Published Android apk gives error "Package file was not signed correctly"

Question

I recently uploaded my application to the Android market, however, it refused to start at boot due to an error

Package file was not signed correctly

First I published the package using eclipse, right-clicked on the export, created a keystore, then published it, but it refuses to work.

Then I downloaded keytool and jarsigner and used them to sign the update that I posted instead. However, this gives the same error.

I have no idea what I did wrong, and since I cannot uninstall the application that I cannot try and start again, can someone help me?

thank

Answer 1

You have a debug copy that is still installed on your device. Now you downloaded another copy of the same application and caused this error.

Uninstall the application completely from your device. Then download it again from the market and it should work.

Answer 2

OK I had the same problem and none of the proposed resolutions worked for me. I signed my application in the same way as for two years, and the Android Market approved it, just users could not download it from the market with the error “Not registered package”.

As it turned out, for another project I'm working on, I installed JDK7. It became the default JDK, and for some reason, keytool for JDK7 signs the package in a way that Android shouldn't like. So I went back to JDK 1.6.0_23 and started my build again and put it on the market, and everything became normal.

I hope this helps someone else.

Answer 3

On the tablet, note that if you install the debug version of the application and then uninstall it as usual (dragging and dropping into the trash until it says “delete”), this is not enough. Since tablets have potential for multiple users, you need to switch to

Settings > Apps > All 

and then scroll all the way to the bottom . There you will see your application. Click it, and then click Menu in the action bar (three dots), and then uninstall for all users . Then you will be fine.

Answer 4

Problem signing APK with JDK7. You can solve this by adding this to build.xml

 <presetdef name="signjar"> <signjar sigalg="MD5withRSA" digestalg="SHA1" /> </presetdef> 

Source: KIYUT Developer Blog

Answer 5

I recently signed my apks from the command line and got this error. I solved this error using the instructions at this link:

http://developer.android.com/tools/publishing/app-signing.html

 $ jarsigner -verbose -sigalg SHA1withRSA -digestalg SHA1 -keystore my-release-key.keystore my_application.apk alias_name 

Answer 6

This error usually occurs because you are trying to push an update that was signed with a different key than what you used in the original sending. You need to find the key that you used when you first published the application and use it to sign the update.

Answer 7

I had the same problem with my developed application.

Go to the Application Manager, clear the data for the application, then force stop if it is running and delete it. Then try installing from the market again. It worked for me.

https://market.android.com/details?id=net.trackmelite.GoogleMaps&feature=search_result

Answer 8

I am new to Android, but I was able to solve the problem magically: D
I used Java 1.7 with my application and used the command line utilities [keytool, jarsinger and zipalign] to sign my application and got the same error.
Then I returned to Eclipse and used the Android tool “Export signed application package” with the same keystore from which I originally published my application; took the APK and used the command line for zipalign. [I had to increase the version code in the btw manifest]. I did not publish the old APK and published this new one. Once you do this, do not check it immediately. Not sure how much time you have to wait, but mine worked after 4 hours when I checked :)