android:targetSdkVersion
An integer designating the
API level that the application targets. If not set, the default value equals that given to minSdkVersion.
This attribute informs the system that you have tested against the target version, and the system doesn't enable any compatibility behaviors to maintain your app's forward-compatibility with the target version. The application is still able to run on older versions (down to minSdkVersion).
As Android evolves with each new version, some behaviors and even appearances might change. However, if the
API level of the platform is higher than the version declared by your app's targetSdkVersion, the system can enable compatibility behaviors so that your app continues to work the way you expect. You can disable such compatibility behaviors by specifying targetSdkVersion to match the
API level of the platform on which it's running.
For example, setting this value to "11" or higher lets the system apply the Holo default theme to your app when running on Android 3.0 or higher and also disables screen compatibility mode when running on larger screens, because support for
API level 11 implicitly supports larger screens.
There are many compatibility behaviors that the system can enable based on the value you set for this attribute. Several of these behaviors are described by the corresponding platform versions in the Build.VERSION_CODES reference.
To maintain your application along with each Android release, increase the value of this attribute to match the latest
API level, then thoroughly test your application on the corresponding platform version.