hello there i want to ask about updating flutter app in play store
for example if i have a flutter app already published in play store and i have done some changes on it and now i have uploaded it to play store as an update.
so the question is :
1 - how may i notify the user that there is an update for my app ?
2 - and if i have unpublished app and i want to add links like rate my app and links related to my app in play store (it is unpublished yet) how can i get these links so that i may put them in my application before releasing it in play store
Generally speaking, you have to implement a custom solution for each case you asking about.
For example, to notify users you can:
Send push notifications to app users with information about an update being available. Clicking on such notification should lead to Play Market page with your application presented.
Or you can implement one more API route to your backend from which your app will request information about updates, e.g. a text file with the latest version of your app available. That version can be compared to the version of the application installed. If the new version is higher - show a popup notifying a user about the new update.
What relates to having links in your app that lead to the store page of your app - I think the second option I described above will also handle this issue. Custom API that returns a link in simple text format that if not empty could be opened. If you are just trying to avoid additional update - this solution will work.
Use the flutter package upgrader. will serve you well
Related
I have altered our androidManifest.xml to the new name of our uri scheme (to match branches UI), and deeplinks now work great if the app is installed from the play store. But when our app is already installed and just updates it isn't having the correct behavior.
Is there a way to make android playstore updates reinstall the app, or force the app to update the xml on an update?
From what I read it should already be doing that but I'm getting weird behavior.
Thank you!
When we update the app via the play store the entire APK or bundle is downloaded and installed. Play store does not update the app in bits and pieces.
You can either force the users for an app update via your app code in order to continue usage. Alternatively, you can share a pop-up message on all outdated versions to update the app in order to access all features.
These will be viable options to proceed on as Play Store does not have any functionality to make it mandatory for the app to be updated.
Also, requesting you to perform a sanity check on your end to see what is the percentage of the error you are facing. On an update, the app should be on the new production build and everything should be working as expected to.
I hope the above helps here.
I'm introducing dynamic features in my Android app and want to know the scenario if I upload a new version to the store that contains updates in the dynamic feature module ONLY? Will all the users see that there is an update? Or will only the ones that have the dynamic feature installed see it?
Giving an example to make sure the question is clear.
Let's say the app has dynamic feature D. User A has the app installed and the dynamic feature D installed as well. User B has the app installed WITHOUT dynamic feature D. If the app developer uploades an update to the store that only has updates in the dynamic feature part. Will user B see that there's an update in the app?
You will upload a new .aab file for a new version of your app.
This is always the full application.
The Play Store decides what to deliver to the user via delta updates.
But there's no way for you as developer to only flag a single module for update.
Your question is pretty simple.All the users who have installed the app from playstore will see that a new update is available for download and it is there choice if they download it.
I made a game using AndEngine and I have made different updates three times and uploaded in google play store. I see that Google does provide a update notifications, but most of the people don't read the 'available updates' notification Google provides.
So When the users start my app, I want it to pop up a dialogue such as "A new version is available. Do you want to update?" and upon clicking the 'yes' button, it will link to the google market of my app.
Is there any way I could implement such device?
Follow this algorithm
launch app
check version from manifest
check version from a server (somewhere on the internet where you can update the version name/code manually when you release a new update)
compare the local and remote versions. If not equal launch a URL to your app.
I don't think there is a google api for that. The best way you can do it is to share a simple one line file with latest app version somewhere on the internet.
For example:
1. share a config file with content "1.0" which is a latest version of the app.
You can use google docs for that for example.
2. when your app start you read that file and compare the version there with your app version. If the version in the file is larger you show a dialog for the user.
I uploaded my app in Google Playstore. So, there are other third party appstores(side-loaded) like Appbrain, which automatically pull apps from Google Play store. My queries are:
Will my app get updated automatically in those markets, when I update it in Google Playstore? If yes, how long it takes to get updated?
I programmatically check my app version every time(I don't want users to use old version) and take user to Google Play store asking to update my app. So, if user downloaded my app from any other store, how to take him to the corresponding one to update the app or is it ok to take him to Google Play Store irrespective of where it is downloaded from?
Edit:
After going through documentation, getInstallerPackageName() gives package name of installer.
startActivity(new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, Uri
.parse("market://details?id="
+ appPackageName)));
So the above code takes user to my app's screen in GooglePlaystore as appPackageName is passed. So, even knowing installer's package name wouldn't help as I can't send user to the same screen.
According to the User FAQ on Appbrain in the Copyright infringement question:
AppBrain extracts content from the Android market. ... As soon as Google removes the app from the Android market, it should also be gone from AppBrain in the next 5-7 days.
So the sync time is around 5-7 days. I think other third-party stores should require the same amount of time to sync their store.
I think it is a good idea to direct your users to Google Play as it is the up-to-date, official source. Also if you notify your user of the new version, he/she may still choose to dismiss your notification/dialog window and use his/her preferred third-party source to install the update. Anyways if you get the package name for the installer app, you may create an Intent which can be caught by that app. (e.g Samsung Galaxy Apps store should/will handle any URL intent pointing to an app within it: http://apps.samsung.com/mars/topApps/topAppsDetail.as?productId=000000660227)
AppBrain only lists your app information (description, screenshots), it does not provide the APK file.
For downloading the app it links directly to the latest version in Google Play.
To update the app description on AppBrain or to add a new app you go here:
http://www.appbrain.com/info/addapp
Are there any special requirements my app should obey to ensure users are notofied when an update is available? (My current app is freeware if it matters)
Google play shows automatic update once you release a newer version of your app in google play. But the update can be see only if the user visits your app in Google play.
If you want to show the update notification at the launch of your application, then some extra coding is required.
You can write a code inside the start of your application to read a file from some server, which contains the version number of your app.
Evereytime you update the application, you can change the version number in the server.
So, once the app gets a different version number as compared t previous one saved in sharedPreference, you can write logic to launch googleplay to update your app and also update your sharedPreference with latest version number.
Hope you understand what I am trying to say.