Android Studio is installing old apk on device

Question

I am developing an Android app using Android Studio (0.89 Build #AI-135.1404660, Built on Sept 3,2014) using both emulator and Nexus 4 device.

I had the same issue with a version prior to that.

The problem is that after I changed my code and resource files, I still get the old apk installed on the device or emulator.

What do I need to do to get it to run current code? Is it a building config?

Is it a known issue with Android Studio?

Or with a Nexus 4 device?

This is the second time it has happened, and I resolved it(then) after trying one of the steps below. They have not worked for me again.

Here is what I've tried

Build > Clean Project > Restart Android Studio > Run
Build > Rebuild Project > Run
Step 1 plus Uninstalling of apk on device
Step 2 plus Unistalling of apk on device
Adding erroneous resource entry then running.

I have read the following:

None has worked so far.

@jmcdonnell40, The behaviour is erratic. I solved it by reviewing my code.It turned out that there was a resource file that was invalid. Try reverting back to the last working version of your code before the current changes... Probably a known issue that will be resolved out of Beta — tinonetic, Dec 01 '14 at 05:58

score 29 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 14 '16 at 21:02

29

I had the same problem. After trying numerous methods that didn't work, I realized that I had accidentally changed an option in my "Run Configuration". Here's exactly what I did to fix the issue.

Run --> Edit Configurations
With your configuration selected on the left panel (mine says "app"), in the General tab on the right panel, there is a section called "Before launch". This section should have an option added called "Gradle-aware Make", but I had accidentally removed it.
I re-added it by pressing the "+", then clicking OK in the popup (leave the input box in the popup blank).
Click apply.

This fixed the problem immediately. Hope this helps someone!

answered Feb 14 '16 at 21:02

JamesD

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Thanks James, you helped me :) – reggie Feb 26 '16 at 13:01
So what happens if I'm having the same issue (old APK keeps getting installed) and I *have* the "Gradle-aware Make" option there? – Smokin Joe Aug 18 '17 at 18:31
I couldn't understand why but it worked like magic. Do you know if "Gradle-aware Make" is used to anything else besides fixing this issue ? – Ulisses Curti Apr 18 '18 at 14:30

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered May 03 '16 at 23:03

7

Run / Debug Configurations / Miscellaneous TAB [] Uncheck: Skip installation if APK has not changed

Android Studio doesn't always detect small changes in code.

answered May 03 '16 at 23:03

David

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Like it is for others, this is sporadic for me (and wow does it foul up yr iterations) David's solution both conforms to the behaviour I see(AS says project unchanged in the Run window, and gets /real/ confused when I uninstall the app) plus seems to be working for a day now. Using: Dagger, data binding, and rxJava; I think the rebuild-to-refresh was working so well for me b/c of the large number of generated classes – anthropic android Jul 28 '16 at 01:20
this didn't work for me unfortunately. Changes are requiring two deployments to appear on the emulator. – ether_joe Sep 18 '17 at 07:01

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 13 '15 at 18:04

2

The behaviour is erratic. I solved it by reviewing my code.It turned out that there was a resource file that was invalid. Try reverting back to the last working version of your code before the current changes... Probably a known issue that will be/was resolved out of Beta

answered Jul 13 '15 at 18:04

tinonetic

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Still happening for me (Feb 2017). I booted up an emulator and then it showed me the error. Fixing the error solved the issue. Weird! – MSpeed Feb 02 '17 at 19:23

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 01 '21 at 14:13

2

The problem occurred on my Android 11 devices. I guess ART ran old code dex2oated.

Solution:

Run / Debug Configurations - General - Always install with package manager (disable deploy optimization on Android 11 and later), and check the option.

answered Dec 01 '21 at 14:13

Xhy

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score 1 · Answer 5 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:18

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Google thinks it is a feature, not a bug

https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=156263

Their proposed solution is to copy the apk(s) instead of manipulating the filename, as in e.g.

Copying APK file in Android Gradle project

edited May 23 '17 at 12:18

Community

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answered May 01 '17 at 21:32

mir

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Peter · Answer 6 · 2019-03-16T16:39:55.920

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I've spent way too many hours to keep this to myself. The way I fixed it was that I noticed some hours later that I was using different layout version in res/ .... I have actually two versions of layout (layout-v26) and (layout). All this time I was modifying the other one and uploading different one. Maybe its just a newbie mistake but I hope somebody will find it useful.

The reason why there are 2 version was because of " autofillHints="" -> quickfix -> create new version of layout "

image of my tree

edited Mar 16 '19 at 16:39

answered Mar 16 '19 at 16:22

Peter

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This is really useful, solved my problems, thanks. – Ben Kigera Aug 09 '21 at 10:26

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Apr 24 '20 at 09:15

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I am using android studio for building flutter app, I was facing the same issue untill I did the following:

From Android Studio, go to Tools-Flutter-FlutterClean

It resolved my problem as of now.

answered Apr 24 '20 at 09:15

Saurabh Sanyal

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score 1 · Answer 8 · edited Jul 25 '20 at 23:35

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Check Your Layout Files.

I ran into the same problem and I realized, it gives some problem if you have same layout in multiple orientations(portrait and landscape). If one is changed other remains unchanged and then it creates a conflict. So android studio installs the one with the previous layout

PS: This was happening in my case.

edited Jul 25 '20 at 23:35

Zuckjet

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answered Jul 24 '20 at 18:07

ribhu69

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score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Jan 27 '15 at 17:35

I was also facing this issue and get solution by deleting build folder manually because some time ide cannot be able to delete this. So go to the app folder and find build folder delete this and after clean and build project and run again. projectname->app->build

Igor' Shaposhnikov · Answer 10 · 2015-07-10T22:27:07.957

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You should select "Deploy default APK" option in Run/Debug Configurations. After that Android Studio will upload and install new apk to your emulator/device when you run application.

edited Jul 10 '15 at 22:27

answered Jul 10 '15 at 22:21

Igor' Shaposhnikov

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score 0 · Answer 11 · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

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In android studio. at right side. see gradle option. click it. and then press circular arrows button shown in red square.

edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

Community

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answered Jan 09 '19 at 09:13

mehmoodnisar125

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score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Feb 06 '21 at 15:48

Same problem, none of the solutions mentioned here had any effect. I had to disable the "Allow parallel run" in "Menu > Run > Edit configurations...".

You can read more about this option here: How to run the same project multiple times in IntelliJ IDEA?

score 0 · Answer 13 · answered Oct 30 '21 at 18:05

The solution to this issue is actually very simple. Android studio is actually not detecting some small changes that you have made to the application. That is why it is installing the previous builds. The solution is easy -> Remove the previous builds.

In the right side, go to gradle tab.

Expand Tasks. Find "clean" or "cleanCache" task or any task that starts with "clean". Double click to run that task.
Expand "app". and do the same.

Then File> Invalidate cache and restart.

Enjoy!! Your problem is solved...

score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Nov 24 '21 at 19:55

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My devices also ran old states - dont know from where in my git it has taken these.

I created a new configuration (default is "app") and it worked.

answered Nov 24 '21 at 19:55

Cactusroot

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Android Studio is installing old apk on device

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