You set the title of your application in the Corona Simulator’s “Build” window via the “Application Name” field. That sets both the title and the app bundle file’s name.
I’ve noticed that if I build an apk with the Application Name “My Great Game” and then install it locally, I cannot overwrite the application on my device if I rebuild the same project with the same keystore/build.settings but a different Application Name (for example to “My Great Game Lite”).
Would the same apply if I was to change the app name and then upload it to Google Play? Is it impossible to change the app’s name after submitting?
Just change the APK file name to something the Android device will accept, because it’s the Android SDK tools or the device that’s being picky about the file name’s characters. The application name doesn’t have to match the APK’s file name.
If you’re doing a Corona Simulator build, I’m pretty sure spaces and other special characters that Android devices don’t typically accept get replaced by underscores. At least with the Windows version of the Corona Simulator. For native Android SDK builds (I noticed that you have an Enterprise subscription), then it’s up to you to handle this yourself.
This project is actually being built with the simulator, just for the record.
What’s odd is that if I do a fresh install of the apk with the new file name, then it installs fine.
I only have a problem if I try to overwrite an existing app which has the same package name/build.settings etc but different Application Name that I get the “application not installed” message.
I’ll test it out shortly, to see if changing the apk file name itself after building solves it.
This doesn’t sound like an APK file name issue. If you’re using Google’s “adb” command line tool to install your APK, then you need to give it a command line switch “-r” telling the tool to overwrite the APK. For example:
adb install -r <PathToApkFile>
Didn’t work I’m afraid. Just to be clear, here is what I’ve tested out.
- Build an apk with name: “My Great Game”
2. Attempt to install on device using “adb install filename.apk”.
-
Game installs and opens correctly.
-
Rebuild apk with name: “My Great Game 2”
-
Attempt to reinstall on device using “adb install -r filename.apk”.
6. Installation fails.
Then just to be sure build 2 didn’t have any inherent problems of it’s own:
- Uninstall build1.
8. Attempt to install build2 again on device using adb.
- Installation successful.
This certainly isn’t a new phenomenon, I’ve seen it before but didn’t think much of it at the time. However I’d quite like to update an app with a slightly different app name, so it would be handy if this could be done.
Wait. You changed the APK’s file name on the 2nd install, but chose the same package name? That’s going to cause problems. If you used the same app name and package name, then overwrite, it should be fine.
Ok, but if I want to update an existing app to have a slightly different name, then I would have to use the same package name.
I’ve found out how to fix the problem though. As I was just testing this out, I didn’t change the version code or version name between the 2 builds. If I increase those, then I can overwrite the old app with a new apk which has a different name.
Right. It’s okay to change the app’s display name. Just change the APK file name to be the same as before when overwriting it.
Regarding the app store, I’m not sure how they handle it, but they may actually rename the APK you upload on their end to avoid issues like this. You’ll just have to test it and find out. But really, you’re just dealing with the nuances of the Android OS and app store. Just do what it takes to make them happy.
excuse my . can I now how to change ‘game tittle’ in corona ?
You set the title of your application in the Corona Simulator’s “Build” window via the “Application Name” field. That sets both the title and the app bundle file’s name.