[android] Installation error: INSTALL_FAILED_OLDER_SDK

I am new to Android development and I want first to get the Hello World application running. I am using Eclipse IDE and the Android 4.0.3 version 15 SDK. I copied everything from a tutorial site, but when I try to run the application on the virtual device I get this error:

[2012-02-01 11:31:23 - Android_test] Installation error: INSTALL_FAILED_OLDER_SDK
[2012-02-01 11:31:23 - Android_test] Please check logcat output for more details.
[2012-02-01 11:31:23 - Android_test] Launch canceled!

Here is my class in the com.maze.app package: package com.maze.app;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class HelloAndroid extends Activity{
  @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        TextView tv = new TextView(this);
        tv.setText("Hello, Android");
        setContentView(tv);

    }

}

and the AndroidManifest.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="com.maze.app"
android:versionCode="1"
android:versionName="1.0" >

<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="15" android:targetSdkVersion="@string/app_name"/>

<application
    android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
    android:label="@string/app_name" >
    <activity android:name="HelloAndroid" android:launchMode="standard" android:enabled="true"></activity>
</application>

Here is the configuration of the Virtual Device:

Name: AndroidVD
CPU/ABI: ARM(armeabi-v7a)
Path: path\to\avd
Target: Android 4.0.3(API level 15)
Skin: WVGA800
hw.lcd.density: 240
hw.cpu.model: cortex-a8
vm.heapSize: 48
hw.ramSize:512

What is the problem?

EDIT: The application is not running on the Virtual Device: Here is what I get on LogCat(some of the lines):

D/PackageManager(92): New package installed in /data/app/com.maze.app-2.apk
D/dalvikvm(92): GC_CONCURRENT freed 660K, 9% free 11935K/12999K, paused 18ms+72ms
I/ActivityManager(92): Force stopping package com.maze.app uid=10040
D/BackupManagerService(92): Received broadcast Intent { act=android.intent.action.PACKAGE_REPLACED dat=package:com.maze.app flg=0x10000010 (has extras) }
V/BackupManagerService(92): updatePackageParticipantsLocked: com.maze.app

If you are totally new like me, you must install the minimum SDK at first. Check the link.

This worked out perfectly for me:

Same problem other post with a good solution

Regards,

Khaled.

Ionic Android emulator error INSTALL_FAILED_OLDER_SDK

So, basically it means that the installation has failed due to having an older SDK version than the targetSdkVersion specified in your app (it's a Gradle issue). Just edit the AndroidManifest.xml file and add the following code:

<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="19" android:targetSdkVersion="14"/>

After days looking for the solution, that's it.

Works fine for me!

Make sure to check your build.gradle and that it doesn't use a newer SDK version than what is installed on your AVD. That's only if you use Android Studio though.

If the error "Installation error: INSTALL_FAILED_OLDER_SDK" appears, you must change the version of minSdkVersion in AndroidManifest to the one specified in the android emulator: see Settings -> About phone -> Android version.

You will see the same error if you are trying to install an apk that was built using

compileSdkVersion "android-L"

Even for devices running the final version of Android 5.0. Simply change this to

compileSdkVersion 21

My solution was to change the run configurations module drop-down list from wearable to android. (This error happened to me when I tried running Google's I/O Sched open-source app.) It would automatically pop up the configurations every time I tried to run until I changed the module to android.

You can access the configurations by going to Run -> Edit Configurations... -> General tab -> Module: [drop-down-list-here]

Mate, my advice is to change virtual device. Download "Genimotion" application, its easy to use and there are a lot of any devices you need

This error occurs when the sdk-version installed on your device (real or virtual device) is smaller than android:minSdkVersion in your android manifest.

You either have to decrease your android:minSdkVersion or you have to specify a higher api-version for your AVD.

Keep in mind, that it is not always trivial to decrease android:minSdkVersion as you have to make sure, your app cares about the actual installed API and uses the correct methods:

AsyncTask<String, Object, String> task = new AsyncTask<String, Object, String>() {
    @Override
    protected Boolean doInBackground(String... params) {
        if (params == null) return "";
        StringBuilder b = new StringBuilder();
        for (String p : params) {
             b.append(p);
        }
        return b.toString();
    }
};
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB) {
    task.executeOnExecutor(AsyncTask.THREAD_POOL_EXECUTOR,"Hello", " ", "world!");
} else {
    task.execute("Hello", " ", "world!");
}

Using the android-support-library and/or libraries like actionbar-sherlock will help you dealing especially with widgets of older versions.

Go in your project's build.cradle file and add

defaultConfig {
    minSdkVersion versions.minSdk

}`

This makes it that your application conforms to the minimum SDK your device is running.

Fix for new Android 6.0 Marshmallow Fixed my issue when I updated to API 23 (Android 6.0 Marshmallow) by updating the build tools version to 23.0.0 as follows:

android {
    buildToolsVersion '23.0.0'
...

And went to File > Project Structure , chose Properties tab then updated the Compile Sdk version to "API 23: Android 5.X (MNC)" and the Build tools version to "23.0.0"

I found that making the recommended change in the manifest didn't solve my problem.

The fix was found in the GradleScripts folder, in the build.gradle file for the Module:app.

Inside this file (build.gradle) the following line was modified. minSdkVersion 22 I changed this '22' value to '19' for my particular phone and the build completed without error.

In my case I edited a project having this in the AndroidManifest.xml file, and which was ginving me the above error, at runtime:

<uses-sdk
    android:minSdkVersion="17"
    android:targetSdkVersion="17" />

What I did just, was to change minSdkVersion="17", to minSdkVersion="16". My resulting tag was:

<uses-sdk
    android:minSdkVersion="16"
    android:targetSdkVersion="17" />

Now I'm not getting the error anymore..

Hope this helps

I tried all the responses described here but my solution was changing inside my build.gradle file minSdkVersion from 8 to 9 because some libraries in my project can´t work with API 8, that´s was the reason for the message INSTALL_FAILED_OLDER_SDK:

apply plugin: 'com.android.application'

    android {
        compileSdkVersion 22
        buildToolsVersion "22.0.1"

        defaultConfig {
            applicationId "com.tuna.hello.androidstudioapplication"
            minSdkVersion 9
            targetSdkVersion 22
            versionCode 1
            versionName "1.0"
        }
...
...
...

I am on Android Studio. I got this error when min/targetSDKVersion were set to 17. While looking thro this thread, I tried to change the minSDKVersion, voila..problem fixed. Go figure.. :(

    android:minSdkVersion="17"
    android:targetSdkVersion="17" />

This means the version of android of your avd is older than the version being used to compile the code

I am using Android Studio 0.8.1. I have a project's gradle file like below:

android {
    compileSdkVersion 19
    buildToolsVersion "20.0.0"

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.omersonmez.widgets.hotspot"
        minSdkVersion 15
        targetSdkVersion 19
        versionCode 1
        versionName "1.0"
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            runProguard false
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
        }
    }
}

My emulator was android 4.0. So i modified my emulator and made api level 4.0.3(apilevel 15). It worked.

Received the same error , the problem was difference in the version of Android SDK which AVD was using and the version in AndroidManifest file. I could solve it by correcting the

android:minSdkVersion="16"

to match with AVD.

I've changed my android:minSdkVersion and android:targetSdkVersion to 18 from 21:

uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="18" android:targetSdkVersion="18" 

Now I can install my app successfully.