Get App Version | Android Studio | Compose

How to get the app's current version name and version Code?

When building an Android app, you often need to display or use the version name and version code of your application. For example, you might want to show the version number inside an About Page, or compare versions when checking for app updates.

In this article, I’ll explain:

• What is version name and version code

• How to set them in build.gradle

• How to retrieve them in Jetpack Compose

📌 Difference Between Version Code and Version Name

Before jumping into the code, let’s understand what these two terms mean:

• Version Code (int):

  • An integer value used internally by Android.

  • It must be increased with every release.

  • Users don’t see this number.

  • Example: 1, 2, 3…

• Version Name (String):

• A user-friendly string value shown to users.

• Can be in any format, like "1.0", "1.2.5-beta".

• Example: "1.0", "2.5.1"

 

📌 Getting Version Name and Version Code in Kotlin

MainActivity.kt

package com.technifysoft.myapplication

import android.content.pm.PackageManager
import android.os.Bundle
import android.util.Log
import android.widget.TextView
import androidx.activity.ComponentActivity
import androidx.activity.compose.setContent
import androidx.activity.enableEdgeToEdge
import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.Column
import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.Row
import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.fillMaxSize
import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.padding
import androidx.compose.material3.Scaffold
import androidx.compose.material3.Text
import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable
import androidx.compose.ui.Alignment
import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier
import androidx.compose.ui.platform.LocalContext
import androidx.compose.ui.text.TextStyle
import androidx.compose.ui.tooling.preview.Preview
import androidx.compose.ui.unit.sp
import com.technifysoft.myapplication.ui.theme.MyApplicationTheme

class MainActivityCompose : ComponentActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        enableEdgeToEdge()
        setContent {
            MyApplicationTheme {
                Scaffold(modifier = Modifier.fillMaxSize()) { innerPadding ->
                    MainUI(
                        modifier = Modifier.padding(innerPadding)
                    )
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

@Composable
fun MainUI(modifier: Modifier = Modifier) {
    val context = LocalContext.current
    var appVersionName = ""
    var appVersionCode = ""

    try {
        // Get the PackageInfo object for the current application package
        val packageInfo = context.packageManager.getPackageInfo(context.packageName, 0)
        // Get the version name of the application (e.g., "1.0.3")
        val appVersion = packageInfo.versionName
        // Get the version code of the application (e.g., 4) and convert it to a String
        val appCode = packageInfo.versionCode.toString()

        // Set the text of the appVersionTextView to display the app's version name
        appVersionName = "Version Name: $appVersion"
        // Set the text of the appCodeTextView to display the app's version code
        appVersionCode = "Version Code: $appCode"
    } catch (e: PackageManager.NameNotFoundException) {
        // Handle the case where the package name is not found.
        // This should ideally not happen if packageName is used correctly.
        Log.e("MAIN_TAG", "onCreate: ", e)
    }

    Row(modifier = modifier.fillMaxSize(), verticalAlignment = Alignment.CenterVertically) {
        // Set the app's version name to Text
        Text(text = appVersionName, style = TextStyle(fontSize = 25.sp))
        // Set the app's version code to Text
        Text(text = appVersionCode, style = TextStyle(fontSize = 25.sp))
    }
}

@Preview(showBackground = true)
@Composable
fun GreetingPreview() {
    MyApplicationTheme {
        MainUI()
    }
}

Screenshot