I have a very big problem with Android Google Play Console.
When I put a build online, an army of robots (which I guess belong to Google) come and use my application.
The problem is that my application is an application that doesn't need an account because accounts are created automatically, so every time I put a build in internal testing, beta or production, I end up with about 50 new accounts and the robots completely destroy all my analytics.
I thought I could fix the problem by disabling the "pre-launch reports", but unfortunately, the problem persists.
How do I tell Google not to use my Application with its robots? Or is there a way to distinguish them from normal users?
Thank you
The answer is you can't. You have to treat them like normal users as this is Google verifying your app that follows their policies.
Related
I have an app I wrote for a small business that is being used by <10 people. Ideally i'd like to use Google Play to distibute updates, collect crash logs, and review device configurations.
Is it possible to prevent the app from showing up when people search for it, so I could just distribute the link that the owner can share with his employees?
I am trying to avoid setting up EMM and paying for enterprise level distribution.
And I am aware of the security concerns of people accidently stumbling on the app in the play store when it's listed under new. Preventing people from accessing it via search is all I'm concerned about at this point.
You could use the Alpha or Beta channel to do this. If the app is published Alpha or Beta only it is not visible in the general Play store to anyone outside the Alpha.
However, this is not a long term or multi-customer solution. Setting up an EMM based solution is much better, and need not be that expensive.
I realize that this is sort of a broad and perhaps vague question, but I'm looking for some common strategies for self-updating an app in android (not via Google Play, but directly from the application itself). Perhaps I could embed the actual app's APK within another APK which does the updating, but then (1) could the updater even modify itself while it's running and (2) more generally, how might one prevent another (supposedly malicious) app from modifying the updater? Any tips, links, or thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated!
I'm looking for some common strategies for self-updating an app in android
There is really only one strategy that I can think of:
Step #1: Determine that an update is available (e.g., monitor some URL for latest-version info)
Step #2: Download the update
Step #3: Kick off the install using ACTION_VIEW or ACTION_INSTALL_PACKAGE (latter available on API Level 14+), at some point when the user requests it, since the user will need to approve the update
could the updater even modify itself while it's running
The app being updated will have its process stopped during the update.
how might one prevent another (supposedly malicious) app from modifying the updater?
The update has to be signed by the same signing key as signed the original version, no different than via distribution through the Play Store. Hence, protect your signing key with your life (or perhaps with somebody else's life, if there's anyone around wearing a red shirt).
One thing to be aware of is that Google doesn't like this sort of behavior at all. Google bans self-updating Android apps...
Google has now changed the Google Play store polices in an apparent
attempt to avoid Facebook-like end runs around store-delivered
updates. Under the "Dangerous Products" section of the Google Play
developer policies, Google now states that "[a]n app downloaded from
Google Play may not modify, replace or update its own APK binary code
using any method other than Google Play's update mechanism." A
Droid-Life article says the language update occurred Thursday. APK
(standing for application package file) is the file format used to
install applications on Android.
I'm not sure if your app is or will ever be on Google Play, but if so I'd advise against doing this, as it could jeopardize your developer account.
I want to publish my application with an account that I already used for publication of an existing application. But I used a different keystore for this application. Now I have a week and i try every day I could not every time, try again later. when I want to enter the price that my first application is free and this application also. I checked all the necessary just the price that is not accessible. So my application is still in draft.
Unexpected error. Please try again later. (-32,600)
WHY CAN NOT I POST CONTENT?
You must consider each of the points below before publishing your application.
You must confirm that this application complies with the instructions on the content.
You must certify that the application complies with the laws of the United States for export.
Please identify at least one country.
Please indicate that your application is free, or fix a price.
The keystore is not the problem, you can have different keystores for every application. The thing is that you can't change the keystore of an application once you've pushed your first apk to the market.
Your problem happens to other users here. Maybe a Google problem?. I am publishing 3 apps right now and I am blocked in 2 of them with that exact issue...
Error while uploading a new version of an Android app
Finally solved. Some users contacted google support.
Google Play Store - Unexpected error (-32600)
I believe you have to use the same keys to publish applications using the same account.
You have to use the same key, if you lost it I suggest you to unpublish last one and publish this with the same name. This is the only way. You are not the only one who gets that problem. I'm really sorry.
You are not able also to remove you ralst application on your panel apk list. Only option is to unpublish. And.. I know it can make some mess in the future on your panel list.
I have released an Android application to about 5-10 people who are close friends of mine to test it out. I just sent them my .apk file. The problem is, when it crashes (happening often, as I'm early in development) I have no way to look at the logs. If I had released the application to Google Play, they would be able to press "Send Error Report" which I could then see in my Google Play developer account. Is there any easy way to get logs from these crashes in this sort of third party application development environment?
The only thing I can think of is to have them install aLogcat and just send me a log. But that's pretty cumbersome, obviously. Especially for a non tech user.
Use Application Crash Report for Android http://acra.ch/
Since the Google Docs legacy forms is completly discontinued http://www.bugsense.com/docs/android#acra seems to be a good option as backend.
