Introduction
I've deployed the first version of my app to the Play Store and now I'm going to change the version code and publish the next version. So, in general case, the Google Play will notify users about the update. But I want my app itself to check for the updates and take user to the Play Store.
Studies till now
I have read about the workaround , here , where the app checks for the latest version with your server but I don't want that.
Requirement
I just want my app itself to directly compare its version with version available on the Play Store, and if it is different, then prompt user to update the app. On confirmation, it will take the user to the Play Store.
Is there any way to achieve this?
Is there any way to achieve this?
Probably, but I would not try to implement this if I were you and here is why.
Users configure update settings themselves through google play app settings.
If they want app updates right way they can say so. If they want to confirm first they can say so. If they don't want to be notified of updates at all, they can say so.
In most cases users are already notified of an update of your app through google play notifications. There is no need to add a 2nd notification. Even worse - users that don't want to be notified of updates will be annoyed when you notify them yourself. You want to avoid that.
You will need a service call to
https://androidquery.appspot.com/api/market?app=YourPackageNameOnPlaystore
for example:
https://androidquery.appspot.com/api/market?app=com.google.android.youtube
the respnse which will be returned by playstore will contain version information which is present on playstore.
compare it with local app version and take further steps
Hope this helps!
Good luck!
Short answer: No. There is no such official API yet. But you can go for an unofficial one.
But still as you have mentioned you can go for your own API implementation and prompt the user to update the app. But take into consideration that users have their own preferences about updating the app and they may find such prompts annoying. #Tim Castelijns's answer explains it in detail.
Related
I would like to publish some update of my app on the Play Store, however since I will just change the default setting given at the beginning when a user install the app for the first time, I would like that these updates are not seen by current users (that would have to update the app for nothing). Is there a way to do it?
Thanks in advance.
No, there is no way to do that.
In future consider using some service which will provide a configuration for your app remotely (such as Firebase).
In short, I would like my app to be updated as soon as I release a new APK to the store.
I could not find any information about when the auto update actually occurs, and it seems it varies greatly - at one time it happened after a couple of hours and another time no updates for 12 hours. It seems that it happens on device reboot, but are there any other scenarios? Can I trigger it myself somehow (programmatically)?
My real scenario is a bit more complex, but the end result is the same:
I have a pre-installed app on the device which is also on the play store
As soon as the user adds an account my app shows in the play store app with an available update (same package, same signature, everything is legit)
I would like that update to happen as fast as possible
Any way to make that happen?
No, you can't force Google Play to automatically update the app as soon as possible, but you can use the Google Play Core library to force the user to update the app when they turn it on. More information here: https://developer.android.com/guide/playcore/in-app-updates
This will make the user see a message telling them they need to update their app to a newer version.
I would like to control android app updates (app is published on Google Play). In my situation, automatic updates are turned off in Play Store, and user needs to search for updates (and install if available) manually - by click on button, menu item or else. Is there a way to implement this? (e.g. send request to Google Play or something like that)
Thanks in advance.
Michael.
I'm not sure Google support this, but since you know the application package, you can use a unoficial library to get information about your application (so the current version on the Play Store)
Here is the link to a library : http://code.google.com/p/android-market-api/
It seems to be a little old and I don't know if it's currently maintenaid
The best way is to implement a little WebService (or a simple page on a server) on your own and check against it
You can check it at the application startup and display a Dialog for instance
I have created an Android application, published an initial version on Google Play Store and installed the APK on a test device.
How can i update new version without prompting?
I have seen sometimes Play store send notification for update
available and user can update after click on that notification but
some application is updating automatically.
hows it possible.?
I want that user get update automatically.
Your help would be highly appreciated.
No, it's not possible (unless the user clicked on the checkbox update automatically).
The only thing you could do is build yourself a shell of an application that would update itself from the internet when it gets run (but that would be quite an undertaking on your part and probably not worth your time).
No. Google Play cannot update applications automatically without user permission.
Does the android market (or Google Play as it's now) offer a way for an app to check if it's updatable?
It seems to take very long for people to notice (or care) to update their apps. I'd like to show some "Update available" notify inside my app.
I could just have some file on a webserver stating the latest version. But this has the obvious chance of pissing people of if they click the "update available" button and are then taken to market which doesn't yet have the update.
So is there some nice API or other brilliant ideas?
Actually, Android Market takes a very good care of updating your application. Users are notified as soon as your update is available, and if they decide to ignore the notification, it's their decision.
If you are looking for alternative methods of updating your application, I'd suggest to check this thread.
No, Google Play store is a closed system and it does not expose an API to check version number since it takes care of updating installed apps whenever updates are available. However can be done by having a web service which keeps us updated on current version of android app on google play store and then compare the installed app version with the version we got from web service. Please have a look at https://code.google.com/archive/p/android-query/wikis/Service.wiki