Jcenter

JCenter was a public software package repository widely used in the Java and Android ecosystems. It was operated by Bintray, which later became part of JFrog, and was accessed by developers primarily through Gradle or other build tools using the jcenter() repository. JCenter hosted Java artifacts such as libraries and dependencies and was complemented by Bintray’s broader distribution platform, which supported multiple package types.

The repository provided a searchable web interface, an API, and a large catalog of published libraries. It functioned as a popular alternative or supplement to Maven Central, enabling developers to publish and consume artifacts with relative ease. For many Android projects, jcenter() was a default repository alongside Maven Central for a period of time.

In response to maintenance considerations and evolving distribution practices, JFrog announced the sunset of Bintray and the JCenter service in the early 2020s. The guidance to developers was to migrate dependencies to Maven Central or other official repositories, including Google's Maven repository for Android libraries. After the sunset, new uploads to JCenter were discontinued and access to some content was restricted over time.

Today, JCenter is regarded as deprecated for new development. While historical projects may still reference jcenter(), the recommended practice is to rely on Maven Central and, for Android projects, Google's Maven repository or other supported repositories. JCenter serves as a historical example of public artifact hosting and reflects the broader evolution of Java package management.