how to manage debug and release version on android device?

Question

I'm new to Android dev and I'm almost ready to release a first version of my app :)

While testing the signed release apk on my phone, it refuse to install because the debug version is installed with the debug signature.

So I have to uninstall the debug version but it delete all my database (and it will do it to my friends who are testing it).

Is there a way to manage a debug and a release version of the same app without losing data?

Answer 1

Many Android projects are starting to use the gradle build system (we transitioned to it when we started using Android Studio). Fortunately, gradle makes it really simple to install both a dev and release version simultaneously, each with their own independent data. The Android docs cover this, just add a applicationIdSuffix to your debug build type like so:

android {
    buildTypes {
        debug {
            applicationIdSuffix ".debug"
        }
    }
}