Installing apps on Android 11 and above with code studio - x-droov

If you're using Android 11 and above, you realize that you can't install apps created by code studio directly on your device. In  this article, you'll actually install your apps on Android 11 and above with no hustle.

Why you can't install apps on Android 11 and above

The latest Android system operating requirements changed starting from 2021. Because code studio hasn't been updated to do the required hacks, you may think it's wasting your time.

1. The signature scheme used

Code studio is still signing its apps with signature scheme v1 for Android. Android 11 and above then come with a need for apps to be signed with both signature scheme v1 and signature scheme v2.

2. The target SDK version

Android 11 and above require all apps to have a target SDK version of 30 and above. If your app is targeting version 30 and below, it will not install.

3. Containing resources.arsc file

If this file is present and isn't aligned on a 4-byte boundary the file won't install. This is because reading that file gives more pressure on the device RAM. You shouldn't worry about this because code studio has you covered.

How to solve the problems

SDK versions

To solve this, check your manifest file and navigate to the uses-sdk tag. Change the target SDK version to someone above 30.

Signature scheme

You can't control this manually. Instead, you need to get an app that can re-sign the app to v1+v2 model.

Apps that can sign your app

1. Apktool

This is a great app that I covered in my Android reverse engineering article. It can help you decompile apps, edit app names, change packages and signing or removing signatures from apps.

You can get the app on telegram. Simply search for "Apktool" and you'll be on the go. 

2. Other apk signing tools

On playstore, you can get other options, but I don't recommend you to because they won't help you with other tasks like Apktool does.

Once you have covered those holes, you can then enjoy your development on mobile. I am here to help you out if you have any concerns. Simply hit the comments and I will be on your way.

Thanks for reading to the end. Hope you got what you wanted.

AUTHOR

Emmy Jayson