QT 6.5 signs debug package

Dmitriano

When I build my app with QT 6.4.3 for Android in RelWithDebInfo configuration the release package is signed:

BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 1m 17s
88 actionable tasks: 88 executed
Signing file D:/dev/repos/examples/src/MyApp/build-MyAppQt-Android_Qt_6_4_3_arm64_v8a_release_Clang_arm64_v8a-RelWithDebInfo/android-build//build/outputs/bundle/release/android-build-release.aab

But when I try to build my app with QT 6.5.0 in RelWithDebInfo configuration the debug package is signed:

BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 50s
83 actionable tasks: 43 executed, 40 up-to-date
Signing file D:/dev/repos/examples/src/MyApp/build-MyAppQt-Android_Qt_6_5_0_arm64_v8a_release_Clang_arm64_v8a-RelWithDebInfo/android-build//build/outputs/bundle/debug/android-build-debug.aab

what happened in QT 6.5.0?

Also QT Creator 10 displays "Signing a debug package" warning with both QT 6.4.3 and QT 6.5 QT:

When I build my app with QT 6.5.0 in Release configuration the release package is signed:

BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 55s
88 actionable tasks: 88 executed
Signing file D:/dev/repos/examples/src/MyApp/build-MyAppQt-Android_Qt_6_5_0_arm64_v8a_release_Clang_arm64_v8a-Release/android-build//build/outputs/bundle/release/android-build-release.aab

and there is no warning in QT Creator.

So looks like QT Creator or some build scripts do not understand that RelWithDebInfo is a release configuration, but not debug.

Is there a simple workaround?

Found the following code in QT Creator in https://github.com/qt-creator/qt-creator/blob/master/src/plugins/android/androidbuildapkstep.cpp:

void AndroidBuildApkWidget::updateSigningWarning()
{
    bool nonRelease = m_step->buildType() != BuildConfiguration::Release;
    bool visible = m_step->signPackage() && nonRelease;
    m_signingDebugWarningLabel->setVisible(visible);
}

where BuildType is

enum BuildType {
        Unknown,
        Debug,
        Profile,
        Release
    };

so the condition m_step->buildType() != BuildConfiguration::Release is probably false if my configuration is RelWithDebInfo

Is it a bug?

The workaround is to always generate debug symbols in Release configuration:

target_compile_options(example_target PRIVATE
    $<$<CXX_COMPILER_ID:MSVC>:/Zi>
    $<$<NOT:$<CXX_COMPILER_ID:MSVC>>:-g>
    )

TomZ

I always sign all packages I deploy on the device, regardless of it being a debug or release one.

Why would debug vs release make any difference in whether it should be signed or not?