INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_NO_CERTIFICATES: Package /data/app/vmdl2005941423.tmp/0_base-master has no certificates at entry AndroidManifest.xml.

Question

Environment: Windows 10 64 bit, Android Studio 3.2 Canary 15.

I have added free and paid flavours to a test project and than built signed APK's.

When Running the release APK's I get the following error -

Installation failed with message Failed to finalize session : 
INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_NO_CERTIFICATES: Package 
/data/app/vmdl2005941423.tmp/0_base-master has no certificates at entry 
AndroidManifest.xml.
It is possible that this issue is resolved by uninstalling an existing 
version of the apk if it is present, and then re-installing.

I tried to re sign my APK with both V1 and V2 signature versions and still I get the same error when running release versions.

After analyzing the release APK's it turns out that AndroidManifest.xml shows the xmlns:android of the Manifest tag in red :

    <manifest
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"

When I hover the red text it says "URI is not registered..."

I have no idea what it means...

What is the cause for this error ?

Answer 1

According here,

When building the APK Set, set the --ks and --ks-key-alias flags to ensure that the APKs are signed. Only signed APKs can be installed on a device. The Android SDK should come with a debug keystore. Try looking under ~/.android/debug.keystore (alias: AndroidDebugKey, pwd: android).

In other words, only signed apk could be install to devices. This makes sense since App Bundle is really use for distribution.