Let's say I have 2 apps for my school:
student.apk: Student logs in, check grades, check classes time, does a lot of stuff.
teacher.apk: Teacher logs in, lauches grades, attendence list, etc
Is it possible to create just 1 apk, with a login screen, detect whether it is a student or a teacher and than lauch the correct apk?
Basically what I'm asking is whether I can put these 2 apks (student and teacher) inside one code (login.apk).
The apps are totally different, and it would be very difficult to merge than into one, that's why I would like to launch them inside a simple "login.apk"
Not sure if that's possible. But I believe the better approach would be to use Dynamic Delivery to achieve this. Bundling the Teacher and Student as Dynamic Feature Modules and load them dynamically during runtime based on the login status.
You can find more info here :
https://developer.android.com/studio/projects/dynamic-delivery
And a tutorial here :
https://medium.com/mindorks/dynamic-feature-modules-the-future-4bee124c0f1
I would suggest playing around with intents: the concept is simple, put the login part in one of the two apps (in this example, it will be the student app).
when attempting to login, depending on the response from the server, if it is a student account, then it will simply login, otherwise, if it is a teacher account, you will verify if the teacher app is installed. if it is installed you will simply launch it and pass the needed parameters in an intent, otherwise, open the play store and install the needed app. Here is the code for that:
try {
//launch the app if it exists
Intent intent = new Intent("teacher app signature here");
intent.putExtra("some_parameter_name", "parameter value");
} catch (Exception e) {
// here is the case where the app is not installed
Uri marketUri = Uri.parse("market://details?id=teacher app signature here");
Intent marketIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, marketUri);
startActivity(marketIntent);
}
on teacher app, you will need to intercept this intent and its parameters:
String param= (String) getIntent().getSerializableExtra("some_parameter_name");
you can then save the needed variables in the shared preferences to make sure the user stays connected.
Yes it should be possible. I haven't tested it though. Make a third app (login.apk) which contains both student.apk and teacher.apk. As soon as the user logged in within login.apk, the correct sub apk can be exported/saved
from the project to the device internal/external storage (read and write permission required for login.apk), then just launch the exported apk from login.apk by opening it -> Package installer will install it (user interaction required).
Related
We have couple of Firebase Dynamic links defined in our native Android application. For the first time users coming from a dynamic link and install the application, we would like to understand which dynamic link they're coming from.
My question is in order to do that, is there any way to fake the Play Store install from the dynamic link ? Because for the testing purposes I need to check which data is coming.
Example :
User clicks dynamic link https://myapp.page.link/qr/?id=123456
Redirected to Play Store
Installs the app and clicks Open from Play Store
Is it possible to know which URI does that Open button passes the app ?
In iOS it's easier to test. When user clicks a dynamic link and goes to App Store, you can run the codebase and install the app. And when app opens it still behaves like it's installed from App Store. But from Android side it doesn't work like that.
Hope it was explanative enough. Looking forward for suggestions.
For those who might be struggling about the same problem, here how I solved it.
First of all even though in the Firebase Dynamic Links Documentation it says that links will survive the Play Store installation process, it is not completely true. Like in my case
User clicks dynamic link https://myapp.page.link/qr/?id=123456
Redirected to Play Store
Installs the app and clicks Open from Play
Store
After the steps above when user opens the app, Firebase dynamic links listener will only get the base landing page which you set from Firebase console. So if you have a link link like this https://myapp.page.link/qr/?id=123456 your query params will get lost !
However it's still possible to understand which deeplink path did user click and install the application. Long story short it's the utmParameters. That variable is a Bundle comes with couple of extras and one of them is utm_campaign key. Which includes your deeplink name. See the code below :
Firebase.dynamicLinks
.getDynamicLink(intent)
.addOnSuccessListener(activity) { pendingDynamicLinkData ->
Log.v(
TAG, "pendingDynamicLinkData link : ${pendingDynamicLinkData?.link}" +
"pendingDynamicLinkData utmParameters : ${pendingDynamicLinkData?.utmParameters}"
)
pendingDynamicLinkData?.let {
// Check if it has your desired utm name
if(it.utmParameters.get("utm_campaign") == "Your Dynamic Link Name") {
//Do the job
}
}
}
.addOnFailureListener(this) { e -> Log.v(TAG, "getDynamicLink:onFailure $e") }
After the implementation, you can create an internal release for yourself and test the download flow from the Play Store.
