Use class from older API level removed in newer API level

Question

I want to access the android.webkit.WebSettingsClassic class on API level 16 but compile my application for API level 19. The WebSettingsClassic class has been removed in API level 19 and thus the compiler cannot see it. How do I solve this?

Answer 1

I solved it using the following modified code. This allows you to compile against API level 19.

@TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN_MR1)
public static String getUserAgent(final Context context) {
    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN_MR1) {
        return WebSettings.getDefaultUserAgent(context);
    }
    else {
        try {
            final Class<?> webSettingsClassicClass = Class.forName("android.webkit.WebSettingsClassic");
            final Constructor<?> constructor = webSettingsClassicClass.getDeclaredConstructor(Context.class, Class.forName("android.webkit.WebViewClassic"));
            constructor.setAccessible(true);
            final Method method = webSettingsClassicClass.getMethod("getUserAgentString");
            return (String) method.invoke(constructor.newInstance(context, null));
        }
        catch (final Exception e) {
            return new WebView(context).getSettings()
                    .getUserAgentString();
        }
    }
}