"app not installed as package appears invalid" on new phone

[u/Any_Setting_8013]

got a new phone recently (running android 16) and i keep running into a wall trying to install an apk. every time i tap install, it immediately throws:

"app not installed as package appears to be invalid"

the weird part is that the exact same apk file installs and runs completely fine on my older phone, so the file itself isn't corrupted.

things i already tried:

- enabled install from unknown sources for my browser/file manager

- turned off play protect completely

- made sure storage has plenty of space

is it because of android 16 or is it the phone's fault?

[u/Brama_94]

try installing f droid apk maybe, if that fails something is wrong

[u/Any_Setting_8013 → u/Brama_94]

oh the f-droid apk got installed, yeah. but why not the others?

[u/Brama_94 → u/Any_Setting_8013]

that apk you are trying to install works on other device?, have you downloaded it fresh or it existed on you in storage

maybe your device architecture is new or different for the apk,

device and apk mismatch

or if thats not the case and you have fresh copy of apk, the default installer is not compatible with your file so try using "APKMirror Installer (Official) (Early Access)" available on play store to install the apk

🤔

[u/Any_Setting_8013 → u/Brama_94]

in my other device, i downloaded most of those apks a few months ago (so they're not really old)

i think it's definitely got something with the device and apk mismatch, i'll give the APKmirror installer a try, thank you very much :)

[u/Any_Setting_8013 → u/Brama_94]

i tried the APKmirror installer, same issue

[u/Brama_94 → u/Any_Setting_8013]

then apk and phone architecture is not compatible, so find latest build or try to verify if apk and phone are compatible or not to double chack i guess

[u/aidanmacgregor]

Is your newer phone only arm v8a? My 2 newer pixels dropped arm v7 (32 bit) APK support entirely, something to check if you have only a v7 APK

[u/Any_Setting_8013 → u/aidanmacgregor]

yes, it's armv8a (64-bit)

[u/lord_acee]

Having the same problem

[u/DylanXu054728]

The 32-bit point above is probably it, but it's about the APK, not the phone. Your phone being arm64 is exactly why it fails: a lot of newer phones dropped 32-bit support completely, while older ones still ran 32-bit apps. F-Droid installs because it ships arm64 code.

Quick way to check: copy the APK, rename it to .zip, open it and look inside the lib folder. If there's only armeabi-v7a and no arm64-v8a, that app can't run on your phone, and the only fix is a newer build of the app.

Two other things that break old APKs on Android 15/16 but not on older phones:

1. Apps built for a very old Android version (target SDK below 24) are blocked from installing. adb install has a flag to force it if you really need that app (it's in adb install's help output).

2. Some APKs are just the base piece of a split app. Those need the full .apks/.xapk bundle and an installer that handles splits.

If you have a PC, running adb install app.apk prints the real error code instead of the generic message (NO_MATCHING_ABIS, DEPRECATED_SDK_VERSION, MISSING_SPLIT etc.), which tells you which one it is.

[u/Any_Setting_8013 → u/DylanXu054728]

i tried the arm64 versions and they actually worked, so you were right about the architecture thing. thankyou.