Background
The normal way to call for the uninstallation an app is simply by using the "ACTION_DELETE" intent :
startActivity(new Intent(Intent.ACTION_DELETE, Uri.parse("package:" +packageName)));
The problem
starting with some Android version (don't remember which) , apps can be installed for multiple users on the same device.
This means there is a new way to uninstall an app, one which will uninstall it for all users (image taken from Lollipop - Android 5.0 ) :
The question
I've searched in the documentation, but couldn't find the answer those questions:
Is there any way to perform this operation via an intent? Maybe something to add to the intent I've written above ?
Does ADB have a new command to remove an app for all users?
Is there a way to check if an app is installed for multiple users?
Is there any way to perform this operation via an intent? Maybe
something to add to the intent I've written above ?
Yes, but be careful. You can pass in Intent.EXTRA_UNINSTALL_ALL_USERS.
However, it's hidden because it:
should not be part of normal application flow
You could just pass in the constant anyway, if you feel it's necessary and disagree with Google on that one. Just for example, here are the differences between passing in false and true with that constant
final Uri packageURI = Uri.parse("package:" + "some.package.name");
final Intent uninstallIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_UNINSTALL_PACKAGE, packageURI);
uninstallIntent.putExtra("android.intent.extra.UNINSTALL_ALL_USERS", false or true);
startActivity(uninstallIntent);
Results
Does ADB have a new command to remove an app for all users?
No, the command remains the same.
`adb uninstall 'some.package.name'`
This will remove that app for all users. I'm unaware of a way to specify a particular user.
Is there a way to check if an app is installed for multiple users?
No, not that I'm aware of. In fact, when the Settings apps decides to place the "Uninstall for all users" option in the options menu, it's basically doing so based on whether or not there are multiple users period, not if both the current user and another user have an app installed.
Not to mention, most of the methods in UserManager that you'd need to even tell if there are multiple users on the device, like UserManager.getUserCount, require the MANAGE_USERS permission which is a system API and hidden. So, I'm not even sure why that's a public method.
Also, you can easily test all of your questions, much like I did, by creating a dummy user on your device. You don't even need to log into a Google account.
I had made one application and it was OK, but didn't provide the feedback option to the users. Now I made another app and trying to put feedback option - leaving feedback for the app thing from the mobile itself.
I checked the following link for the help and used the same code to put in my app:
How to launch the Google Play intent in 'Give Feedback' mode on Android?
String pkgnm = getPackageName();
Intent mktfdbk = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, Uri.parse("market://details?id=" + pkgnm));
mktfdbk.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NO_HISTORY | Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_WHEN_TASK_RESET);
startActivity(mktfdbk);
My app is using an AlertDialog where user would click on "YES" to possibly leave the feedback on market.
Obviously at the moment my app is not in the market it wont show up anything even if using above code... but seeing the code and just for testing purpose I changed the package name to my previous app which I created and is still in the market.
But when executing the above code, it tries to connect to internet and then says "The requested item could not be found". Internet access is there, I have also used uses-permission for internet (not even sure if that was needed but I put it anyways). What am I doing wrong?
So one of my applications was rejected from the Amazon app store today. The reason was because inside my app, I linked to the paid version of the app on the Android market. Disappointing, but whatever, I guess everyone wants their cut...
So now I'm left having to modify the application to change the Android market link to an Amazon app store link. Not really a big deal except for now if I do that I'm left with a discrepancy when I want to upload a newer version back to the Android market. After all, it would be rather dumb to link someone to the Amazon app store if they purchase the app from the Android market.
Now we all know that it is a pain supporting/managing multiple versions of the same app. Consequently my question becomes how can I link to both at the same time? Is there a way to tell where an app was downloaded from so I can code both links into the app and thus point the user automatically to one or the other? Secondly, is it against the Amazon TOS to give the user a choice (say I pop up a dialog instead and ask the user where to download from)?
Thanks all.
Edit: Direct from Amazon customer service "Re: Link to both markets" (I wish the approval process was as fast as these guys):
For the time being, we need any
linking to point back to the Amazon
Appstore only for market links.
Linking to your website is allowed,
just not other markets.
When pointing to other apps from
within your app, including up-sells,
completion of purchase must be from
the Amazon Appstore.
Good news! Apparently the latest version of the Amazon store finally sets PackageManager.getInstallerPackageName() to "com.amazon.venezia" to contrast with Google Play's "com.android.vending". This will be the easiest way to determine if your app is sideloaded, installed from Amazon, or installed from Google.
