Ionic app runs in browser, but fails on Android: [ERROR] Error initializing Cordova: Class not found

Question

My App is based on the Ionic sidemenu starter project. It works fine in a browser, but trying to run it on my Android device results in an alert with the following message:

[ERROR] Error initializing Cordova: Class not found

I tried the suggested solutions in this post, but none of them solved the issue.

To reproduce the issue, please follow the instructions here.

Any ideas what's going on?

---

Some info:

$ cordova --version
3.5.0-0.2.6

$ ionic --version
Installed Ionic CLI version: 1.1.1-beta3

# In browser's console
> ionic.version === "1.0.0-beta.9"

---

Related question: ui-router resolve behaves strangely in Ionic

Answer 1

I've had this error before. It can be tricky since it is super generic. I'm not sure if this is related, but after much trouble I was able to resolve my problem using these steps:

1. Make a backup of the .json files inside of your /plugins directory.
2. Remove the .json files in your /plugins directory.
3. Empty your platform directories.
4. Re-add the platforms you want.
5. Build your app again.

Also, I have my cordova.js at the very bottom of my body tag, not in the head as I've seen suggested elsewhere. Your mileage may vary.