How to enable multidexing with the new Android Multidex support library

Question

I want to use the new Multidex support library to break the method limit for one of my apps.

With Android Lollipop Google introduced a multidex support library that makes it easy to multidex.

What steps are needed to use this library and to build my app with multidex support?

Answer 1

Edit:

Android 5.0 (API level 21) and higher uses ART which supports multidexing. Therefore, if your minSdkVersion is 21 or higher, the multidex support library is not needed.

---

Modify your build.gradle:

android {
    compileSdkVersion 22
    buildToolsVersion "23.0.0"

         defaultConfig {
             minSdkVersion 14 //lower than 14 doesn't support multidex
             targetSdkVersion 22

             // Enabling multidex support.
             multiDexEnabled true
         }
}

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.android.support:multidex:1.0.3'
}

If you are running unit tests, you will want to include this in your Application class:

public class YouApplication extends Application {

    @Override
    protected void attachBaseContext(Context base) {
        super.attachBaseContext(base);
        MultiDex.install(this);
    }

}

Or just make your application class extend MultiDexApplication

public class Application extends MultiDexApplication {

}

For more info, this is a good guide.