Here's what you can do:
Complete the preparation and signing of your application.
Install it on your test device
Use PackageManager.getPackageInfo
How to do this:
public static boolean isMarket(Context context){
boolean isMarketSig = false;
int currentSig = 1;
try {
Signature[] sigs = context.getPackageManager().getPackageInfo(context.getPackageName(), PackageManager.GET_SIGNATURES).signatures;
for (Signature sig : sigs)
{
currentSig = sig.hashCode();
Log.i("MyApp", "Signature hashcode : " + sig.hashCode());
// This Log is for first time testing so you can find out what the int value of your signature is.
}
} catch (Exception e){
e.printStackTrace();
}
//-1545485543 was the int I got from the log line above, so I compare the current signature hashCode value with that value to determine if it's market or not.
if (currentSig==-1545485543){
isMarketSig = true;
} else {
isMarketSig = false;
}
return isMarketSig;
}
public static void openStore(Context context){
if (isMarket(context)){
Intent goToMarket = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW,Uri.parse("market://d" +
"etails?id=com.jakar.myapp"));
goToMarket.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
context.startActivity(goToMarket);
} else {
Intent goToAppstore = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW,Uri.parse("http://www.amazon.com/gp/mas/dl/andro" +
"id?p=com.jakar.myapp"));
goToAppstore.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
context.startActivity(goToAppstore);
}
}
Basically, the hashCode() that you get from the app installed on your testing device will be the same one from the market. The hash code from the app store will be different because according to https://developer.amazon.com/help/faq.html, the app store signs the application with a signature specific to your developer account, so that will return a different value that what you actually signed it with.
Note: It works to open the market successfully, but I haven't yet deployed this method on the App Store, so I haven't completely tested it. I am confident it will work, but can make no guarantees, so if you use what I've suggested and it fails, please don't hold me accountable.
You can do the following things:
Check if the device based on its Manufacturer.
For ex: https://developer.amazon.com/sdk/fire/specifications.html
For writing reviews and opening the Amazon App Store use the following intent
amzn://apps/android?p=package_name
where p=Link to the detail page for a specific package name.
Ref: Amazon developer link.
https://developer.amazon.com/sdk/in-app-purchasing/sample-code/deeplink.html
As you said, you could use a boolean and then be forced to build your apps twice, so I bevelive it's not the best way.
The best way is to check if android market is installed and act accordingly: here.
Another even more complex way is to query the name of the installer of your app, using PackageManager.getInstallerPackageName. This needs extra work since the app can be installed by parallel markets even if you are on android device with android market installed, and also you must check if it's installed as debug/development (installer package name is null in this case).
What a hard way to do this. If you just want to open the market url, just check if the intent with the url for android market has any activity that knows how to handle it. If not, open up the amazon appstore with another intent.
/**
* Returns intent that opens app in Google Play or Amazon Appstore
* #param context
* #param packageName
* #return null if no market available, otherwise intent
*/
public static Intent showApp(Activity activity, String packageName)
{
Intent i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
String url = "market://details?id=" + packageName;
i.setData(Uri.parse(url));
if (isIntentAvailable(activity, i))
{
return i;
}
i.setData(Uri.parse("http://www.amazon.com/gp/mas/dl/android?p=" + packageName));
if (isIntentAvailable(activity, i))
{
return i;
}
return null;
}
public static boolean isIntentAvailable(Context context, Intent intent) {
final PackageManager packageManager = context.getPackageManager();
List<ResolveInfo> list =
packageManager.queryIntentActivities(intent,
PackageManager.MATCH_DEFAULT_ONLY);
return list.size() > 0;
}
Another way is to build using ant. This way you can generate dynamically a java class with constants set to a value that represent the app market, and output different builds with ease. This however takes some learning but when you have it running, it's very easy.
I was also struggling with this, but decided that the instant success I'm seeing with my free app on Amazon warrants the time to create a second set of .apks when I make a new build. I went with the Amazon boolean flag for now, and create one common version, then a version incremented by one for the Amazon market. No other markets demand internal linking, AFAIK.
I eventually intend to code up a market chooser with a slick way to automatically figure out what to do, but there are a lot of variables - not just the market address of one app, but how different markets recognize the company name to find all apps. Some market apps hijack the main Android market protocol (e.g. Appslib and SlideMe if I remember correctly) but don't store the company name the same way. Then you need to decide where upsell links go - to the same market or to a common one (I only submitted my free app to most of the markets I use).
