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

Solution 1:

I was receiving this issue and the problem was because I had multiple versions of the "Android SDK Build Tools" installed.

To see if you have this, go to the Android SDK Manager, and look under Tools.

If you have multiples, uninstall all the extra ones and rebuild your package.

As soon as I did this, I was able to deploy/install this package w/out hassle.

Note that the package that wouldn't install on the device WOULD install in the emulator(I'm using Visual Studio Emulator for Android).

Solution 2:

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: