Android SDK Version, is there any optimal choice?

Hi! I’m developing a game for 1.5 years now. Was compiling using Android 4.2 with minimum of 4.0.3. Been overall happy (with occasional minuses :-p) with monogame 3.4 dlls. Just now got a phone upgrade. A major leap, must say, to android 7.0… soo that made me thinking (too much already) - do I need to review all those versions? To the points:

  1. Am I wondering pointlessly here - I mean - forget all that, keep to the tested versions and be happy?
  2. If not, then what IS the safest configuration? What are the optimal ‘compile using…’, ‘minimum android…’ and ‘target version…’ settings?
  3. If there is a magical combination to the above then what monogame version should one use - targeting MAINLY android platform? (I remember when I updated to mg3.5 and my sounds which I happen to load from byte stream in mono16 channel stopped or were playing all kinds of wrong on android) Is mg3.6 safe? Does it even matter what mg you use these days as far as everthing you need works?
  4. Can I safely update xamarin mono to the latest versions and NOT punching up mg version forever?

If someone with experience in all these would take the time to answer me, I would greatly appreciate.

There are no “optimal” version selections. It all depends on what Android features you want to support and what Android versions you wish to support. Here is a good article that tries to explain the complexities of choosing the correct Android API levels.

I always update to the latest Xamarin stable release (and sometimes the beta releases). Also, open your Android SDK Manager and grab the latest SDKs and tools updates that it offers.