I make an Android launcher app and I published this app in the store.
The problem is it seem the people don't receive the update of the app automatically...
They have to go to the store and click to the update button.
It's the same when Sync is enabled in settings & background Data is not restricted.
Maybe because it's a launcher and the Google Play Store doesn't update the app who are being used (to not reload it) ?
Google Play can take upto 24 hours to push application updates across all its servers.
Just wait for a while, and all your eligible users should receive the update. However, if your update adds feature requests that some devices don't support, they will not get the update. And one more thing you must make sure that the app u have installed in ur mobile is not apk built with debug keystore.. the play store will show always as "Open" button instead of "Update" if the play store app certificate doesn't match with installed app certificate. I realized this when i did trial and error with debug and signed apk's. Only signed apk worked. And use versionCode for comparing versions instead of version Name.
Related
We recently released an app on google play and after a couple of beta versions I moved it from beta to production. However, some people cannot download the app. Here is an example from Vietnam:
I don't know Vietnamese, but I asked a colleague to translate it and it says:
"Another account, {{email}}, has joined the beta program of this app. The updates for this app could include many beta versions."
Does anybody know how to solve this?
Google Play Store seems to store the application and user account association information in the device's local storage. Clearing the data of the Google Play Store from its app info page should do the trick. Now simply switch the the account that you have joined the beta program with and you should be able to install / update the restricted app version.
If it still doesn't work, repeat the process but this time reboot the device.
Another option is to install the app remotely through google play's website. First remove the app from the device, visit the site with the required google account and install the app in the device of your choice remotely.
This should not block updates, it should only be a warning. The English version of the message is "Another account on this device, XXXX, joined this app’s beta program. Updates to this app might include beta versions."
(Good translation by your colleague).
This is a device with more than one gmail account associated with Google Play. It is probably either shared by multiple people or the user has multiple gmail addresses.
An android device can only ever have one version of an APK (with the same package name) on it installed at once, even with multiple users.
The warning is saying that the current account looking for an update is not enrolled in the beta program for the app. However, another account on the device is enrolled in the beta program. This means if this user does an update, they might get a beta version of the app (as the upgrade as to be appropriate for the other user too). The warning is displayed so the user doesn't unexpectedly get a beta version.
However, it should only be a warning, it shouldn't stop the user updating.
There's a way to bypass this guys, should you want to install the application. On the app list when you search for the desired application, click on the "..." symbol at the upper right corner of the application, there is an "Install" option for you.
There is a button on left top corner, for google play store options. There, change the user to a the one they say that can use the program (different e-mail adress), and you will be able to download the required app.
I have a native android app in google play and now I have made a new version of the app with ionic 2 framework.
How to update the app and is it possible to notify the users about the new version of the app?
I quess I have to remove the old one and upload the new one.
This is exactly what you need:
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/7159011
Because you completely rewrote your app please read this too, the most important part is "Prepare your APK":
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/113476?hl=en
If you follow these guides existing users will be notified about new version automatically by Google Play Store.
The existing users can download the update from your app listing page on the play store or when they select My apps on the Play store. Also if they have enabled auto update for your app then the update will be downloaded and installed automatically.
More about this here.
and as #Abhishek recommended, if you don't have any code for checking updates in your previous version of app then users will not get notified automatically.
also you don't have to remove the old app to upload the new one, you can deactivate the old app if you want it to no longer served to the user, OR you can retain it if you still want it to be served to the users.
Google play usually updates applications automatically. You just need to add upload APK and click Release. You don't have to remove old APK.
In less than a day or something all users of your application will be notified by Google Play that new version is available and if user configures his phone to install apps automatically, then apk will be installed in background as soon as update will be ready.
Also you can notify your users about new version using PUSH notifications. Of course if your previous release does not contain code to enable PUSHes, then you cannot send such notification.
And one more thing: if you use your previous keys to sign APK then everything is fine and you don't need to do anything with APK at developer console, otherwise you need to rollback application and/or re-publish it.
I have published an app in Google Play a few months ago. That app have some downloads and data from users in Console Google. I will release a new version, but while I'm finishing, I want remove it temporarily - keeping all that data and download numbers. Is it possible or when I cancel the publish all data will be deleted?
Please note that you unpublish (and this means just what name says, nothing more) not just APK - you hide all related stuff (app's page in Google Play etc). To end user it looks like the app is gone. For you - it is still in your console, you can edit description, images, see comments, stats or update APKs etc., but unless you publish it again, nobody will see these changes.
https://stackoverflow.com/a/13493065/7303462
You could do that by unpublishing your app. You can re-publish it by installing a newer apk of the app and all the data will remain the same, you'd not loose any of it.
PS: You cannot delete an app from your account. Published and unpublished apps will remain in your account.
Update 2022 :
You can go to "Google play console -> Release -> Setup -> Advanced Settings", but as google says :
Unpublished: New users cannot find and install your app. Existing users can still find it and will receive updates.
Published: New users can find and install your app
I found a solution so that you can restrict the region of your app if you do not want to delete and republish it. This prevents even existing users from finding your app. In the published list of your app, you should keep at least one country, and you can select the country with the lowest downloads.
I would like to know if this is possible.
Our users download & install APK from Play market the first time,
and afterward while the application detected that a new version is available, it can auto download & install new APK (using the same signature as original one) from our custom server, even if the allow side-loading setting is unchecked in user's device?
Or we must upload the new update APK on Play market again, and let user manually download & install from market?
thanks.
Use the Google Play Store update mechanism. It's the one and only way to deploy updates.
Some time ago Facebook also tried to implement their own update mechanism for their app and the result was Google temporary removing the app from the Play Store because of that.
If the user has installed the app from Play Store then the updates must come from Play Store only. Otherwise there would be signature mismatch problem.
You need to change the "version code" and "version name" and upload new APKs to the Play Store again.
And user's do not need to manually download updates if they have "automatic updates" enabled.
UPDATE
I saw your last comment and just thought to help.
We want to ensure our user always running the latest version of
application.
Yes, I can understand this requirement. The users who have "automatic updates" enabled (most of the users have) will automatically get the latest version of your app.
And those who don't, will get a notification to choose if they want to update now or postpone it later (may be they don't have enough internet data or time to download app app updates now).
The Trick
I can give you a trick. You can use your custom server to check if the user is currently using the latest version of the app or not. So if any user who is using the outdated version opens your app, the app checks to see that from the server and then prompts the user to update the app immediately. You can also take the user directly to the Play Store to update the app. Simple, isn't it?
Hope it helps.
You have to upload the APK to the Play Store again. Depending no the user's settings he will auto-update the app or manually download the update from the store.
So after you first deploy your apk to Google Play and it's all up and running, how do you handle updating your app for your users?
Do you have to do the same process every time
manually change the version number in the manifest
export and then upload apk to google play console
Or is there a faster way?
There is no faster way but only one way(till now). Its the way you mentioned in your question:
manually change the version number in the manifest export
upload apk to google play console
After this, update process is complete from your part. The rest of the work like showing updates to users and allowing update is handled by play store.