AppCompatSpinner vs android.widget.Spinner for app with min SDK version 14

Question

I am developing application with minimum SDK version 14 Ice-cream sandwitch and targeted version is Android Marshmallow.

DO I need to use AppCompatSpinner or normal spinner will work on ICS devices with all material look and feel?

Soulier

Answer 1

If you look at the AppCompatSpinner page, you will see the folowing line.

This will automatically be used when you use Spinner in your layouts. You should only need to manually use this class when writing custom views.

So you don't have to choose between Spinners and AppCompatSpinners.

Offend

Maybe they need to hide AppCompatSpinner from XML auto complete to avoid confusion then. – Cervical

i came here for that same reason. Android Studio suggesting appcompatspinner on XML scared me lol. – Unreserved

Answer 2

Depends on what you want to achieve. If backward compatibility is important for you, then definitely go for AppCompat components because they are designed with backward compatibility in mind. The non-appcompat components are the way forward and you should choose them if you are more interested in the new features they bring in compared to their appcompat cousins. So, it all depends on your Application support.

Kashgar