Prepare for SDK v20

Google Mobile Ads SDK version 20.0.0 is planned for early 2021, and comes with a few major changes, as well as several straightforward API renames and removal of deprecated APIs.

Major changes

Full-screen format API updates

In version 20.0.0, Interstitial, Rewarded, Rewarded Interstitial, and App Open ad formats are standardized so that they all follow a similar API design pattern.

All full-screen format APIs utilize the following design:

• A static load method
• A similar load callback or handler mechanism
• Reliance on the FullScreenContentCallack class for presentation callbacks

Legacy RewardedVideoAd API is removed

The newer RewardedAd API was first introduced back in March 2019 and has been the preferred rewarded API for over 18 months. It has several improvements compared to the legacy RewardedVideoAd API, including the ability to load more than one rewarded ad at a time.

The legacy API is removed in SDK version 20.0.0.

Smart banner is deprecated in favor of adaptive banner

Smart banner ads are deprecated in favor of adaptive banner ads. Adaptive banners provide superior performance and more flexibility in setting ad width. If you prefer to continue using full-width banners, that can still be done using adaptive banner, as shown in the following code snippet:

public class MyActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
  ...
  private AdSize getFullWidthAdaptiveSize() {
    Display display = getWindowManager().getDefaultDisplay();
    DisplayMetrics outMetrics = new DisplayMetrics();
    display.getMetrics(outMetrics);

    float widthPixels = outMetrics.widthPixels;
    float density = outMetrics.density;

    int adWidth = (int) (widthPixels / density);
    return AdSize.getCurrentOrientationAnchoredAdaptiveBannerAdSize(this, adWidth);
  }
}

class MyActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
  ...
  private val adaptiveAdSize: AdSize
    get() {
      val display = windowManager.defaultDisplay
      val outMetrics = DisplayMetrics()
      display.getMetrics(outMetrics)

      val density = outMetrics.density

      var adWidthPixels = ad_view_container.width.toFloat()
      if (adWidthPixels == 0f) {
        adWidthPixels = outMetrics.widthPixels.toFloat()
      }

      val adWidth = (adWidthPixels / density).toInt()
      return AdSize.getCurrentOrientationAnchoredAdaptiveBannerAdSize(this, adWidth)
    }
}

Removal of the leave application callback

The onAdLeftApplication callback for all ad formats has been removed in favor of ProcessLifecycleOwner. Using OS-level APIs notify you whenever users leave your app, regardless of whether or not it is due to an ad interaction.

Note that the onAdLeftApplication callback was never intended to be an ad click handler, and relying on this callback to report clicks did not produce an accurate metric. For example, a click on the AdChoices icon that launched an external browser invoked the callback but did not count a click.

Class renames

The table below lists specific class names that have changed or been removed. In summary:

• Most classes related to UnifiedNativeAd have been renamed to NativeAd.
• The MobileAds.Settings, NativeExpressAdView, NativeAppInstallAd, NativeContentAd, and InstreamAd classes and views have been removed.
• All classes with the Publisher prefix have been replaced with an AdManager prefix.
• The InterstitialAd package name has changed.

Methods removed/replaced

The table below lists the specific changes in version 20.0.0. In summary:

• Outdated initialization methods have been removed from the MobileAds class.
• Some methods from the AdRequest.Builder() class have either been removed or moved to the RequestConfiguration class.
• RewardedAd and InterstitialAd APIs have been updated to align with all full-screen formats.
• Correlator features have been removed.