you can try

cordova platform add android@version

Adding to the importance of resolving this issue is very soon Google store won’t accept submission of sdk level less than 30.

I was able finally to build it using before_build hook https://github.com/capellasolutions/ionic-cordova-docker/tree/develop/example-app/scripts

Until this issue is resolved here, maybe in cordova-android 10 or 9.something

Adding to the importance of resolving this issue is very soon Google store won’t accept submission of sdk level less than 30.

This is not related to this issue. Targeting API 30 still works via android-targetSdkVersion preference, so that’s not a problem. Additionally we will bump our default target SDKs on our major releases to match the requirement of Google Play store.

The issue described in this ticket is Cordova will still attempt to the default platform SDK (currently API 29) even when targetSdkVersion is set to a different API level. So the current workaround is to simply have both platform 29 & 30 installed.

I’ve had a chance to do some digging on the cause and I’ve found 3 things that Cordova tooling must do:

(1) Ensure compileSdkVersion matches targetSdkVersion

compileSdkVersion is the SDK that the application is compiled against, while the targetSdkVersion is an assertion that you’ve tested your application at the target SDK level for compatibility. If the platform API level is higher of the target, then the platform will enable backwards-compatibility behaviours.

There isn’t any real reason to have a compileSdkVersion set that is different than the targetSdkVersion and doing so can cause an unstable application. Currently, the android-targetSdkVersion overrides but doesn’t modify compileSdkVersion creating this possibility. Cordova should force compileSdkVersion and targetSdkVersion to be equal.

There is currently no config.xml preference to set the compileSdkVersion, and the lack of this feature should remain. There is a cdvCompileSdkVersion cordova gradle flag, which I think should become deprecated and potentially removed in cordova-android@10 and replaced with a cdvTargetSdkVersion flag to match the config.xml’s android-targetSdkVersion preference.

(2) Ensure android/project.properties has the correct target

Currently, Cordova does not modify the target attribute inside /platforms/android/project.properties and it remains set to android-29 which will cause the Android Gradle Plugin (AGP) to download Platform 29.

(3) Ensure android/CordovaLib/project.properties has the correct target

Currently, Cordova does not modify the target attribute inside /platforms/android/CordovaLib/project.properties and it remains set to android-29 which will cause AGP to download Platform 29.

Additionally, a warning should be printed for when the SDK is overridden and uses a value other than the Cordova default target SDK, similar to the min sdk override warning. Using an alternate SDK level is not really a supported feature, so this preference is more-or-less “use at your own risk” (and really should be documented as such).

All 3 actions must be done in order for the AGP to not download API 29.

I cannot give any timeline for when I’ll personally be able to do the above, but I’ll support any PR that does what is described above.

ICYMI: You can workaround this issue by installing both Platform 29 & 30. You can still build APKs targeted against API 30.

remove whitelist plugin using cordova plugin rm cordova-plugin-whitelist it is mentioned on that plugin page

We are in an odd state right now because the current cordova CLI will auto-add the whitelist plugin when you create a new cordova project, which is deprecated and incompatible with the latest major version of cordova-android. The next major cordova CLI will solve this problem.

Tested and it worked. I changed on config.xml to : <preference name="android-targetSdkVersion" value="30" /> but it didn’t work so, I remove the platform by using : cordova platform remove android then add the latest cordova android version : cordova platform add android@latest finally build the project : cordova build android It worked! Amazing. You can check it by going to this file. \platforms\android\app\build\intermediates\merged_manifests\debug\AndroidManifest.xml

Hi Chamara… Did you able to compile your ionic app with sdk 30…? Am getting this annoying error message again and again…

C:\Users\User_App\platforms\android\app\src\main\java\org\apache\cordova\whitelist\WhitelistPlugin.java:63: error: cannot find symbol allowedRequests = new Whitelist(); ^ symbol: class Whitelist location: class org.apache.cordova.whitelist.WhitelistPlugin Note: Some input files use or override a deprecated API. Note: Recompile with -Xlint:deprecation for details. Note: Some input files use unchecked or unsafe operations. Note: Recompile with -Xlint:unchecked for details.

remove whitelist plugin using cordova plugin rm cordova-plugin-whitelist it is mentioned on that plugin page https://github.com/apache/cordova-plugin-whitelist

installing platform 30 won’t be effective and pointless anyway because of other gradle project properties files,

As noted in my notes above but the workaround will still build a target 30 SDK, which will still enable API changes that API 30 will introduce.

If using API 30 platform SDK is a requirement, a temporary full workaround is to modify the following:

/platforms/android/project.properties:

target=android-30

/platforms/android/CordovaLib/project.properties:

target=android-30

Currently the compile SDK version is can be overrided using the cdvCompileSdkVersion flag e.g:

cordova build android --release -- --gradleArg=-PcdvCompileSdkVersion=30

Lastly, of course you still need the android-targetSdkVersion preference in your config.xml file:

<preference name="android-targetSdkVersion" value="30" />

Cordova may overwrite changes to files inside /platforms/ so I’d advise crafting a before_build hook.

I think this might be a cosmetic issue. I was using this the other day and despite the cordova build output stating using android-29, the final output of both an apk or app bundle still produced api 30 package.

Are you able to confirm you see the same behavior?