When initially trying make a copy of an Android Studio project, I duplicated the project folder in finder, renamed it, brought it up in AS using "Import Project," refactoring the package and editing the manifest. At first first it seemed to run on my device without any issue.
I later noticed, however, that every time I ran either the original or the duplicate app on my device, one would replace the other's icon on the home screen.
I found a solution that said not to use "Import Project" but instead to use "Open Project" to open the duplicate. Doing so solves the initial problem of the app replaced with the other app, but opened a whole new can of worms where some of the pointers in the duplicate project refer to files and file paths in the original project. Apparently this is a known bug. I have not confirmed this with Google, however.
Searching for solutions only lead to "you need to use "Import Project" not "Open Project," which of course takes me back to the original problem. Any ideas?