Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_UPDATE_INCOMPATIBLE] even if app appears to not be installed

android visual-studio-2013 xamarin xamarin.android
YKa picture YKa · Nov 7, 2014 · Viewed 144.4k times · Source

When trying to deploy my app to the Android device I am getting the following error:

Deployment failed because of an internal error: Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_UPDATE_INCOMPATIBLE]

I am aware of this question but the app is not installed. It has been removed/partially removed by Visual Studio during the attempt to deploy.

In the past I solved this by downloading the app from the google play store and then removing it from settings->Application manager. However, now i am getting the error "incompatible update" when it is trying to install it.

I tried to remove it using Titanium Backup and few other things but no luck.

EDIT 1

I realised (from @Motz) that I haven't mentioned that the obvious solution doesn't work. Namely, the app doesn't appear in Settings->Apps

Answer

Kiliman picture Kiliman · Nov 7, 2014

I've seen this several times. Usually it's due to having a signed release version on my phone, then trying to deploy the debug version on top. It gets stuck in an invalid state where it's not fully uninstalled.

The solution that works for me is to open a command prompt and type:

adb uninstall my.package.id

That usually completes the uninstall in order for me to continue development.

Good luck!

Related questions

ERROR: Failed to deploy to device, no devices found -cordova using visual studio

I am developing an Apache Cordova mobile app using Visual Studio 2013. When I run my app in device mode I get the following error: ERROR: Failed to deploy to device, no devices found I have already enabled USB debugging in …

Read More
Can't start Eclipse - Java was started but returned exit code=13

I am trying to get my first taste of Android development using Eclipse. I ran into this problem when trying to run Eclipse, having installed version 4.2 only minutes ago. After first trying to start Eclipse without any parameters to specify …

Read More
How do you close/hide the Android soft keyboard using Java?

I have an EditText and a Button in my layout. After writing in the edit field and clicking on the Button, I want to hide the virtual keyboard when touching outside the keyboard. I assume that this is a simple …

Read More