App must target Android 16 (API level 36) or higher

[Stevie-Ray]

First of all thanks for creating Bubblewrap, it's a shame its not as actively maintained as in was the past!

Describe the bug
From Aug 31, 2026, if your target API level is not within 1 year of the latest Android release, you won't be able to update your app.

Same for: App must use Google Play Billing Library version 8.0.0 or later

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Go to 'https://play.google.com/console'
2. Click on 'notifications'
3. See error

Screenshots

[tunapiq]

We have the same issue. We just got email notifications from Google.

[EzekielaRakotoarijaona]

Hello same issue here. And we only have one month to upgrade.

[JudahGabriel]

I can repro the issue with my own apps as well.

[JudahGabriel]

For frame of reference, here's a previous PR that bumped the Android API level version. Pretty simple: https://github.com/GoogleChromeLabs/bubblewrap/pull/764/changes

[Ubeydu]

I'm working on a PR for this. The scope on current main is smaller than #764: commit e0af5ad already bumped compileSdkVersion to 36 (with AGP 8.9.1, Gradle 8.11.1, JDK 17), so what remains is targetSdkVersion 35 → 36 in the template's app/build.gradle, plus the BUILD_TOOLS_VERSION constant in AndroidSdkTools.ts (34.0.0 → 36.1.0, same pairing as #764 and #862). The specs interpolate that constant, so no test changes are needed.

I'll validate with the repo's build/lint/test, then build a real production TWA with the patched CLI and upload the AAB to Google Play to confirm it accepts targetSdk 36. PR shortly.

One note for the thread: the pinned android-browser-helper (2.6.2) predates the edge-to-edge splash fixes in 2.7.x, but bumping it raises the library minSdk to 23, which is breaking for minSdk 21 projects. That looks like a separate PR; this one stays minimal.

[thequailman]

Are there any plans to also bump the billing library up to 8.0?

[Ubeydu]

Are there any plans to also bump the billing library up to 8.0?

Not in my PR, which stays scoped to the target API level so it can merge quickly. Billing is a separate axis: Bubblewrap only touches it when the playbilling feature is enabled, and what it pins is com.google.androidbrowserhelper:billing:1.1.0, the android-browser-helper extension module. The Play Billing Library version comes from inside that module, so moving to 8.0 needs changes in android-browser-helper first, then a pin bump here. Probably worth its own issue.

[Rorrorror]

@Ubeydu Thanks for the explanation how to do this manually. Tested internal succesfull. Now rolling it out for open testing.

[Ubeydu]

Update for anyone following this: two PRs now implement the bump. #1050 sets the template's targetSdkVersion to 36, and my #1051 does the same plus the BUILD_TOOLS_VERSION pairing from the previous SDK bumps (#764, #862), with test results from a real app in the description: green build, lint and test, generated project verified at targetSdk 36, and a run on an Android 16 emulator with Digital Asset Links verification working.

Until a fix merges and ships in a release, the manual path for an already-generated project is to edit app/build.gradle, set targetSdkVersion 36, and rebuild, as Rorrorror confirmed above. One caution: don't run bubblewrap update afterwards, because it regenerates the project from the installed CLI's template and would write targetSdkVersion 35 back.

[Stevie-Ray]

@gstepniewski-google @OlegNitz @orbital17 Just checking whether this issue is on your radar. Thanks! 💯

[mattiadesiderio]

Thanks for the update and for validating this with a real production TWA. Hopefully one of these PRs can be merged and released soon, since projects generated through PWABuilder also depend on the Bubblewrap template and currently still target API 35