Android 4.4 and later uses the core of OkHttp underneath HttpUrlConnection, which is the library you should be using. If you want fancier features, or don't like using AsyncTask everywhere, just use the full OkHttp from Square and you'll get those.
Volley is just a small abstraction atop HttpUrlConnection, so I'm not sure why you consider it so hacky. It also is available on JCenter, so just compile it into your project using Gradle: "com.android.volley:volley:1.0.0". You're entirely wrong about having to copy the source into your project.
Volley is just a small abstraction atop HttpUrlConnection, so I'm not sure why you consider it so hacky. It also is available on JCenter, so just compile it into your project using Gradle: "com.android.volley:volley:1.0.0". You're entirely wrong about having to copy the source into your project.