I am waiting for my paid app to be approved, but I am pretty sure it will be worth it to have it available on the Amazon market given how many downloads I've gotten for my free app.
Just refactor most of your project into a Project Library, and then create multiple projects (e.g., for each app store) that have only unique icon and string resources, their own package ID declared in the manifest, and then a main activity that extends the main activity that you have defined in your library.
That way, all the unique URLs can be provided by overriding, in each particular app project's activity, the virtual or abstract methods defined in your library's main activity. The library code that that displays these URLs can obtain them via a polymorphic call to each of those methods.
That way, each such specialized project will be very small, and maintenance will be mainly to your library, as described here:
Multiple Apps with a shared code base
I'm developing a non-public Android app, i.e. the app won't be available in the global Android Market. The app will be installed on a limited number of clients, e.g. by using an apk file.
How can I enable an auto-update functionality in this app?
I see different potential options (I do not know if those are technically hard or even impossible to implement or if there are any existing functionalities that can be reused):
On each launch the app tests if a new version exists (by requesting a server), if so downloads the new apk and replaces itself with the new version.
Use (or develop?) a separated app or service that undertakes the update-check and replacement-process.
Use (or develop?) a private market app which has an auto-update option. This option is similar to the second one, but more generic: The market app would be connected to a repository, i.e. it would handle an arbitrary number of (private) apps.
I would prefer option one since the auto-update functionality is included in the app which needs less development efforts.
janjonas, in the company I work we had a similar problem with Windows Mobile 6.x, and we use pretty much the same solution pointed by EboMike:
The main app check if it's updated, against a WebService. It receives the current version & the URL from where download the new version, if necessary. The main app then start the Updater app, passing the URL, and quit.
The Updater do the download of the new program, via HTTP, showing to the user the % downloaded. The user can cancel the download anytime, in a controlled way, and the Updater can registry this cancellation.
Since the new app is downloaded, the Updater run the new app, and quit.
I think option one is the least amount of work for you, and actually the cleanest one too since it will go through the proper channel of using Android's built-in package installer which includes user notification and the option for the user to abort the installation if desired.
You already have it all outlined - check for a new version on a server (would be nice to give the user the option to turn that off), and if there is a new version, you could either just link to the URL with the APK (which will, IIRC, use the browser's download manager to download it), or you could download it with your app and then point the intent to your local file. Using the HTTP link is technically less work and cleaner - the more you let the operating system do, the better - unless there's a reason not to.
Enabling "Install non-market app" is still needed for any application outside the Google Play. If it not enabled, the installation process is going to ask for it and redirect the user to the Application Settings, and after that, the user can install the app.
Depending on your needs, you can delegate to a third part lib.
Some of the permissions we'll use to get this done are the following:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_SUPERUSER" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
Let me explain a bit... The last, WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, is self-explanatory. With ACCESS_SUPERUSER we'll tell the system that we intend to use root privileges. READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE will be needed in the future in order for your app to read files on SD card.
Assuming that you have downloaded the file and that all those devices can be rooted (limited number of clients, not on Play, etc.), you could do this:
String filePath = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory().toString() + "/your_app_directory/your_app_filename.apk";
Process installProcess = null;
int installResult = -1337;
try {
installProcess = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("su -c pm install -r " + filePath);
} catch (IOException e) {
// Handle IOException the way you like.
}
if (installProcess != null) {
try {
installResult = installProcess.waitFor();
} catch(InterruptedException e) {
// Handle InterruptedException the way you like.
}
if (installResult == 0) {
// Success!
} else {
// Failure. :-/
}
} else {
// Failure 2. :-(
}
Here might be a very lame method but for some companies, if you believe its applicable, this might be very easy to implement.
Create an password screen (passwordActivity) that asks a password to access the application.
Once the password is entered, raise a flag (set a boolean value from false to true using sharedpreferences)
Place the .apk file on Google Store.
Change the password once everyone installs the app, and release a new update on Google Play Store.
Since the software is going to cache the flag value, the password screen won`t show up even the password is change. It will only show up for new installations so might need to repeat the process.
Note: This method might better fit if there is not hundreds of users using the application. And don`t forget this method is also not secure. To sum up, if you are looking a way to keep the application private and have no security concerns, this is what I recommend.
Update app
Make sure that you already have your new apk download on location
void installNewVersion(String location) {
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
intent.setDataAndType(Uri.fromFile(new File(location + "app-debug.apk")),
"application/vnd.android.package-archive");
intent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
startActivity(intent);
}