How best to deploy android apps and allow updates - android

We have an android app all ready to go to our customer however it cant be installed on the google play store cause it is a corporate app,so what are my options to enable remote updates to the apk file obv I can enable developer mode on the devices but as its only two handsets do we need to go to the expense of a provisioning tool what do other people do in relation to this.
We are developing in xamrian forms but I guess this is a general Android question as well.

You can try out Hockey app by Microsoft for internal distribution.

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Creating a 3rd party android automotive application

I am looking to create a 3rd party android automotive of our currently existing android mobile application. The application will not be listed on the play store it is just for internal use. The issue that I am facing is that the SDK is limited and it seems that I can only create applications from a set of templates (Navigation, Media, Messaging). My mobile application uses its own custom map and functionalities. I checked that people used to create 3rd party apps before but google revoked access to this 3rd party sdk and that I have to ask google for access.
Can I make any apps for Android Auto?
Also, by going through the docs it's stated here "In order for your app to run on a real head unit (not the desktop head unit we provide), your app must be distributed through the Google Play Store."https://developer.android.com/training/cars/apps/auto#car-head-unit
If anyone can shed light on this whether custom apps are possible now for Android Auto and whether we have to go through the play store in order to use the app in a real head unit.
There are some issues with the wording of this question, so let's first clarify the differences between Android Auto and Android Automotive.
Android Auto is basically the projected mode. This means apps run on your phone and show on the head unit display (assuming your phone is connected to the car head unit).
Android Automotive is referred to the embedded mode. It is actually Android running as an independent OS in the head unit of the car.
So, with this in mind:
if you want to add support for Android Auto to your existing app, you can do so by using the androidx.car.app library. It provides you with some templates to build the UI/UX. This is the only way to get your app published on Google Play and distribute to other users. Even if you don't want to distribute the app on Google Play, I believe using templates is the only way to build an Android Auto app at the moment.
If what you want is to target Android Automotive, I bet you can run your current mobile app in the Android Automotive emulator. Again, here the only way to publish your app on Google Play is by relying on androidx.car.app. If you build your own UI without using those templates, your only possibility at the time of writing is to distribute it via third party app stores (or convince Google, ;p).

Use Android Studio Emulator to Test Flight outside apps: Possible?

I made an app using the Adalo framework and have published it on the Apple App Store already. Now for Google:
I've set everything up on the Google Play Console and it's ready for testing. For some reason it won't open on my wife's phone and that's the only Android phone I have access to. Would it be possible to view it with Android Studio Emulator? It seems like not from what I can gather through search. How about other Emulators, is it possible to load the *.aab file directly for a quick look? Any other suggestions short of buying a new phone that I don't need?

MDM - Test managed configuration deployment for mobile (Android/iOS) apps

In the past we were able to deploy private versions of our app to EMM's (e.g. VMWare, MobileIron) and test out managed configurations. But today, we are unable to test new app updates within a managed environment.
Android https://developer.android.com/work/managed-configurations
With new Google updates EMMs are no longer able to upload private versions of our app if the app package id conflicts with a publicly available app on Google Play. For regulatory reasons we are unable to just change the package id and test because it is technically not testing the same binaries. Best we can do now is simulate a managed environment using Test DCP : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.afwsamples.testdpc
Is this the best we can test without publicly releasing the app update to Google Play? We have contacted VMWare and basically got the same answer but would like a confirmation. Uploading the app to a closed testing track on Google Play and then trying to importing to EMM did not work either.
iOS https://www.appconfig.org/ios/
Basically the same issue for iOS. Apple has kind of removed the Enterprise Developer Account which we previously used to sign and upload our own versions to EMM. The new eligibility requirements are too much. Alternatively, none of the EMMs work with TestFlight. And for iOS we do not know of any app like Android Test DCP to simulate a managed environment. I read a few github chains and Apple forums where companies are just releasing the app publicly then testing to make sure everything works. That can't be right, right?

How to install prototype Android app remotely (without USB/Wifi connection)

I am developing an app specifically for my dad's phone which is in a different country than I am. So far, I have only run the app through Android Studio's GUI build and run buttons. But this only works for my local test phone, not for his device - since it's not physically in the same place.
What are my options? Obviously, I can publish it to the Play store and he can download from there, but this presumably involves a lot of overhead paperwork. So this is not ideal. Is there an alternative?
Do I already have a built APK that I could simply send to him in an email for him to install with a few taps? If so, where can I find it? Or what do I need to do to get there?
Alternatively, could I do wireless ADB install by connecting to the phone's IP as I do when I'm on the same WiFi network? Is this possible as long as the specific port is forwarded by the router? Or do I need to do anything else?
Just setup an internal or closed test track; you don't have to publish these and newer versions would be automatically updated. With Crashlytics you can see the remote crashes... "Install from Unknown Sources " should also work with Crashlytics. I've recently setup Firebase App Distribution
:
Firebase App Distribution makes distributing your apps to trusted testers painless. By getting your apps onto testers' devices quickly, you can get feedback early and often. And if you use Crashlytics in your apps, you’ll automatically get stability metrics for all your builds, so you know when you’re ready to ship.
Alternatively, you could share the code through eg. GitHub, Cloud Source Repositories, Bitbucket.

How to deploy a generated apk to a Wear OS device without Play Store

For development and testing purposes I would like to install a (signed) apk on some different Wear OS-devices.
With android studio and ADB this is possible for devices in my local (wifi) network area.
As the app is not in a publishable state yet (it is still under development) I do not want to upload it to Google Play Store - I want some friends only to download and install it on their own wearables.
On phone or tablet devices this can be easily achieved by hosting the apk-file on a web server. By downloading it on the mobile device from there it can be installead just by accepting a security exception.
On a Wear OS wearable, however, I do not find any possibilities to download and install apk's directly. So I wonder how I can distribute a Wear OS-apk to some restricted users groups without Play Store? Anybody's any idea?
Thanx,
Thomas
I would strongly advice you to use one of the internal test tracks that the Google Play Store provides.
It's already there and you're most likely familiar with the upload process
It's super easy to grant access to specific individuals or a group of
people
It can easily be promoted into alpha/beta/production when
you have a stable version

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