{"id":6951,"date":"2026-10-28T16:01:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T20:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ionic.io\/blog\/?p=6951"},"modified":"2026-10-28T16:03:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T20:03:28","slug":"the-capacitor-9-beta-is-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ionic.io\/blog\/the-capacitor-9-beta-is-here","title":{"rendered":"The Capacitor 9 Beta is here"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Capacitor 9 Beta was published today, and headline items from The Road to Capacitor 9<\/a> are now available for testing. Cordova compatibility is now optional and only added when using Cordova plugins, iOS is now a source-first Swift package, and core support for foldables and multi-window scenarios has been added (with APIs for things like fold and posture coming soon!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, this Beta contains three changes that deserve some elaboration: how we are handling Google Play\u2019s optimization requirement, what changes we made in response to npm 12\u2019s install-script policy, and why we now boot iOS through SwiftUI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R8 is on by default<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Starting February 2027, Google Play requires at least 25% optimization, obfuscation, and shrinking for apps larger than 10MB<\/a>. Failure to comply with this threshold will reduce your app\u2019s visibility in Play search. In response, starting with this Beta, new Capacitor 9 projects have R8 (Google\u2019s shrinker) enabled in release builds, and cap migrate enables it on existing projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In most scenarios, this is a largely invisible change; you get the same release build with a smaller binary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, plugins that haven\u2019t been updated for R8 can fail silently in release builds. To test, build a release APK\/AAB against the beta and check every plugin feature. If something fails in release that worked in debug, open an issue against the plugin\u2019s repo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are a plugin author<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Verify your plugin is R8-safe. The core keep rules cover Capacitor APIs transitively; you don\u2019t need to ship your own rules for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if your plugin uses Room, Gson, Retrofit or similar, you own the keep rules for those libraries. Add a consumer-rules.pro<\/code> file and wire it through consumerProguardFiles<\/code> in your build.gradle (not proguardFiles<\/code> which only scopes to your plugin\u2019s test app). @capacitor\/health-fitness<\/code> is the pattern to copy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Install scripts are off by default in npm 12<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Minimum Node support for Capacitor 9 is Node 24, which supports npm 12. This means lifecycle scripts\u2014preinstall<\/code>, install<\/code>, and postinstall<\/code>\u2014don\u2019t run anymore unless the user opts in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve updated cap doctor<\/code> and cap migrate<\/code> to flag plugins whose install scripts npm 12 will skip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For most apps, nothing changes. The place to pay attention is plugins that run any of those lifecycle scripts because they will break under npm 12 unless you opt in. If a plugin stops working after you upgrade npm, run cap doctor<\/code>. It will tell you if a plugin\u2019s install script was skipped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are a plugin author<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If your plugin\u2019s install flow depends on an npm lifecycle script modifying files outside your package, move that work into Capacitor\u2019s native integration path or document the step as something the consumer must do on their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SwiftUI is the iOS entry point<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

We are on a multi-step journey to update Capacitor\u2019s iOS code base. We started that journey with UIScene<\/code> adoption in 8.5. In this Beta, Capacitor\u2019s iOS project now boots through SwiftUI<\/code> instead of the legacy AppDelegate<\/code> entry point. We\u2019re looking to modernize further, with a migration to Swift 6 planned for Capacitor 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For existing projects, cap migrate<\/code> rewrites the entry point. If you’ve customized AppDelegate.swift<\/code> beyond the Capacitor defaults, review the migrated code to confirm your customizations carried over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capacitor 8 isn\u2019t getting left behind<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Not every team can take a major-version jump in a release cycle, so we\u2019re backporting critical pieces of Capacitor 9 to make sure you don\u2019t miss Play Store deadlines and can stay compatible with npm 12:<\/p>\n\n\n\n