Android App doesn't launch on lower version than targetSDKVersion

Question

I have just downloaded the latest SDK version from Android SDK Manager and set my App's Project Build Target to Google APIs level 17 as below

And added in my App's AndroidManifest.xml as below

<uses-sdk 
   android:minSdkVersion="3" 
   android:targetSdkVersion="17" 
   android:maxSdkVersion="17" />

And loaded the Emulator with Level 8, 2.2 then tried to launch the App on this Emulator. Whenever I run the app it says "No compatible targets were found" (I know I can create AVD for level 17 but want to launch on emulator level 8) when I have android:minSdkVersion="3" in my AndroidManifest.xml.

I researched a lot and did not find a proper answer to this.

Then I changed the Project Build Target to Android 4.2 level 17 as below

The App started launching on all the Emulators below level 17.

But I still don't know what is restricting the App to launch on lower version Emulator when the Project Build Target is to Google APIs level 17

Answer 1

Google APIs Add-On is an extension to the Android SDK development environment that lets you develop applications for devices that include Google's set of custom applications, libraries, and services. A central feature of the add-on is the Maps external library, which lets you add powerful mapping capabilities to your Android application.

Enabling Google APIs lets you use features that are not present in default Android devices. Since your minSdkVersion is set to 3, you should be able to launch the application if you create an emulator with API version greater than 3 but with Google APIs enabled.