signed vs unsigned apk: classDeffNotFound

Question

I have been developing for android for a while, and have never encountered the following problem.

I inherited a codebase that I am trying to move from hockey app to google play. When I distribute the apk obtained from the bin directory, everything works fine. However, when I export a signed apk, the app crashes claiming that one or another class is not found. The classes in question are classes that I create myself. And they are in the main package; so no dependency issues that I can see.

Has anyone encountered this type of problem where bin apk works fine but not the signed apk? I am not using proguard. And I am using exclipse to export this app; similar to how I have always exported other apps.

• The problem cannot be the key used to signed. As far as I know, if the key were corrupted, it would not create the apk at all.

The problem persists whether I email the apks or install them with USB.

Answer 1

Try:

1) Remove bin folder.

2) Rebuild project.[Eclipse will rebuild if 'Build automatically' is checked under 'Project' menu tab]

3) Now try creating signed apk.

I am facing this problem once in a while. I have been successful with above steps. If still problem persists, I will restart eclipse then follow same steps again.