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Can I change the name of an Android app package on Google Play?

I would like to know if it is technically possible, and not just or not, to change the actual name of the package of the Android application that is on Google Play. By package name, I mean the name that will be displayed in the URL. Please can someone tell me why this is not possible? Thank!

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android package google-play
Jul 10 '13 at 22:51
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7 answers

From Diana Hackborn:

Things that can't change:

The most obvious and obvious of these is the "manifest package name", the unique name you give your application in your AndroidManifest.xml. The title uses a Java-style naming convention, and domain ownership on the Internet helps to avoid name conflicts. For example, since Google owns the domain "google.com", the manifest package names of all our applications must begin with "com.google". It is important for developers to follow this agreement to avoid conflicts with other developers.

Once your application is published under its manifest package name, this is the application’s unique identifier forever. Switching to another name results in a completely new application that cannot be installed as an update to an existing application.

More on things you cannot change here.

Regarding your question about the URL from Google Play, the package specified there is related to the complete application package that you have in your AndroidManifest.xml file. Learn more about Google Play link formats here .

+108
Jul 10 '13 at 23:00
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No, you cannot just change it, you will need to download a new package as a new application. Check out the Google Talk app, its name has been changed to Hangouts , but the package name is still com.google.android.talk . Because it is not feasible :) Greetings.

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Jul 10 '13 at 23:04 on
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As far as I can tell, what you can do is to “delete” your previous application and redirect all users to the new application. This procedure is not supported by Google (tsk ... tsk ...), but it can be implemented in four stages:

  • Modify the current application to display a message to users about the update and redirect them to the list of new applications. Probably a full-screen message will do with friendly text. This message can be remotely triggered ideally, but a cut-off date can also be used. (But then it will be a difficult time for you, so be careful ...;))

  • Release the modified old application as an update, possibly with some bug fixes / feature fixes, to “sweeten the deal” to users. However, there is no guarantee that all users will be updated, but most probably will.

  • Prepare a new application with the updated package name and upload it to the repository, then run the message in the old application (or just wait until it expires, if that was your choice).

  • Unpublish the old application on the Play Store to avoid new settings. Canceling a publication does not mean that users who have already installed it will no longer have access to it, but at least potential new users will not find it in the market.

Not ideal and can annoy users, sometimes it is even impossible to implement due to the status / capabilities of the application. But since Google left us no choice, this is the only way to transfer users of old applications to the “new” one (even if it’s not entirely new). Not to mention that if you do not have access to the sources and details of the code signing for the old application, then all you can do is hope that users notice the new application ...

If anyone understood the best way in all ways: please tell me.

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Dec 12 '14 at 23:23
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No, you cannot change the name of the package unless you are ready to publish it as a new application on the Play Store:

Once your application is published under its manifest package name, this is the application’s unique identifier forever. Switching to another name results in a completely new application that cannot be installed as an update to an existing application. The Android manual also confirms this here:

Attention: after publishing the application, you cannot change the name of the package. The package name determines the identifier of your application, so if you change it, it is considered another application, and users of the previous version cannot upgrade to the new version. If you agree with the publication of a new version of your application as a completely new entity, you can do this, of course, just remove the old application from the Play Store (if you want) and publish the new one with a different package name.

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Jan 04 '17 at 21:19 on
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You can never do this, because the package name is the unique Identifier name for your application .....

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Jul 23 '17 at 13:45
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If you link to com.example.app, I don’t understand that you cannot consider it a new application

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Jul 10 '13 at 22:56
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Complete guide: https://developer.android.com/studio/build/application-id.html

According to official android blogs: https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2011/06/things-that-cannot-change.html

We can say that:

  • If the name of the manifest package has changed, the new application will be installed with the old application, so they both coexist on the user device at the same time.

  • If the signature certificate changes, trying to install a new application on the device will not work until the old version is installed.

According to the Google App Update Checklist: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/113476?hl=en

Update your apps

Prepare your APK

When you are ready to make changes to your APK, be sure to update the application version code so that existing users receive your updates.

Use the following checklist to make sure your new APK is ready to upgrade existing users:

  • The package name of the updated APK must match the current version.
  • The version code must be greater than the current version. Learn more about the versions of your applications.
  • The updated APK must be signed with the same signature as the current version.

To make sure your APK uses the same certification as the previous version, you can run the following command on both APKs and compare the results:

 $ jarsigner -verify -verbose -certs my_application.apk

If the results match, you use the same key and are ready to continue. If the results differ, you will need to re-sign the APK with the correct key.

Learn more about signing your applications.

Download your APK Once your APK is ready, you can create a new version.

+1
Jan 23 '18 at 6:31
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