Google Play Says: "you Need To Use A Different Package Name" - Why?

I have already published an app called com.mycompany.mygame on google play. I then decided to publish an ad free version of it. I did not change the package name in eclipse because

Solution 1:

Apart from correcting app name in the Manifest I also had to change applicationId in the app's gradle.build file.

 defaultConfig {
    applicationId "com.example.changednameofmyapp"
    ...
}

Also, if you're using ProGuard, do not forget to change appropriate rules in your proguard-rules.pro

Just search the old package name in the whole project and change it.

Solution 2:

Regardless of the name of the .apk file, the package name of the Application contents inside it must be unique.

You can use refactor-rename to change this, though make sure that the change penetrates to the manifest file, proguard configuration, etc.

Solution 3:

The name of the APK doesn't matter, its the package name within the AndroidManifest file that counts.

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"package="com.yourcompany.yourapp"

There can only be one app on the market with that package name so in order to publish your ad free version you would have to change the package name in the manifest file, e.g. add the af onto the end of the package name within your manifest.

Solution 4:

As mentioned in other answers, you're development would be simpler if you put all the shared code and assets a common library project that is a dependency of your paid and free versions.

You may also wish to play with the new Gradle build system (in Android Studio) which allows you to dynamically set things like the package name at runtime. It also allows you to switch resources during build time, which is extremely convenient; You could have a boolean resource that represents whether the current app is the paid version. This allows you to enable/disable app features based on a check to that value.

Solution 5:

The filename of the APK is irrelevant, the package name of your app is used as a unique identifier - it is in the root element in the AndroidManifest.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><manifestxmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"package="com.example.packagename"android:versionCode="1"android:versionName="1.0" >

When you initially create your project in Eclipse it creates an actual package structure which matches this package name for you to put your source files in.

You can actually chnage your package name by modifiying this manifest value and you can just keep the folder/package structure as is - it does not need to match your actual application package name.

Alternatively, right click your project in Eclipse, go to "Android Tools" and then select "Rename Application Package"

After you do this you should be able to submit your binary