Visual Studio 2026 .NET Maui App will run on in a Local Android Emulator... but not an actual device "App Not Installed"

Stewart Basterash 0 Reputation points
2026-07-14T00:09:14.0433333+00:00

I have a series of test android devices. I have built and deployed several .net MAUI apps over the previous 5 years. Recently I had a request for something new. I built about 80% of the app and decided to run an initial test. I did what I have always done. Set the app to "release"... ran "Publish"... set it to "AdHoc" deployment... Built... applied the company certificate... it compiled and deployed to a central server. I downloaded the app onto several android devices from android 28 thru android 33. In every case I received "App Not Installed". Using AI, I was instructed to alter the csproj file with the android version, and I was also instructed to try to update and repair the dotnet workloads... These were all completed without success. Finally, I uninstalled and reinstalled Visual Studio 2026. This also has not worked. I can not seem to deploy an AdHoc version for testing on ANY device including the latest Google Pixel phone. The repeated playstore error is "App Not Installed"!

Any assistance would be gratefully received!

Developer technologies | .NET | .NET Multi-platform App UI
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  1. Nancy Vo (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 8,075 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-07-14T09:09:21.13+00:00

    Hello @Stewart Basterash ,

    Thanks for your question.

    Newer Android phones have a strict rule: a specific file inside your app must not be compressed. The "Archive and Distribute" menu in Visual Studio has a bug where it compresses this file by mistake. When the phone sees the compressed file, it rejects it and says "App Not Installed". The local emulator ignores this rule, which is why it worked there.

    Please refer to these following workarounds:

    1. Direct USB install.
    • Plug your Android test phone into your computer using a USB cable.
    • At the top of Visual Studio, change the build mode from "Debug" to "Release".
    • Select your physical phone from the green Play button drop-down and click it to deploy directly.
    1. Command Line Build

    Open a Command Prompt in your app's folder and type the command below. This uses the core builder that does not have the compression bug:

    dotnet publish -f net10.0-android -c Release -p:AndroidKeyStore=true -p:AndroidSigningKeyStore="C:\path\to\your.keystore" -p:AndroidSigningKeyAlias="your_alias" -p:AndroidSigningStorePass="your_password" -p:AndroidSigningKeyPass="your_password"

    Please try and let me know if it works. I'd be happy to investigate further if needed.

    I hope this addresses your question. If this response was helpful, please consider following the guidance to provide feedback. Thank you.

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