Android Emulator: Installation error: INSTALL_FAILED_VERSION_DOWNGRADE

I am currently trying to compile and test a small Android Application.

I am using Eclipse, and have SDK 4.2 (Api Level 17) installed. I've set

<uses-sdk android:targetSdkVersion="17" android:minSdkVersion="8" />

although I've tried also different values (i.e. 17/17).

I do not use any GoogleAPI functions, nor do I use functions that are not available in API Level 8. Or at least I do not get any compile errors or warnings in that regard.

When I compile the project and run it on a real device running Android 2.2.1 the Application runs fine. However when I try to run the application on an emulator (Android Virtual Device) with Android 4.2, Api Level 17 I get the following error:

[2012-12-10 21:10:29 - SoftKeyboard] Installation error: INSTALL_FAILED_VERSION_DOWNGRADE
[2012-12-10 21:10:29 - SoftKeyboard] Please check logcat output for more details.
[2012-12-10 21:10:29 - SoftKeyboard] Launch canceled!

Logcat however is empty. I have really no clue, what this error even means...

Solution 1:

It means you're trying to install an app with the same packageName as an app that's already installed on the emulator, but the one you're trying to install has a lower versionCode (integer value for your version number).

You might have installed from a separate copy of the code where the version number was higher than the copy you're working with right now. In either case, either:

• uninstall the currently installed copy

• or open up your phone's Settings > Application Manager to determine the version number for the installed app, and increment your <manifest android:versionCode to be higher in the AndroidManifest.

• or https://stackoverflow.com/a/13772620/632951

Solution 2:

You can also consider adding -d flag to adb install. It should ignore this error.

adb install -r -d abc.apk

Solution 3:

First uninstall your application from the emulator:

adb -e uninstall your.application.package.name

Then try to install the application again.

Solution 4:

This was happening in my project because I was using an XML resource to set the version code.

AndroidManifest.xml:
android:versionCode="@integer/app_version_code"

app.xml:
<integer name="app_version_code">64</integer>

This wasn't a problem in prior versions of adb, however, as of platform-tools r16 this is no longer being resolved to the proper integer. You can either force the re-install using adb -r or avoid the issue entirely by using a literal in the manifest:

android:versionCode="64"