ul>
<li><strong>Device:</strong> Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, or Android TV</li>
<li><strong>Target:</strong>
Android M (Preview) - API Level M</li>
<li><strong>ABI:</strong> x86</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
<p>
For more information about creating virtual devices for testing, see <a href=
"{@docRoot}tools/devices/index.html">Managing Virtual Devices</a>.
</p>