androidxamarinvisual-studio-2015xamarin.androidandroid-5.1.1-lollipop

xamarin Visual Studio 2015 apk fails to install: Error "parsing the package"


Wrote app for an android device whose installed Android version is Lollipop 5.1 (AZPEN A1040 tablet - latest version available for it).

The app installs and works correctly in the emulator (setup to emulate a Lollipop 5.1 device)

However, after archiving without any issues, when attempting to install the app's apk file to the actual target device, I get the following error:

"There was a problem parsing the package"

The project's properties in Visual Studio 2015 are displayed in the graphics below:

Applicaition Settings

Android Options

All the referenced libraries in the project are shown in the picture below:

enter image description here

I have neither errors nor warnings during the build, deploy to emulator or archiving processes.

The target device has already the following settings enabled:

EDIT: To add pertinent info based on comments below

At this point I'm at a loss as to what to do to make this install on the target device.

Any ideas?


Solution

  • Figured it out what the issue was. The settings on the device under "About Tablet" displayed the Android Version as 5.1. Because of that, I set the Minimum Android Target in the Visual Studio project as "Android 5.1 (API Level 22 - Lollipop)".

    After reading @Jon_Douglas' comment, I decided to bite the bullet and ask the client to let me use his device for troubleshooting. Once I connected the device, Visual Studio picked it up as "AZPEN A1040 (Android 5.0 - API 21)".

    I changed the Minimum Android Target to "Android 5.0 (API Level 21 - Lollipop)" and was able to install the apk. Compare the settings image below to the one initially provided above:

    enter image description here