androidx?Artifacts within the androidx package comprise the libraries of Android Jetpack.
Libraries in the androidx package provide functionality that extends the capabilities of the Android platform. These libraries, which ship separately from the Android OS, focus on improving the experience of developing apps through broad OS- and device-level compatibility, high-level abstractions to simplify and unify platform features, and other new features that target developer pain points.
androidx and AndroidX related to Jetpack?They are effectively the same thing!
Jetpack is the external branding for the set of components, tools, and guidance that improve the developer experience on Android.
Libraries within Jetpack use the androidx Java package and Maven group ID. Developers expect these libraries to follow a consistent set of API design guidelines, conform to SemVer and alpha/beta revision cycles, and use the public Android issue tracker for bugs and feature requests.
AndroidX is the open-source project where the majority* of Jetpack libraries are developed. The project's tooling and infrastructure enforce the policies associated with Jetback branding and androidx packaging, allowing library developers to focus on writing and releasing high-quality code.
* Except a small number of libraries that were historically developed using a different workflow, such as ExoPlayer/Media or AndroidX Test, and have built up equivalent policies and processes.
androidx?Please read our blog post about our migration.
As part of the Jetpack effort to improve developer experience on Android, the Support Library team undertook a massive refactoring project. Over the course of 2017 and 2018, we streamlined and enforced consistency in our packaging, developed new policies around versioning and releasing, and developed tools to make it easy for developers to migrate.
No, revision 28.0.0 of the Support Library, which launched as stable in September 2018, was the last feature release in the android.support package. There will be no further releases under Support Library packaging and they should be considered deprecated.
You can see all publicly released versions on the interactive Google Maven page.