This FAQ will show current problems that we're aware of, and what to do about them.

It may not mean much until you get to the relevant sections, so make a note that it's here, and refer back to it if necessary.

Update: 27th September 2018

With the stable release of Android Studio 3.2, and the support libraries no longer being beta versions, the warnings about SDK 28 below no longer apply.

We'll leave that section in, just in case anyone still has problems, but it now looks like the layouts are working fine.

Release of SDK28 in Android Studio

Android P - SDK28 - is a preview version, and still contains bugs. It's now available to use in Android Studio, and if you install it then that will be thecompileSdkVersionandtargetSdkVersionthat Android Studio uses when you create a new project.

Problems that we're currently aware of include:

1. When creating a new project with theEmpty Activitytemplate, the TextView doesn't appear in the layout.

You may also get rendering errors

2. When creating a new project with theBasic Activitytemplate, you may get rendering errors when viewingcontent_mainandactivity_main

You may also see a warning aboutUsing private resources

SDK28isn't yet ready for release - if it was, they'd release it :-).

Google deploy it so that the Android community can get a feel for the new features, and report any bugs.

It's not a good idea to use preview versions while you're learning, because you can't be sure if bugs are in your code or in the Android framework and libraries.

For that reason, as at June 11th 2018, we don't recommend installing SDK 28.

If you have, go into SDKManager and remove SDK 28

After removing SDK 28,select theSDKToolstab, and clickShow Package Details.

Scroll down theAndroid SDK Build-Tools 28section, and remove allversion 28. Make sure you install version 27.0.3

New projects that you create will now use SDK 27, which is the current stable version.

Any projects that you've created using SDK 28 won't now work. To fix them, open up thebuild.gradle (Module: app)file from theGradle scriptssection of the Project pane. Be careful, because there are 2 build.gradle files - you want theModuleone, not the Project one.

Change thecompileSdkVersionandtargetSdkVersionto27.

The versions of some libraries will also need to be changed. Anything that refers to:28.0.0-alpha(currently -alpha1 or -alpha3) will need to be changed to:27.1.1