With the Release of API 19 KitKat you can now do this !!!! This is the change you need for android studio for existing projects. ensure that you are using JDK 1.7 or later and Gradle plugin 0.6.1 or later
android { compileSdkVersion 19 buildToolsVersion "19.0.0" defaultConfig { minSdkVersion 7 targetSdkVersion 19 } compileOptions { sourceCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_7 targetCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_7 } }