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dappledore
Participating Frequently
Nov 16, 2014 1:11 PM UTC
Question

Android 5 lollipop update remove all AIR apps

I updated to Android 5 OTA on two Nexus 7 2014 and 2013, after upgrading all the AIR apps were removed, native apps remained. I tried to install the apps from Google Play and i got an 505 install error. 

The logcat error is below:

E/Finsky(4449): [1] PackageInstallerImpl.handleCommitCallback: Error -505 while installing air.com.123.456 INSTALL_FAILED_UPDATE_INCOMPATIBLE: Package couldn't be installed in /data/app/air.com.123.456-1: Package air.com.123.456 signatures do not match the previously installed version; ignoring!

The apps are the same as before upgrading , they were not updated, the certificate is the same.

Anyone else seen this problem, is there an AIR patch?

I can install the app by "adb uninstall" command then re installing from Google play.

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96 replies

RossD20Studios
Known Participant
Dec 1, 2014 6:52 AM UTC

This issue is occurring in my AIR game as well, tracking here: Android 5.0 Not compatible?

I had thought posting an app update with latest AIR version fixed issue but it did not. It only worked on my device because Adobe compiler deleted the old install. Installing from the app store doesn't work if previously installed before upgrade to Android 5.

I'm a bit concerned that the current plan is to fix in next Google OTA update. This could take weeks or months and it's not good customer service to pin this on Google and tell players to wait. In the meantime, is there not a better fix to help users than asking them to use ADB?

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chris.campbell
Legend
Dec 1, 2014 9:06 PM UTC

I apologize for the lack of updates, I'm just back from the Thanksgiving holiday in the US.  Your current options for *new* applications continue to be:

  • Use the 2048-RSA algorithm (you'll need to select this manually when creating the cert as the default is 1024)
  • Update to our beta ADT which will correctly work with both 1024 and 2048 keys

We're continuing to work with Google.  Addressing the issue with existing applications unfortunately will require an update by Google, not Adobe.  I do not have an estimate when this will occur but I will update this thread once I have something I can share.

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Known Participant
Dec 1, 2014 10:03 PM UTC

I have an app in the GooglePlay store, but it's still in beta development and hasn't been distributed outside my development team. The existing certificate is 1024-RSA. 

Chris Campbell wrote:

  • Update to our beta ADT which will correctly work with both 1024 and 2048 keys

Can I just compile with the beta version of ADT at this point and keep my existing GooglePlay entry and appID? Or would it be safer to generate a new 2048-RSA key, and create a new entry in the GooglePlay store?

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adoberuth
Participant
Nov 28, 2014 5:31 PM UTC

I'm here with the same problem. I upgraded to 5.0 on my Nexus 10 last week and today when I tried to use the itvplayer app it said it wasn't installed - even though the shortcut was there! So I went to download it from playstore only to get this error message like other screen shots here. I've taken off my antivirus/firewall type stuff but it still wouldn't install. Any ideas would be very welcome.

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Participant
Nov 28, 2014 9:51 AM UTC

It's been a more than a week without any further information...

Please keep us informed about any kind of progress, even the tiniest one.

We need to know what's going to happen!

And we need react to our customers complaints. This is pretty severe!

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Known Participant
Nov 26, 2014 7:12 PM UTC

Hi folks,

I have a new app that is scheduled for launch next week. I've got the new atd.jar file, and am planning to generate a new certificate using RSA-2048 encryption.  I think, from what I've read so far that it's safer to target AIR 14 than AIR 15 - can somebody confirm this please?

I'm hoping this will be enough to avoid having issues, but I'd like to do some testing in advance. Does anybody know if these issues can be reproduced in the Android Simulator?

Steve Warren

Senior Software Engineer

steve@spekaboos.com

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Inspiring
Nov 27, 2014 7:56 AM UTC

@speakaboo-steve from what I understand AIR 14 and 15 are both affected, but using the new jar and a certificate made with RSA-2048 encryption should do the trick. The issue occurs when the app is installed under Android 4.4, then the OS is upgraded to Android 5. I'd bet you'd see it in the simulator if it's possible to upgrade the OS there.

