Android apps targeted at Android 2.2 and Google Maps V1

Question

I'm pretty new to Android dev, not so new to Java. Anyhow I'm in the planning stage of my application which will rely heavily on Google map api.

I wanted to jump in to the code today but came across this dilemma. I won't be using any special UI components or anything so new that I would need to set my targeted version to higher than 2.2.

First thing I would like to display a map via Google map api. Anyhow the problem I have is when visiting https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android/v1/ To learn more about the API and how to use it I found out that it's no longer supported and has been replaced with V2. What bugged me was the statement that they are no longer releasing api keys for Google maps V1. And the V2 requires minimal Android API to be 17 which puts my app targeted at phones running Android 4.3+ which does not really cover that much devices.

Does this mean my application is a no-go and I have to deal with it being targeted for Android 4.3+ or can I still use V1 and target my app for Android 2.2+

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

The minSdkVersion of apps using the Google Maps V2 API for Android is not 17, but 8. What you mean is probably the targetSdkVersion which should always be the highest available. So you're good to go there.