Replacing APK file wrapper for FireTV web app

[Les]

Hi.

We have a web app for FireTV. Amazon wrapped this app into an Android APK after deprecating web apps.

Questions:

• If I replace this APK file with one I created, does the new file have to be signed?
• Does the new APK file I create have to have the same package ID as the one Amazon used when it initially wrapped my web app?
• The API wrapper Amazon provided is named app-debug.apk, so it looks like a debug version was used. I’m guessing when I upload my own wrapper, I should use a release version?

Background:

There have been problems with how Amazon wrapped our app. I’m finally getting around to replacing the APK with one I’ve created to wrap our app in a way that addresses these problems.

For reference, I asked about this here:

Web App Migration Strategy

Hi. We have a web app for FireTV. My understanding is that web apps will be (or already have been) discontinued, i.e. you can no longer submit a new web app. Also, it’s my understanding is that existing web apps have been wrapped as Android apk packages. For our web app, I see two auto generated APKs created for our web app in our dashboard: AutoGeneratedApk AutoGeneratedApkGen6 In the case of AutoGeneratedApk, the manifest has some strange configurations one of which is android.permission.…

[amen]

Hi @Les,

Thank you for your questions about replacing the auto-generated APK wrapper for your Fire TV web app.

1. Does the new APK have to be signed?

Yes. You must upload a signed APK. You can sign it with your own keystore — Amazon Appstore manages the distribution signature through your developer account. From the documentation: "Even if you lose the keystore you created to sign your release builds, it won’t affect your ability to push out updates to your app because your app’s signature is associated with your Amazon developer account."

Reference: Submit Your App to the Appstore ( Submit Your App to the Appstore | Fire App Builder )

2. Does the new APK need the same package name?

Yes. Your new APK must use the same package name (application ID) as the auto-generated APK currently live in the store. From the documentation: “your package name must remain the same as your previous binary file.”

Reference: Update a Published App ( Update a Published App | App Submission )

3. Should you use a release build?

Yes. Amazon Appstore will reject debug builds. Generate a signed release APK from Android Studio (Build > Generate Signed Bundle/APK > select release build variant).

Reference: Sign Your App and Configure a Security Profile ( Step 5: Sign Your App and Configure a Security Profile (VSK Fire TV) | Video Skills Kit (VSK) for Fire TV Apps )

Since your app was originally auto-generated by Amazon during the web app migration, if you encounter any issues uploading your replacement APK through the Developer Console, please let us know and we can assist further.

Warm regards,
Aishwarya