Android support multidex library implementation

According to the docs at https://developer.android.com/studio/build/multidex.html#avoid

If you're minSdkVersion is 21 and above, all you need to do is

android {
    defaultConfig {
        ...
        minSdkVersion 21 
        targetSdkVersion 25
        multiDexEnabled true
    }
    ...
}

if you're minSdkVersion is 20 or below, you need to use the support library

android {
    defaultConfig {
        ...
        minSdkVersion 15 
        targetSdkVersion 25
        multiDexEnabled true
    }
    ...
}

dependencies {
  compile 'com.android.support:multidex:1.0.1'
}

Along with

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.example.myapp">
    <application
            android:name="android.support.multidex.MultiDexApplication" >
        ...
    </application>
</manifest>

There are a few things you have to do,

1- In your gradle you need to specify multidex and add the support library:

android {
    defaultConfig {
        ...
        multiDexEnabled true
        ...
    }
}

dependencies {
  ...
  compile 'com.android.support:multidex:1.0.0'
  ...
}

2- In your manifest you have to set your application to a multidex application:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.package.name">
    <application
        ...
        android:name="com.package.name.my_application">
        ...
    </application>
</manifest>

3.1- In your application class you have to either extend MultiDexApplication:

public class my_application extends MultiDexApplication
{
    ...
}

3.2- Or Overide the attachBaseContext() method:

public class my_application extends Application
{
    protected void attachBaseContext(Context base)
    {
        super.attachBaseContext(base);
        MultiDex.install(this);
    }
}

Limitations of the multidex support library

The multidex support library has some known limitations that you should be aware of and test for when you incorporate it into your app build configuration:

• The installation of .dex files during startup onto a device's data partition is complex and can result in Application Not Responding (ANR) errors if the secondary dex files are large. In this case, you should apply code shrinking techniques with ProGuard to minimize the size of dex files and remove unused portions of code.
• Applications that use multidex may not start on devices that run versions of the platform earlier than Android 4.0 (API level 14) due to a Dalvik linearAlloc bug (Issue 22586). If you are targeting API levels earlier than 14, make sure to perform testing with these versions of the platform as your application can have issues at startup or when particular groups of classes are loaded. Code shrinking can reduce or possibly eliminate these potential issues.
• Applications using a multidex configuration that make very large memory allocation requests may crash during run time due to a Dalvik linearAlloc limit (Issue 78035). The allocation limit was increased in Android 4.0 (API level 14), but apps may still run into this limit on Android versions prior to Android 5.0 (API level 21).
• There are complex requirements regarding what classes are needed in the primary dex file when executing in the Dalvik runtime. The Android build tooling updates handle the Android requirements, but it is possible that other included libraries have additional dependency requirements including the use of introspection or invocation of Java methods from native code. Some libraries may not be able to be used until the multidex build tools are updated to allow you to specify classes that must be included in the primary dex file.

resources: http://developer.android.com/tools/building/multidex.html

The Blog was the old solution.

With Android Studio 0.9.2 & Gradle Plugin 0.14.1, you only need to:

1. Add to AndroidManifest.xml:

.

android:name="android.support.multidex.MultiDexApplication" 

or

Add

MultiDex.install(this);

in your custom Application's attachBaseContext method

or your custom Application extend MultiDexApplication

2. add multiDexEnabled = true in your build.gradle

.

android {
    defaultConfig {
        ...
        multiDexEnabled = true
    }
}

Done.

Sorry for my poor English

Related Resources:

http://developer.android.com/tools/building/multidex.html

https://plus.google.com/+XavierDucrohet/posts/1FnzwdcBnyC