WARNING: API 'variant.getJavaCompile()' is obsolete and has been replaced with 'variant.getJavaCompileProvider()'

Question

Suddenly when Syncing Gradle, I get this error:

WARNING: API 'variant.getJavaCompile()' is obsolete and has been replaced with 'variant.getJavaCompileProvider()'. It will be removed at the end of 2019. For more information, see https://d.android.com/r/tools/task-configuration-avoidance Affected Modules: app

I've got this build.gradle for the app module:

apply plugin: 'com.android.application'

apply plugin: 'kotlin-android'

apply plugin: 'kotlin-android-extensions'
apply plugin: 'com.google.gms.google-services'

apply plugin: 'io.fabric'

android {
    compileSdkVersion 28
    buildToolsVersion "28.0.2"
    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "..."
        minSdkVersion 21
        targetSdkVersion 28
        versionCode 1
        versionName "..."
        testInstrumentationRunner "androidx.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner"
        versionNameSuffix = version_suffix

        [...]
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            minifyEnabled false
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android-optimize.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'

            [...]
        }
        debug {
            [...]
        }
    }
}

dependencies {
    implementation fileTree(include: ['*.jar'], dir: 'libs')
    implementation "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib-jdk7:1.2.61"
    implementation 'androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.0.0-rc02'
    implementation 'androidx.constraintlayout:constraintlayout:1.1.3'
    implementation "com.android.support:preference-v7:28.0.0"
    testImplementation 'junit:junit:4.12'
    androidTestImplementation 'androidx.test:runner:1.1.0-alpha4'
    androidTestImplementation 'androidx.test.espresso:espresso-core:3.1.0-alpha4'
    implementation 'com.google.android.material:material:1.0.0-rc02'

    [...]
}

I can compile the app correctly, but it's a bit bothering, and as I see it, something will stop working at the end of 2019. Any ideas of what is it and how to solve it?

Answer 1

I face this issue after updating to 3.3.0

If you are not doing what error states in gradle file, it is some plugin that still didn't update to the newer API that cause this. To figure out which plugin is it do the following (as explained in "Better debug info when using obsolete API" of 3.3.0 announcement):

• Add 'android.debug.obsoleteApi=true' to your gradle.properties file which will log error with a more details
• Try again and read log details. There will be a trace of "problematic" plugin
• When you identify, try to disable it and see if issue is gone, just to be sure
• go to github page of plugin and create issue which will contain detailed log and clear description, so you help developers fix it for everyone faster
• be patient while they fix it, or you fix it and create PR for devs

Hope it helps others