it is possible to remove a purchasable applications from the Developer Console? Can customers who bought the application continues to download the application?
I want to prevent from that the application further spreads. But existing customers to continue to download the application.
greetings
Just unpublish the application from the developer console.
The existing users can able to install/reinstall the application if they have already downloaded/purchased once. New users can not find this application in the play store and can't able to download it.
You can also provide update to the current users as well.
Related
I have an unpublished application in the Play Console. But early this application was published, and some users installed it. Will they receive new updates?
Yes. If you unpublish an app, users who already installed it will continue to receive any updates you might send out.
They won't be able to search for the app if they're trying to do a fresh install, but it will appear in their library.
It even says this right below the publish option:
Note your app will continue to be available to existing users.
If you click "Learn more" you'll see:
When you unpublish an app, existing users can still use your app and receive app updates. Your app won’t be available for new users to find and download on Google Play.
I'm using android studio. I have developed an app and now I want to upload it to Google Play. I have a license and I have uploaded an app before, but I didn't really know what I was doing at that time.
What I want is to upload my app to Google Play, and then upade it without losing the reviews and rating. How do I do that?
And, what is the best way to force a user to download an update? I am going to upload the app to Google Play and to Amazon Appstore (for android), so a link to Google Play or something similar is maybe not the best solution. I was thinking - a toast message "please update the app". What do you think?
Updating an existing apk on Google Play Store:
1) Go to your Google Play Developer Console
2) Select All applications in that select "Your Application"
3) Select Upload APK.
4) Choose from the Production, Beta, or Alpha channels and select Upload your APK.
It take few hours to publish update. more information about upload, publish, etc.
Forcing users to update: There are three things
1) It is not possible in Google Play Store, unless user have set automatic update on.
2) You can use external library like UpdateChecker, AppUpdater, etc.
3) You can change your application structure in that way that whenever user starts you application internal contents get update. (This is not a feasible option, I guess)
What is KeyStore?
It is used to build singed apk.
Keep your keystore in a secure location. If you lose your keystore, you'll need to publish the app with a new package name and a new key. If you need to do this, you should also unpublish the original app and update its description
Please check out this library, actually it provides what you want with simple approach.
https://android-arsenal.com/details/1/3094
When you publish a new version of your app to the Play Store, you will not lose any of the prior ratings for that app.
You can't force users to update your app. It is fully under their control. Some people may have automatic updates turned on, but for those who do not, they have to choose to receive the update.
Google added this new feature you can add to your app to force in-app update based on if you want the update immediate or flexible
https://developer.android.com/guide/playcore/in-app-updates/kotlin-java
I wish to unpublish an app from Play Store and inform all existing users to move to a new app location at Play store. I understand that once I unpublish an app, new users will not be able to view it, but existing users are still tied up to it. Is there a way to inform existing users to move to the new app?
Update the existing app to include the disclaimer, and that "Support for App XYZ will be discontinued beginning <Date>, at which point you might consider using App ABC <link to play store>".
Then unpublish the app on that Date. Users who installed XYZ previously will still get the latest published version (via auto-update or when they see it has an update in their installed apps list), while others who haven't downloaded it at all before will have no idea that app XYZ existed at all.
I have an unpublished app on Google Play which I want to update for my existing users, but not let new users download it.
The Google Play documentation seems to be saying that this can be done by simply uploading an updated apk (and not re-publishing the app):
Unpublished Apps
Existing app users will still be able to receive app updates, even if you unpublish your app. If you don't want new users to find and download your app but still want to provide updates to your existing users, set your app to Unpublished in the Developer Console.
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/113476?hl=en
But it seems unintuitive that an "unpublished" application would work that way. If the documentation is correct, how does Google Play tell the difference between an 'existing' user and a 'new' user?
Just a follow up: pushing an update to the unpublished app does make the update available to existing users only, but the app does not update automatically for these users. They must browse to the app page, where the app will have an "Update" button which can be triggered manually.
(This is just speculation, I'm not affiliated with Google in any way or anything)
The existing user probably has the app associated with the Google account they use to log in to the Play store.
If you look at your own profile in the store, there's a list of all the apps you've ever installed. I'm guessing the update would be available only for people who have your app in their lists, and the app will still be invisible for new users.
Whenever a user that has the app installed wants to update it, he requests an update of the app, it's different from re-installing the app as data from the app (a save from a game, or some saved preferences etc) are kept untouched, google play can easily detect that since it can detect what apps you have installed.
I want to create a game for android, but this game will have a level. If I put my app in the Android Market how do I update this app after it's already been uploaded?
You have to provide mechanism of saving user's data to a file or database, making user able to continue playing game from the point where he/she was before update. After that when you have a new release of the app signed with the same key and uploaded to the android play store, users will get a notification and will be able to download and update your app. Preinstalled PlayStore app on android devices will complete that task. Every time user starts your app check settings file and setup app's properties for the user for continue playing.
You publish your apk via the Developer Console. You can upload unpublished drafts of your app without disturbing the published version. Once you choose to publish an update, then the Google Play store will offer the update to your existing users. Migrating your user's data is as described by Maxim.
You can sign up for a Google Play publisher account here: https://play.google.com/apps/publish