When I create a new project in Android Studio, which API level should I choose according to project type as the minimum SDK?

Question

For example, for which project content should I choose API 21:Android 5.0(Lollipop)? Or for which project content should I choose API 16:Android 4.1(Jelly Bean)? etc. In short, what should we consider when choosing API levels in Android Studio? API Levels

Answer 1

It depends on the project, and the api's you will use like there is some libraries that doesn't support old api levels like 16 and below, so first choose low api like 16(Android 4.1) then if u include some api's that needs higher minimum sdk you can increase it from (build.gradle):

defaultConfig {
    applicationId "Your app package"
    //this is the minimum sdk
    minSdkVersion 21
    targetSdkVersion 30
    versionCode 1
    versionName "1.0"

    testInstrumentationRunner "androidx.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner"
}