I'm surprised at how many of my customers are comfortable using ADB to fix the problem (though it nukes their data). Reactor13's instructions are helpful; here they are translated to English:

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ru&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.airbits.ru%2Flollipop505.htm&edit-text=&act=url

Another solution I'm offering my customers is a link to an APK built with a different ID and certificate. Unfortunately it can't access the data from the original app, and there's nothing to stop this file from getting passed around except the honor system.

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zeh
Inspiring
Nov 26, 2014 10:59 AM UTC

I think there's a lot of misinformation flying. Everyone need to read the thread carefully.

1. Using the new signing process will not fix anything for existing apps. The problem with existing apps is with the current signed certificate, and you can't change certificates on published apps.

2. This is not an Air problem exactly. Trying different or beta versions of Air will make no difference.

3. It is possible that old apps are not affected. It depends on how the app cert was generated. It just happens that the default/recommended method of generating the very is the one that's causing trouble.

Also of note: I think Google may have stopped pushing OTA updates to Nexus devices. That, or the OTA is done. My "uninstall" have dropped to normal numbers.

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Inspiring
Nov 26, 2014 11:02 AM UTC

Thanks zeh for the clear easy to relate information. Hoping Google/Adobe find a solution soon.

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MJD1981
Inspiring
Nov 26, 2014 7:48 AM UTC

My AIR 14 apps haven't been affected, so I wonder if reverting back could be a temporary solution? I can't recall whether there were any important Android changes between 14 and 15, 16...

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dappledore
Participating Frequently
Nov 26, 2014 8:01 AM UTC

Air 14 (0.0.125) i think fixed an OpenSSL security issue that Google warned developers about on Google play, if you use a version below this , you could get your app removed. I had version 14 apps and they go removed also by Android 5.

Google play and Adobe air: Security Alert: You are using a highly vulnerable version of OpenSSL

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Reactor13
Inspiring
Nov 24, 2014 9:23 AM UTC

For our customers we prepared instruction how to use ADB. I hope this will help, while Google & Adobe prepare fix.
In russian - http://www.airbits.ru/lollipop505.htm

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chris.campbell
Legend
Nov 24, 2014 7:22 PM UTC

Thanks Reactor13!

I don't have an ETA on when an update will occur, but I'll let you know as soon as I can.

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Inspiring
Nov 22, 2014 1:58 PM UTC

Same here, hundreds on uninstall reports from both my Apps since Lollipop rolled out and you can't install again just get the -505 error.

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chris.campbell
Legend
Nov 22, 2014 10:02 PM UTC

Just added a new blog post that describes the current problems and workarounds.  We've also provided a beta version of ADT (linked in the post) that fixes the 1024-RSA issue with new applications.

Adobe AIR and Android 5.0

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Nov 22, 2014 10:18 PM UTC

Thanks Chris (also for working on saturday).

Do you have any idea about when the upcoming OTA updates for Android 5.0. wil be available for existing apps?

I mean, not the exact date, but let's say "december", or "january" or whatever?

I ask because I need to update my users when the problem will be fixed.

One of my app just reached 500,000 download, okay it's not 10,000,000+ like "Empire four kingdom" but I have a pretty nice number of followers that I think must be informed.

Thanks!

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Participating Frequently
Nov 21, 2014 10:55 PM UTC

I saw that it was possible to uninstall the apps in ADB.

It's important for us to keep the app data intact.

As a work around I tried to do an ADB uninstall with the -k flag (adb shell pm uninstall -k air.com.XXX) to keep the app data then re-install.
It didn't work. Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_UPDATE_INCOMPATIBLE]

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Participating Frequently
Nov 21, 2014 5:22 PM UTC

I want to add my name to the list. I have 5 apps that are affected and have many customers that bought Nexus tablets based on my suggestion.

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