relaunch android app in play store deleting previous

Question

I have an android app in google play store and I lost keystore file. So I can not update the apk in play store. I want to delete the previous apk and upload new apk with same name. Is app users affected with this change? Whether they have to reinstall the app or it is automatically updated in users' phone.

Answer 1

Is app users affected with this change?

Yes.

Whether they have to reinstall the app or it is automatically updated in users' phone.

Users will have to re-install the new app manually. Since you have lost the keystore, you will have to publish the app with a new package name, and new package name essentially means a new, distinct app.