Android: How to use lower minSdkVersion than declared in library (uiautomator-v18)
<p>I migrated an older Android app to Android-Studio/Gradle. The test need <code>uiautomator-v18</code> which requires <code>minSdkVersion=18</code>. However, I would like to have the <code>minSdkVersion</code> set to 15 or 16.</p>

<p>There are many questions on SO over the same thing, but I am just not able to resolve this problem.</p>

<p>Exerpt AndroidManifest.xml:</p>

<pre><code>&lt;manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    package="com.example.searcher"
    android:versionCode="1"
    android:versionName="0.0.1" &gt;

    &lt;uses-sdk
        tools:overrideLibrary="android.support.test.uiautomator.v18"/&gt;

    &lt;!-- ... --&gt;

&lt;/manifest&gt;
</code></pre>

<p>The build.gradle:</p>

<pre><code>apply plugin: 'com.android.application'

android {
    compileSdkVersion 23
    buildToolsVersion "23.0.2"

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.example.searcher"
        minSdkVersion 15
        targetSdkVersion 23
        testApplicationId "com.example.searcher.test"
        testInstrumentationRunner "android.support.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner"
    }
}

dependencies {
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:23.2.0'
    compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-analytics:8.4.0'
    compile files('libs/dagger-1.2.1.jar')
    compile files('libs/dagger-compiler-1.2.1.jar')
    compile files('libs/javawriter-2.1.2.jar')
    compile files('libs/javax.inject.jar')

    androidTestCompile(
        'com.android.support:support-annotations:23.2.0',
        'com.android.support.test:runner:0.4.1',
        'com.android.support.test:rules:0.4.1',
        'com.android.support.test.uiautomator:uiautomator-v18:2.1.1',
        'org.hamcrest:hamcrest-library:1.3',
        'org.mockito:mockito-core:1.10.5',
        'junit:junit:4.12',
        'com.google.dexmaker:dexmaker:1.1',
        'com.google.dexmaker:dexmaker-mockito:1.1'
    )
}
</code></pre>

<p>The above gives the error:</p>

<pre><code>Error:Execution failed for task ':app:processDebugAndroidTestManifest'.
&gt; java.lang.RuntimeException: Manifest merger failed : uses-sdk:minSdkVersion 15 cannot be smaller than version 18 declared in library [com.android.support.test.uiautomator:uiautomator-v18:2.1.1] /mypath/app/build/intermediates/exploded-aar/com.android.support.test.uiautomator/uiautomator-v18/2.1.1/AndroidManifest.xml
    Suggestion: use tools:overrideLibrary="android.support.test.uiautomator.v18" to force usage
</code></pre>

<p>But I am already using the <code>overrideLibrary</code>. </p>

<p>If this is not possible, is it possible to have different <code>minSdkVersion</code> for "main" and "androidTest"?</p>

<p><strong>EDIT</strong>:
After adding the flavors, I was able to run the tests using build variant <code>tstDebug</code>. However, building it with <code>prdDebug</code> ends in an error saying that there are unknown stuff in the androidTest (example: <code>package org.hamcrest does not exist</code>). The modified excerpt of <code>build.gradle</code>:</p>

<pre><code>defaultConfig {
    applicationId "com.example.searcher"
    targetSdkVersion 23
    versionCode 6
    versionName "0.5.0"
}

productFlavors {
    prd {
        minSdkVersion 15
    }
    tst {
        minSdkVersion 18
        testApplicationId "com.example.searcher.test"
        testInstrumentationRunner "android.test.InstrumentationTestRunner"
    }
}

// And instead of "androidTestCompile" use "tstCompile"
</code></pre>

<p>Is it not possible to tell "Android Studio" that it should build the app without <code>androidTest</code>?</p>