Android release version of the app can't access the internet

When I build my app for Android debug, it works perfectly but when I build a release version and it’s released on the Play Store, it isn’t able to load any internet content. Is there an additional permission I need to add for this to work?

Are you building both through Volt?

Yes. A version of this app has been built many times before without encountering this problem

How long ago was it the last time you had a release build with no issue? Post your config.xml

I’ve been looking back and it appears that in the past, I’ve been able to release a debug version to the Play Store. The release version has a .aab extension, whereas debug versions have a .apk extension and I can’t find any older .aab files. The last successful release (which was a .apk) was in June 2021.
I’ll post the config.xml in a separate reply

    <?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
    <widget id="uk.co.samoperational.SAMLite" ios-CFBundleVersion="2" version="7.02"    xmlns="http://www.w3.org/ns/widgets" 
        xmlns:cdv="http://cordova.apache.org/ns/1.0" xmlns:gap="http://phonegap.com/ns/1.0" 
        xmlns:android = "http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        android-packageName="com.lionridge.lrlite">
    <name>LR-Lite</name>
    <description>
     Simplified version of LionRidge for small format devices 
    </description>
    <author email="brianp@ypsilonsoftware.co.uk" href="">
     Brian Preece, Ypsilon Software Ltd 
    </author>
    <content src="index.html" />
    <access origin="*" />
    <allow-intent href="http://*/*" />
    <allow-intent href="https://*/*" />
    <allow-intent href="tel:*" />
    <allow-intent href="sms:*" />
    <allow-intent href="mailto:*" />
    <allow-intent href="geo:*" />
    <icon src="icon.png" />    
    <splash src="splashscreen.png" />
    <preference name="Orientation" value="portrait" />
    <config-file target="AndroidManifest.xml" parent="/*" mode="merge">
        <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
        <!--<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" />
        <uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera.autofocus" />-->
    </config-file>
    <platform name="android">
        <preference name="AndroidXEnabled" value="true" />
        <preference name="android-targetSdkVersion" value="30" />
        <preference name="AndroidPersistentFileLocation" value="Compatibility" />
        <preference name="android-build-tool" value="gradle" />
        <allow-intent href="market:*" />
        <preference name="splashscreen" value="splashscreen" />
        <preference name="splashScreenDelay" value="10000" />
    </platform>
    <platform name="ios">
        <!--<preference name="WKWebViewOnly" value="true" />
        <feature name="CDVWKWebViewEngine">
            <param name="ios-package" value="CDVWKWebViewEngine" />
        </feature>
        <preference name="CordovaWebViewEngine" value="CDVWKWebViewEngine" />-->
        <preference name="scheme" value="app" />
        <preference name="hostname" value="localhost" />        
	<preference name="target-device" value="handset" />
        <icon height="20" src="icons/Icon20x20.png" width="20" />
        <icon height="40" src="icons/Icon40x40.png" width="40" />
        <icon height="180" src="icons/Icon180x180.png" width="180" />
        <icon height="80" src="icons/Logo_80x80.png" width="80" />
        <icon height="120" src="icons/Icon120x120.png" width="120" />
        <icon height="1024" src="icons/Logo_1024x1024.png" width="1024" />
        <splash height="2436" src="icons/SplashScreen1125x2436.png" width="1125" />
        <splash height="1136" src="icons/SplashScreen640x1136.png" width="640" />
        <splash height="1334" src="icons/SplashScreen750x1334.png" width="750" />
        <splash height="2208" src="icons/SplashScreen1242x2208.png" width="1242" />
        <allow-intent href="itms:*" />
        <allow-intent href="itms-apps:*" />
        <edit-config target="NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription" file="*-Info.plist" mode="overwrite">
            <string>Location not used by LionRidge</string>
        </edit-config>
        <edit-config target="NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription" file="*-Info.plist"   mode="overwrite">
            <string>Location not used by LionRidge</string>
        </edit-config>
        <edit-config target="NSCameraUsageDescription" file="*-Info.plist" mode="overwrite">
            <string>Camera only used for bar code reading when selecting an alternate server</string>
        </edit-config>
        <edit-config target="NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription" file="*-Info.plist" mode="overwrite">
            <string>Photo library not used by LionRidge</string>
        </edit-config>
    </platform>
    <!--<plugin name="cordova-plugin-camera">
        <variable name="CAMERA_USAGE_DESCRIPTION" value="Used for bar code scanning only" />
        <variable name="PHOTOLIBRARY_USAGE_DESCRIPTION" value="Not used" />
    </plugin>-->
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-dialogs">
        <variable name="CAMERA_USAGE_DESCRIPTION" value="Used for bar code scanning only" />
        <variable name="PHOTOLIBRARY_USAGE_DESCRIPTION" value="Not used" />
    </plugin>
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-file">
    </plugin>
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-geolocation">
        <variable name="GEOLOCATION_USAGE_DESCRIPTION" value="Not used" />
    </plugin>
    <plugin name="phonegap-plugin-barcodescanner" />
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-globalization">
    </plugin>
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-inappbrowser">
    </plugin>
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-splashscreen">
    </plugin>
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-statusbar">
    </plugin>
     <plugin name="cordova-plugin-device">
    </plugin>
      <plugin name="cordova-plugin-vibration">
    </plugin>
    <!--   <plugin name="cordova-plugin-file-opener2">
    </plugin>-->
       <plugin name="cordova-plugin-document-viewer">
    </plugin>
    <plugin name="cordova-android-support-gradle-release">
        <!--<variable name="ANDROID_SUPPORT_VERSION" value="6.5" />-->
    </plugin>
    <plugin name="cordova-plugin-whitelist">
    </plugin>
    <access origin="*" />
    <allow-intent href="*" />
    <allow-navigation href="*" />
    <allow-navigation href="file:*" />
    </widget>

You need to put ticks around your config paste so it shows properly. As for apk/bundle. It was August 2021, I think, that you had to start uploading in bundles (aab) instead of apk. You would not be able to push out a debug build (apk or otherwise) through Google Play.

Hi Jeremy

In light of the fact that I can’t upload my working .apk, any thoughts on how to get around this problem?

I think you now need to upload an aab file to Google Play. VoltBuilder will make that for you if you specify you want a release build.

Thanks, I’m aware of that. It’s the .aab file that doesn’t work.

Adding these lines to config.xml solves the problem:

<edit-config file="app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml" mode="merge" target="/manifest/application">
    <application android:usesCleartextTraffic="true" />
</edit-config>

Tip : If you’re pasting code, html or config files, surround the code with triple back ticks (```), before the first line and after the last one. It will be formatted properly. (We fixed it for you this time)

Thanks, team!