What is Android Manifest File

One of the most important part of your android application is the manifest file which is an xml file also known as AndroidManifest.xml. Every application must has an AndroidManifest.xml file in its root directory. Now the question is what's the use of AndroidManifest.xml? Here's the answer

AndroidManifest.xml serves as an application map of an application. It provides following information about an android application.

1) It presents information about the application to the android system.

2) Describes the components used in the application.

3) Declares the permissions required to run the applications. If you've used an android application before in the android market place it shows at the time of installation what permissions are required for an application to run. These permissions may include internet access, user data access etc.

4) It also declares minimum android api level that an application requires. The api levels determine the android platform that an application can run on, for example setting the minimum api level to 11 requires honeycomb or later version of android for your application to work.