An existing package by the same name with a conflicting signature is already installed
I had developed an inhouse app years back on an old PC and had deployed it. Now I got a new PC, that I used to work on some upgrades, but when I tried to upgrade the app on android devices, I got the above error message.
If I uninstall the old version, I am able to install the upgrade. But unfortunately I won't be able to uninstall and reinstall on remote devices.
I think that if I copy the upgrades back to the old PC and regenerate an APK, that might work, but is there any way I can copy the signature keys from the old PC to the new one and make the installation work?
It will help
The automatically generated key is called the debug key/certificate.
You should generate a new key can just copy it over to both your devices. The only negative of this is your builds process is longer as you need a manual steps.
The other option is to copy over the debug key from one of the systems.
You will find the keys in a folder names .android in your home directory in Linux & user directory in Windows
Tip: Never loose the certificate once you push an app to the market.
In Unix like os the debug key is located by default in ~/.android/debug.keystore
Related
What's The matter
I built a debug APK and share it to client by downloadable link. Few days back, I formatted my PC. Now again I gave an update to client for existing APK. When client tries to update (without uninstalling older one), app shows Android App Not Install.
I would like to know, do the Signature of APK before and after formatting PC will be different?
If 'YES',
What are the possible solutions for updating newer APK on
older(installed) one?
If 'NO',
Why I am getting, Android App Not Install. An existing package by the
same name with a conflicting signature is already installed
I would like to know, do the Signature of APK before and after
formatting PC will be different?
Yes, if you are using default debug keystore. This is normally the case if you are building your apk through Android Studio. This keystore will be deleted after you have formatted the PC. A new keystore will be created after you install the Android-Studio
No, if you maintain your keystore seprately and use it consistantly to sign your app before release
Solutions
If you have used debug keystore then only solution is to uninstall your previous app and install a new one
If you have just missed the signing configuration, then simply create a new APK signed with correct keystore.
Checkout my answer in this post if you want to ensure that in future, all your dev workstation should produce debug apps signed with same keystore, even if you format your PC.
I created an app on my Windows PC and from that PC I published the app to the Google Play Store. I have migrated(transferred via external hard drive) all my projects from my PC to my Mac.
I am now wondering will compiling that same app on the Mac cause it to create a new certificate?
The reason I would like to know is because I want to publish an update and would prefer to work on the project on the Mac but I don't want a problem to occur, that when I decide to publish the app from the Mac the Play Store will see a different certificate and the app will be published as if it were a totally brand new APK.
No, it is not computer-dependent.
Make sure you copy the Keystore you've been using to sign it from your old computer to the new one and everything will be exactly the same.
The Keystore is (just) the file in which all your keys are saved (and usually has a .jks extension).
The main documentation states:
A keystore is a binary file that contains a set of private keys. You
must keep your keystore in a safe and secure place.
A private key represents the entity to be identified with the app,
such as a person or a company.
So as long as you are identified with the same private key (located in your keystore), you will be fine.
Every installation of Android Studio has it's own debug signing key which is used to install apps on your device. However, when you sign an app for distribution on Google Play, you're supposed to use a separate keystore that you've generated and password protected. The overview of this process is here: http://developer.android.com/tools/publishing/app-signing.html
The good news is, you can then move that release keystore to any computer you want and use it to sign release builds for the Play Store.
If you copy the signing certificate you used on the first machine to the second machine, there will be no problem. The build and sign process should be platform agnostic (unless your build code makes assumptions about the host platform).
By default it will use a different debug certificate on every machine. You should explicitly create and use a non-debug key for publication. You may not want to check the signing key into source control, so you'll have to copy it to other computers manually.
I upgraded my Android studio to 1.4. Now when I'm deploying my app to my device I get the message that the device has an application with the same package but a different signature. How is this possible? I already did some research and I looked up my debug.keystore, but this hasn't changed since 13/03/2015. Anyone has any idea how I can fix this?
The problem is the keys that have been used to sign the APKs, by default if you are running directly from your IDE and opening your Emulator, the APK installed in the Emulator is signed with your debug-key(usually installed in ~/.android/debug.keystore), so if the previous APK was signed with a different key other than the one you are currently using you will always get the signatures conflict, in order to fix it, make sure you are using the very same key to sign both APKs, even if the previous APK was signed with a debug-key from another SDK, the keys will definitely be different.
Also if you don't know exactly what key was used before to sign the apk and yet you want to install the new version of your app, you can just uninstall the previous application and reinstall the new one.
for more info go through This
Hope this Helps...
Debug builds are signed with the SDK keystore which is generated when you install the Android SDK. On Linux / OSX it is located at ~/.android/debug.keystore.
The message you had means that you have a debug build installed and you want to install an App Store build on it (or the other way around).
This can also happen when you deploy from a different machine.
After installing an IDE on another computer, I tried to install an existing App on my mobile phone. During the deploy I was asked to uninstall the App first ... so losing all user settings in the App.
How can I work from a second computer (with Eclipse), install a new version of the App, without having to uninstall it (completely) first?
the IDE creates a debug signing key for the debug app.
This signing key file changes location from system (Linux, Windows, Mac) or from IDEs (Android Studio, Eclipse).
The IDE ask for uninstalling if the signing key on the app installed on the device (phone) does not match the signing key on the computer.
So, to accomplish what you want, all you have to do is to copy the debug key from one computer to the other (so both will have the same key).
Just as a reference, using Ubuntu and AndroidStudio the debug key is at ~/.android/debug.keystore
Two engineers are working on an android project. To publish the apk (not on Playstore, but private publication), they each run their project and then get the resulting apk and then publish. As it turns out a user cannot simply update between the apks produced from the two different computers. If a user's current apk was published by developer Zack; to update to the latest version, which happen to come from developer Max, the user must in fact delete and reinstall. How do I resolve this problem? I was hoping to find whatever key is used on one of the computers and pass it to the other developer. But I can't find where the keys are stored.
Naturally, I would use Android Tools > Export Signed Application Package to publish. But the present situation is as above. How do I fix that problem without having user's continuously deleting or -- on the other hand -- restrict publication to one machine?
In my case I put the Release Keystore file in the source control. Each developer pull the latest version (wish should not change) from the source control. You can set it up as readonly to secure the key if you like.
If you are using Eclipse when Signing the app, you have to specify the path to the keystore. So there you can get your own keystore path.
On the other hand. If you want to share the Debug Key, in order to play the application from both computers then the key is on your .android directory.
If on windows then is
c:\Users[username].android\
debug.keystore
debug.keyset
If on linux/other is similar
~/.android