Language Level Java 8 (Retrolambda) on AndroidStudio 4+?

Question

So, someone backported Lambdas for Java 8 back to Java 6, and 7. Apparently it also works for Android. The project is called Retrolambda. I wanted to play around with this on AndroidStudio, but it seems in recent version they have removed the ability to set Java 8 as the Language Level (so I don't get compile errors while using Lambdas). Does anyone know a way around this? I imagine it'd have something to do with the fact that AndroidStudio is a modified IntelliJ. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

I've found that you can set the "language level" to Java 8 in Android Studio by modifying the build.gradle to include the following:

android {
  compileOptions {
    sourceCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
    targetCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
  }
}

Answer 2

It is removed on new project, but it is available in the properties after the project is created. Note that I haven't actually compiled with any new Java 8 features yet, so let's hope that works.

Right click on your project, go to Open Module Settings. I think there's a bug somewhere, as once I navigate away from those language settings tab, I can never get back to it.

To work around that, you can edit MyProject/.idea/misc.xml and look for the languageLevel attribute.

To enable Project settings once you navigate away, edit MyProject/.idea/workspace.xml and search for project.structure.last.edited. Set the value to "Project".