Firebase App-Distribution App cannot be updated, must be uninstalled before installing the new version

Question

I am currently working on a Flutter project. I have set up a GitHub Action pipeline where the Flutter App is built for Android. After the build, the apk is uploaded to Firebase App-Distribution. These steps work fine but when a new app version is in the App-Tester and I want to install it, I have to uninstall the current app on my device before I can install the new one.

I tested it locally:

1. Build the apk with the corresponding build number
2. Upload apk to Firebase App-Distribution
3. Install app

And that works when I do it locally. Update the app works. But when I am using GitHub Action it won't work.

Does anyone have similar issues or know what the problem is?

This is a part of the workflow

...

- name: Install dependencies
  run: flutter pub get

- name: Flutter build apk
  run: flutter build apk --release --build-name 1.0.${{ env.NEW_BUILD_VERSION }}

...

- name: Upload apk to Firebase
  uses: ./.github/actions/firebase_app_distribution
  with:
    path: build/app/outputs/flutter-apk/app-release.apk
    app: ${{ secrets.APP_ID }}
    serviceAccountJSON: ${{ secrets.GOOGLE_SERVICE_JSON }}
    group: internal-testers

Answer 1

the signing certificate is the issue. you need to use same signing certificate locally and on github if you wish to retain the app's integrity