java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to instantiate application

Question

In Google Play Developer Console I see this crash:

java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to instantiate application com.example.MyApp: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: Didn't find class "com.example.MyApp" on path: DexPathList[[zip file "/mnt/asec/com.example.testapp-1/pkg.apk"],nativeLibraryDirectories=[/mnt/asec/com.example.testapp-1/lib, /vendor/lib, /system/lib]]
at android.app.LoadedApk.makeApplication(LoadedApk.java:516)
at android.app.ActivityThread.handleBindApplication(ActivityThread.java:4545)
at android.app.ActivityThread.access$1500(ActivityThread.java:160)
at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1390)
at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:110)
at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:193)
at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5330)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:515)
at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:829)
at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:645)
at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: Didn't find class "com.example.MyApp" on path: DexPathList[[zip file "/mnt/asec/com.example.testapp-1/pkg.apk"],nativeLibraryDirectories=[/mnt/asec/com.example.testapp-1/lib, /vendor/lib, /system/lib]]
at dalvik.system.BaseDexClassLoader.findClass(BaseDexClassLoader.java:56)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:497)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:457)
at android.app.Instrumentation.newApplication(Instrumentation.java:975)
at android.app.LoadedApk.makeApplication(LoadedApk.java:511)
... 11 more
Suppressed: java.io.IOException: unable to open DEX file
at dalvik.system.DexFile.openDexFileNative(Native Method)
at dalvik.system.DexFile.openDexFile(DexFile.java:296)
at dalvik.system.DexFile.<init>(DexFile.java:80)
at dalvik.system.DexFile.<init>(DexFile.java:59)
at dalvik.system.DexPathList.loadDexFile(DexPathList.java:263)
at dalvik.system.DexPathList.makeDexElements(DexPathList.java:230)
at dalvik.system.DexPathList.<init>(DexPathList.java:112)
at dalvik.system.BaseDexClassLoader.<init>(BaseDexClassLoader.java:48)
at dalvik.system.PathClassLoader.<init>(PathClassLoader.java:65)
at android.app.ApplicationLoaders.getClassLoader(ApplicationLoaders.java:57)
at android.app.LoadedApk.getClassLoader(LoadedApk.java:326)
at android.app.LoadedApk.makeApplication(LoadedApk.java:508)
... 11 more

This crash occurs mostly on Android versions 4.4 and 4.2. This answer suggests that this crash occurs when the apk is updated by dalvik. It seems to be a low-priority Android bug.

Are there any workarounds for this? Does it help to set

 <application        
        android:allowBackup="false"

in Manifest.xml?

(Maybe the backup of application is stored on SD-card, which is causing the problem on apk update).

Answer 1

This error usually occurs when you declare a class extending Application (android.app.Application) and then user android:name="thatClassName"

But if your App can't access it class fully. This error can occur

Try Making the class public only It will make the application user that class globally