Didn't find class "com.google.firebase.provider.FirebaseInitProvider"?

Question

I am getting the below exception on app launch.

java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to get provider com.google.firebase.provider.FirebaseInitProvider: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: Didn't find class "com.google.firebase.provider.FirebaseInitProvider" on path: DexPathList[[zip file "/data/app/com.vfirst.ifbagro-1.apk"],nativeLibraryDirectories=[/data/app-lib/com.vfirst.ifbagro-1, /vendor/lib, /system/lib]]
at android.app.ActivityThread.installProvider(ActivityThread.java:4993)
at android.app.ActivityThread.installContentProviders(ActivityThread.java:4596)
at android.app.ActivityThread.handleBindApplication(ActivityThread.java:4536)
at android.app.ActivityThread.access$1300(ActivityThread.java:149)
at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1353)
at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:137)
at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5214)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:525)
at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:739)
at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:555)
at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: Didn't find class "com.google.firebase.provider.FirebaseInitProvider" on path: DexPathList[[zip file "/data/app/com.vfirst.ifbagro-1.apk"],nativeLibraryDirectories=[/data/app-lib/com.vfirst.ifbagro-1, /vendor/lib, /system/lib]]
at dalvik.system.BaseDexClassLoader.findClass(BaseDexClassLoader.java:53)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:501)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:461)
at android.app.ActivityThread.installProvider(ActivityThread.java:4978)
at android.app.ActivityThread.installContentProviders(ActivityThread.java:4596) 
at android.app.ActivityThread.handleBindApplication(ActivityThread.java:4536) 
at android.app.ActivityThread.access$1300(ActivityThread.java:149) 
at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1353) 
at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99) 
at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:137) 
at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5214) 
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method) 

Here is the the app level build.gradle

apply plugin: 'com.android.application'
apply plugin: 'android-apt' 

android {
compileSdkVersion 24
buildToolsVersion "24.0.1"

defaultConfig {
    applicationId "com.vfirst.ifbagro"
    minSdkVersion 17
    targetSdkVersion 24
    versionCode 1
    versionName "1.0"
    multiDexEnabled true
}
buildTypes {
    release {
        minifyEnabled false
        proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
    }
}
}

dependencies {
compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])


compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:24.2.1'
compile 'com.android.support:design:24.2.1'
compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:24.2.1'
compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-gcm:9.4.0'
compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-location:9.4.0'
compile 'com.android.support:multidex:1.0.1'
compile 'com.google.firebase:firebase-messaging:9.4.0'
compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:9.4.0'
testCompile 'junit:junit:4.12'
}

apply plugin: 'com.google.gms.google-services'

This is my application level build.gradle

// Top-level build file where you can add configuration options common to all sub-projects/modules.

buildscript {
repositories {
    jcenter()
    mavenCentral()
}
dependencies {
    classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:2.2.0'
    classpath 'com.google.gms:google-services:3.0.0'
    classpath 'com.neenbedankt.gradle.plugins:android-apt:1.8'
    classpath 'com.google.gms:google-services:3.0.0'

    // NOTE: Do not place your application dependencies here; they belong
    // in the individual module build.gradle files
}
}

allprojects {
repositories {
    jcenter()
}
}

task clean(type: Delete) {
     delete rootProject.buildDir
}

How to solve the issue?

Answer 1

I had the same error and I solved it with MultiDex, like described on this link : https://developer.android.com/studio/build/multidex.html

---

Sometimes it is not enough just to enable MultiDex.

If any class that's required during startup is not provided in the primary DEX file, then your app crashes with the error java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError. https://developer.android.com/studio/build/multidex#keep

FirebaseInitProvider is required during startup.

So you must manually specify FirebaseInitProvider as required in the primary DEX file.

build.gradle file

android {
    buildTypes {
        release {
            multiDexKeepFile file('multidex-config.txt')
            ...
        }
    }
}

multidex-config.txt (in the same directory as the build.gradle file)

com/google/firebase/provider/FirebaseInitProvider.class