Problem

During the development of android applications the developer has to decide which API Level his applications requires. The API Level is clearly associated with a Android Codename (i.e. Ice Cream Sandwich: 14 and 15 (MR1), Jelly Bean 16 to 17 (MR1), Kit Kat 18…).

A trustable source that shows the frequency of usage for Android Versions can give the information about which versions should be considered retrospective.

Approach

A link collection of  popular sources will be provided in this article. The developer has to customize the androidmanifest.xml in his application to define the minimum API Level.

Solution

Which android versions have to be considered for the development?

http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html

Where can i get an actual complete list of API Levels and Android Names?

http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/api-levels.html