Using the Gradle Version Catalog in Android projects

The Gradle build system Version Catalog is a powerful tool that can help you manage dependencies and plugins in your Android projects. Instead of hard-coding dependency names and versions in individual build files and updating each entry whenever you need to upgrade a dependency, you can create a centralized version catalog of dependencies that various modules and even projects can reference in a type-safe way with Android Studio assistance. This makes managing dependencies and plugins easier when you have multiple modules or projects.

In this video, I will show you how to migrate your Android app to version catalogs. I will cover the basic steps of creating a version catalog file, migrating dependencies, and plugins. I will also provide some tips and tricks to help you get started with the Gradle version catalog publication.

Contents of this video:

• 0:00 – Intro
• 0:28 – What is the version catalog?
• 1:04 – Quick examples
• 1:27 – Start a version catalog project in Android Studio
• 2:23 – The version catalog TOML file structure
• 3:35 – Aliases naming conventions
• 4:17 – The version catalog Kotlin DSL
• 4:38 – Pros & Cons of using version catalog
• 6:39 – The version catalog publication
• 8:30 – Using a published version catalog
• 8:45 – Outro