Question

Hi i am newbie to android. I have an android apk signed with debug key.Now my key has expired so i have renewed my key and i have release key. The issue is that i could not update my existing application with the new release key.if i try to replace the existing one(signed with debugger key) with the new one i am getting error “Application not installed”. What is the solution or workaround to this issue? I tried uninstalling the old one and installing the new one. It works fine but i want the new app to be replaced. Pls help. Thanx in advance

Answer 1

You can’t reinstall an application signed with different key. As you said, you have to uninstall the old one first and install it again signed with the new key.

From android docs:

Application upgrade – As you release updates to your application, you
will want to continue to sign the updates with the same certificate or
set of certificates, if you want users to upgrade seamlessly to the
new version. When the system is installing an update to an
application, it compares the certificate(s) in the new version with
those in the existing version. If the certificates match exactly,
including both the certificate data and order, then the system allows
the update. If you sign the new version without using matching
certificates, you will also need to assign a different package name to
the application — in this case, the user installs the new version as a
completely new application.