Getting "App Not Installed" message after attempting to install new version of Android app

Question

I have an app that I developed wow like 8 to 10 years ago, but I have been updating it constantly at least once a year or so.

I'm actually in the process of completely redoing the app from scratch, and it's working great when I run it on my Android from my computer, but when I build it with a signing key on PhoneGap Build, I get the error message "App Not Installed." when I try to install the apk.

I've read through several other posts on the topic and I can attest:

• I have plenty of storage space on the phone.
• The new version number is larger than the old version number.
• The signing key is the same as the original version.
• I do not have any version of the app currently installed on my phone.

Any other ideas on what may be causing this? I've removed all my plugins to take that out of the equation, but I still get the same error. The original app was build with OnsenUI and Cordova. The new app is build in Ionic 5.4.16, Cordova 9.0.0, and Android 8.1.0.

Something else I have noticed is that if I change the app id (com.company.appname) to anything else (i.e. com.company.appnamedev), it installs. I feel like this is very indicative of the issue, but I don't know what to do with it.

Very much appreciate any guidance to finding the problem.

Answer 1

I finally figured out the root of all my issues. As it turns out, I had another half baked app I started and had on my phone under a different name and app identifier, but I had temporarily dropped the same google-services.json and GoogleService-Info.plist files into that other app that I use for the one in question here.

After employing Mike N's suggestion, I got the error:

adb: failed to install mynewapp.apk: Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_DUPLICATE_PERMISSION: Package com.company.new attempting to redeclare permission com.company.new.permission.RECEIVE_ADM_MESSAGE already owned by com.company.old]

I uninstalled the old app that should not have had those files to begin with and everything installs and works great now. Hopefully this helps someone else out who encounters the same bizarre situation.

Answer 2

Unfortunately this isn't going to be the answer many of you solution seekers are hoping for, but I got it to work. Based on Mike N.'s suggestion, I attempted to sign it locally and push it to my device with adb. In doing that, I was having trouble with remnants of two older plugins (onesignal and admob) that I had already removed from my config.xml file.

I'm really not sure why, but after I got rid of those old pieces in my package.json, I attempt to push it to phonegap build again and it was able to install. So, I guess the solution would be to make sure you have fully removed any plugins that may be causing problems.

Now the big trick - adding these pieces of functionality back in. But, the app compiles on PhoneGap Build and the signed file installs on my device now.

UPDATE: So, it turns out this is directly related to the one signal plugin I'm using. Still figuring out why, but when I added it back in, it works great locally, but when I attempt to build with PhoneGap Build and load it to my phone, I get the error "App Not Installed." At least I know what's causing it now.

Answer 3

You can use My APK application and installing an apk using My APK Installer (MAI). If there is an error, it will show the detail (like duplicate permission, provider, mismatch signature,...)

Answer 4

As Mihai Neacsu suggested ADB helped to diagnose the problem. I was trying to install an unsigned release apk build. I switched to debug build.

In case anyone else does not know what ADB is, it is part of the Android SDK and helps to debug app (and installation in this case) here is the link:

https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/adb