You could publish it on the play store, and Unpublish it. This way you could use the same functionality, while no having unwanted people stumble upon it.
When you feel the app is ready, you could simply publish it again.
EDIT:
Note that Unpublish will not remove your app from the store, it will simply make it not visible, but with a URL you can still browse to the play store listing.
EDIT 2:
To view the Unpublished app, append your package id:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=<package_id>
I am working on learning in-app billing but I am having a problem with the google's in-app billing example, the Dungeon one.
I have already set up the application, added my public key, and changed the API_VERSION to 1 in the makeRequestBundle().
I have already exported and signed the application and uploaded it onto Google Play and saved it as a draft with a few pictures and activated the apk. I also added both the sword_001 and potion_001 as published in-app purchases!
Next I installed the signed app onto my phone but when I try to purchase either the sword or the potion I get an Item unavailable error
The item you requested is not available for purchase.
I even tried on a different device to make sure it wasn't because developer's can't purchase their own products, and I get the same message on both devices.
What have I missed?
Check your versionCode. It can't be higher than the last published/unpublished version in any of your distribution channels (prod/beta/alpha).
In app billing seems fraught with pitfalls, but this is what I found that affected availability of items for purchase and also suitability of application:
My code for what it was worth was strongly based on the Google Android demo, but I stripped out a lot of the complexity. I have a feeling that having got it to work a better result would be produced by writing it all again from scratch.
I got the static test product ids going first.
Despite what the documentation says, it seemed to me that the purchase item(s) must be published, even when using a test account. Mine didn't work when they weren't, anyway, and I waited quite a long time to see if they would start to work as others have suggested - they still didn't.
You (I anyway) can't publish a purchase item without publishing the app, so what I did was upload and publish the app, create the purchase items, publish them (big button at the bottom of the page), then unpublish the app again. This seems to leave the items published.
The app must be signed in the usual way (I did this by exporting from Eclipse) before uploading, but what isn't so obvious is that the app you load to the mobile MUST also be signed in the same way - ie a (debug signed) version loaded to the device by Eclipse - run or debug - isn't going to work.
They also both need the same version number, I think. Not 100% sure. If so that would unfortunately kind of imply that customers with old versions installed can't purchase anything without upgrading.
When the app is uploaded to Google, it can take several hours before it becomes available and you get all the right responses for the in-app billing. I find 1-2 hours typically.
I suspect the other comments on this subject about whether you use a gmail or googlemail test account might be red herrings, but for what it is worth, my test account is gmail.
I did come across a useful little note on the internet somewhere about how to change your primary account on the mobile without having to do a hard reset (and consequently losing everything), but unfortunately I haven't managed to find it again.
What I did find though is that one can have several google accounts on the mobile, and then select the one to be used by Google Play.
Hope this helps somebody. I have to say its a pretty complicated system, with not many switten down answers, and I nearly gave up on it.
If your app are on closed alpha testing, you have to sign in with your test account to Opt-in URL; https://play.google.com/apps/testing/{your.app.namespace}
My experience on this error is:
Make sure to upload the signed APK to developer console.
Make sure to install the signed APK on your device not launch the app in the debugger.
Make sure to create a test account in your developer console.
Make sure to sign in your device with your test account.
Make sure to create in app billing in your developer console and finally activate the item from the console!!! (this is the one that got me after fully following google's tutorial)
It's no longer sufficient to just upload an unpublished draft apk to test in-app billing. What you need to do is upload an apk to the alpha or beta apk section on the Developer Console. Then, you need to publish it. If you also have a draft apk in the Production APK section, be sure to delete it before you publish. Otherwise it will be available to everyone.
Publishing an alpha or beta apk makes that apk available to only those testers that you specify/allow.
Here is Google's documentation on this:
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6062777?rd=1
Well I found a solution to my problem. I wasn't able to get Google's in app purchasing example to work but I was able to get this InApp Billing Tutorial to work using the steps I mentioned in my original post.
If nothing else this may be helpful to someone to see all of the steps that need to be done to test one of the in-app billing examples.
Also had this problem for a couple of days and searched around a lot. I found this guy who said deleting the app and then reuploading fixed his problem, and that actually worked for me aswell.
Try that, delete your app from the developer console entirely. And reuppload a new signed apk and set it up all over again
Publishing the app did the trick for me(and leaving it published (!)). I had to wait a bit for Google to update their database as well, as mentioned elsewhere, changes on Google Play are not immediate.
Anecdotal Supplement: If you have an existing app in the portal already and you want to test a signed version, but not upload it into the portal for distribution. Do the normal steps to build a signed version BUT use your latest version code that is uploaded into the portal. You will will be able to do a quick and dirty test of purchasing (you can't upload this version on the Google Play portal, but it's a means to an end for a localized test (or even as a way to allow side loaded distributed versions/flavors that use Google Play for billing legitimately.)
3:)
Check if your device have more than one account then remove other accounts and keep the account you have entered in play console then it will be solved.