I developed an Android app and installed it in a smartphone manually with the apk, in version 12. Then, I upload version 15 to Play Store.
In the smartphone I can search the app in the Play Store, but it not offers me to update the app. Only offers to "uninstall" or "open" the app.
Of course, I change the version in the AndroidManifest.
What is wrong? Thanks!
Also possible that you already installed latest version of the app while developing/testing.
SOLUTION: the app not offers me to update because I installed the older version manually. I remove the app in Play Store and then install it and then it offers me to update.
Play Store updates take time to propagate, so could just need to wait. Also could be you have a cached version of your app entry in play store app, so go to settings, apps, play store and clear cache and try again. Also make sure its the versionCode you changed in your manifest and gradle files, not version name.
Check if you set country distribution correctly.
Check if it has some restriction with your current device (like Android api, screen desnsity, device spec, et all). You can check it on AndroidManifest.xml, search for permission or hardware specs
As #BusinessPlanQuickBuilder said, PlayStore has a delay to delivery your new version of app
best regards
Related
Several users have downloaded my app from Google Play. I now want to provide new features to them. How do I auto-update the app for them without requiring them to re-download the app?
If they have the setting for downloading updates automatically set, just upload a new version of the app with a higher version number in the manifest. The Play Store and Android will do the rest. Of course if they turned off that setting they'll need to do it manually, but that was their decision when they changed the setting.
I now want to provide new features to them.
If you have added new features to your actual app in code, then the single option that you have, so that all users can see the updates is to re-download the app.
If you however want to force the users to get the latest version of your app, please check my answer from the following post:
Force users to have last app version in Android
I've created a device owner app, which I install through a QR code when I factory reset my devices. Everything's fine until here.
Now I have a new version of the same device owner app, and I want to update the devices which have the previous version to this new version.
Is it possible to achieve this using Google Play?
I don't want to use custom methods like uploading the APK somewhere and downloading it with some Java code, because I want to centralize the releases in Google Play.
So far I have uploaded the new version (version code is 5, old one is 2) of the app to Google Play and tried to upgrade from there, but it does not work: in Google Play I just see the app as installed, and the "Disable" and "Open" button, but not the button to upgrade it.
Any thoughts? I've found some posts like the ones below, but they're 5 years old, maybe something has changed and this is not longer possible.
Install updates for a Device-Owner App
Install a GooglePlay located App from NFC
I haven't been able to find any specific information on updates with device owner apps. The documentation is extensive about how to create and install a device owner app, but not on how to upgrade it.
Thanks a lot in advance!
You didn't install it from play store , I THINK you can't update Device-Owner apps which were not installed from play store , except for the way you mentioned.
I prepared my own I published in android apps on Google Play. Downloading app. However, I publish every new device is installed after the application version is not automatically updated. I tried on all devices. I activated the automatic update option from the Google Play app.
Unfortunately, I get the same results. Is there that might help?
Solution.
Add validation code inside your own app to check application version and open Google Play if newer is released. You can store version somewhere in your own server.
Automatic application updates are not popular in Android devices. Sad but true.
Do not forget whether your enabled this option in your device https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/113412?hl=en
I have an app in the play store, which TargetSdkVersion is 23, but now I need to downgrade it to 22.
I get an error while uploading the new Sdk in Google console developer because I cant downgrade from 23 to 22, is there any way to do that? Or something like removing the app to upload a new one with same name?
You can remove the app from the Play Store and upload it again with the same name but the package name has to be different.
You can unpublish the old app in the developer console.
If your app already has some users they will still be able to use the old app, if they bought the app (e.g. if it's not for free) they will even be able to reinstall the old app in future.
A simple downgrade is not possible.
Based on selmaohneh's answer. However, I would like to share the full tweak for this sad Android M permissions issue. The steps as it worked for me (Alegra Yes):
Unpublish the application
Change the name of that unpublished app in the application Store Listing tab - beware that you must be signed in as a developer with full permissions for the specific application, or the developer account owner in Google Play, to be capable to edit such things.
Now comes the tricky part, as written above, you need to change the package name all over the application.
Publish it as a new application, but with the same name.
My company would like to give an Android device to a group of our selected customers.
Doing that, we would like to provide users with our mobile app. The app is already on Google Play, but we would like to avoid users downloading and installing by themselves. We prefer to give the device ready, with the app already installed.
We found several ways to manually install an APK on the phone without having to login to the market. But it seems that doing that, the user will not be able to update the app via Google Play, as the app would not be recognized as installed.
Any idea?
As per January 2015, this appears to be impossible. Here is the response I got from Google Play Developer support:
Side-loaded apps do not update via the Play Store. If you would like the app to update, you will need to uninstall the app on your phone and reinstall the app via the Play Store.
I wonder if anyone found a way around this?
To summarize the answer from #Android-Developer and OP's comment discussion:
Google Play recognizes the app signature of APKs regardless of the installation source. As long as you use the same package name and keystore when generating your APK, Google Play will be able to detect newer versions and trigger an update.
To install the app without logging in to a Google account, enable the "Install from unknown sources" option in Settings. You can disable it once the installation is complete.
You may install Titanium Backup if your phone is rooted, then long press on your side loaded app package and select "Attach to market" option. Now you may receive updates via Google Play.
I don't recommend this, I mean never install cracked or patched apps because of copyright or security risks, but installing a Modded version of Google Play can make patched side loaded apps to be upgraded after attaching them to market via Titanium Backup. This is not needed for purchased apps because they are registered in your Google account, so attaching to market will be enough.
To get a MANUALLY INSTALLED APK to show up in the Google Play Store in the UPDATES or INSTALLED section, do either of the following:
1.) Manually install the APK with the SAME APK filename that Google knows the app as (i.e. from the APK download site like APKMirror.com).
2.) If you CHANGED the APK name when you saved it, it will NOT show up in Google Play Store as an installed app.
However, IF there is an update to the app, you will have to do a ONE-TIME search for that app in the store and update it. It will give you the UPDATE option on the app's store page. Once updated via the store, it will show up in the store's Installed / Updates section from now on.
Why does this work? Because the UPDATE will be done thru the store and the APK name it's using during the update process is what Google knows the app as.
If there is NO update, do option #1.
I always add the App name and version info to the front of the filename so I know what it is for later use (because if I'm manually installing, I'll probably be saving it for multiple / future devices).
I also keep the original name at the end, so I can rename it back to the original name if needed. Android is the only O/S I've seen where the filename matters during the install process.