Develop Reference

How to dynamically update Phonegap Build Android app without Google Play Store

I am developing an app using Phonegap Build for a customer that has chosen not to use the Google Play Store. Instead, they are opting to have me privately host the APK files for the app.
I am trying to develop a way to dynamically check my server every time the app is launched to check to see if there is an update and if there is, to download and install that update.
I do an ajax request to my server to check for the latest file, I then return the latest version number and URL of the file on AWS to my frontend. If the file version is greater than the current app version, I want to update.
Here's the code I have right now using the FileTransfer and Web Intent plugins for Phonegap Build:
$.ajax
type: 'GET'
dataType: 'json'
url: "#{baseUrl}/v2/update"
data:
app_token: 'fubar'
success: (data) =>
window.downloadApkAndroid(data)
window.downloadApkAndroid = (data) ->
fileURL = "cdvfile://localhost/persistent/#{data.filename}"
fileTransfer = new FileTransfer
uri = encodeURI(data.download_url)
fileTransfer.download uri, fileURL, ((entry) ->
alert 'download complete: ' + entry.fullPath
promptForUpdateAndroid entry
return
), ((error) ->
console.log 'download error source ' + error.source
console.log 'download error target ' + error.target
console.log 'upload error code' + error.code
alert "#{error.code} + #{error.source} + #{error.target}"
return
), false, {}
return
window.promptForUpdateAndroid = (entry) ->
alert entry
window.plugins.webintent.startActivity {
action: window.plugins.webintent.ACTION_VIEW
url: entry.toURL()
type: 'application/vnd.android.package-archive'
}, (->
), ->
alert 'Failed to open URL via Android Intent.'
console.log 'Failed to open URL via Android Intent. URL: ' + entry.fullPath
return
return
Nothing happens when I launch the app, though. I am returning a newer version from the first Ajax request and the success method is being called. But nothing seems to happen after that. Can anyone tell me any better methods of doing this or what I'm doing wrong here?

Have you considered using the Cordova Hot Code Push plugin, which would allow you to update your application's www folder (the app views, JS, CSS, any images etc) without having to do a Google Play update. This method would allow you to ship a version of your application in the apk, and periodically get updates from a server without having to build boilerplate file fetching code yourself.

Open installed application from the browser

I need to know is if I can, from an HTML web open an application that is installed on the mobile device. Is this possible? I could do with help of plugins can open installed applications from a single application, but from the browser?
I'm also working on Android and iOS with ionic framework

I hope you're talking about the Ionic Framework hybrid mobile application.
It can be done easily using Cordova InAppBrowser plugin. Using this plugin you can execute external app or open link inside a browser if mentioned app don't exist.
You will want to do something like this:
var scheme;
// Don't forget to add the org.apache.cordova.device plugin!
if(device.platform === 'iOS') {
scheme = 'twitter://';
}
else if(device.platform === 'Android') {
scheme = 'com.twitter.android';
}
appAvailability.check(
scheme, // URI Scheme
function() { // Success callback
window.open('twitter://user?screen_name=gajotres', '_system', 'location=no');
console.log('Twitter is available');
},
function() { // Error callback
window.open('https://twitter.com/gajotres', '_system', 'location=no');
console.log('Twitter is not available');
}
);
This example will try to execute Twitter app, if that app don't exist it will open twitter inside a child browser.
Needed Cordova plugins:
cordova plugin add com.lampa.startapp
cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-inappbrowser
cordova plugin add org.apache.cordova.device
Read more about it here: http://www.gajotres.net/how-to-launch-external-application-with-ionic-framework/

Cordova Hybrid App fails, Legacy Android Build Works

I've written a small application to test the working of cordova app on XDK.
The source code is same as this question
However, I am attaching the code here :
(function()
{
"use strict";
/*
hook up event handlers
*/
function register_event_handlers()
{
/* button Login */
$(document).on("click", ".uib_w_9", function(evt)
{
//intel.xdk.notification.showBusyIndicator();
/*$.post("http://url/test.php", {test:'1'},
function(res){
alert(res);
}
);*/
$.ajax({
beforeSend: function(){
intel.xdk.notification.showBusyIndicator();
},
type: "GET",
url: 'http://url/test.php',
data:{test:'1'},
success: function(res){
alert(res);
intel.xdk.notification.hideBusyIndicator();
},
error:function(res){
alert(res);
intel.xdk.notification.hideBusyIndicator();
},
dataType: 'text'
});
});
}
document.addEventListener("app.Ready", register_event_handlers, false);
})();
This is the JS file of the application.
The screenshot of the app in XDK emulator :
Now When I do a build of the app using XDK cloud, I get a .apk file.
On uploading the file to GenyMotion Emulator, screen below :
The click doesn't do anything, nor does the showBusyIndicator() show, nor the alert appear.
What am I missing and what is going wrong ?
I've plans to use this ide for a proper project and hence the testing, some help will be appreciated.
UPDATE
I did a Cordova Hybrid App build initially and that caused the problem.
When I did a legacy android build, then the problem was solved.
So what do I need to do to get it to work with the Cordova Build ?
Build Page :

There is a known issue with AJAX when Intel XDK builds apk with Cordova CLI version 4.1.2. on Android version > 4.4
There is a workaround, go to Project Settings -> Build Settings -> Android, change Cordova CLI version from 4.1.2 to 3.5 and AJAX should work.

Generated links don't open in browser - Phonegap build

I am trying to force the links in my app to open in external browser. I am working with jQuery mobile & Phonegap build.
My app has a page with generated contact details. Among the details there is an link to the person's website:
row+='<div class="accWWW"> '+ data[i].website +'</div>';
I have these 2 functions defined in my code.
//function which forces open in browser
function openBrowser(url){
if(device.platform === 'Android') {
navigator.app.loadUrl(url, {openExternal:true});
} else {
window.open(url, '_system');
}
}
//opens generated URL's
function openGenerated(obj){
var url = obj.getAttribute("href");
console.log(url);
openBrowser(url);
return false;
}
I also have a simple <div class="accWWW"> Google </div> set in my index.html
So... this link to Google opens perfectly in iOS (haven't yet tested on Android because iOS was my biggest problem), but the generated link wouldn't do anything if I hadn't added the openGenerated function. Now there is an action, but it opens inside the app.
Do you have any idea why that is?
Also when checking on the laptop I get these errors in the console( link is my development url):
Uncaught ReferenceError: device is not defined *link*:277 // makes sense probably, because I am not using a mobile device
Uncaught SecurityError: Blocked a frame with origin "http://www.test.com" from accessing a frame with origin "*link*". Protocols, domains, and ports must match.// what is this?
I was thinking maybe it's an access issue, but I added <access origin="*" browserOnly="true" /> in my config.xml, so there shouldn't be a problem with this.
LATER EDIT: On Android the Google link doesn't work at all and the generated one opens inside the app... Apparently device.platform is always null, but the device plugin is added in xml as I can see in phonegap build this list of plugins:
Installed Plugins
Apps will be built with the latest version of a plugin unless you lock the version in your config.xml (see below). -- Plugin installed as a dependency of another plugin
Third Party VERSION LATEST VERSION
com.phonegap.plugin.statusbar 1.1.0 1.1.0
PhoneGap Core
org.apache.cordova.device 0.2.8 0.2.8
org.apache.cordova.inappbrowser 0.3.3 0.3.3
LATER EDIT:
Device.platform doesn't seem to be working, so I modified my function, adding Ved's suggestion, to:
function openBrowser(url){
if(navigator.app)
navigator.app.loadUrl(url, {openExternal:true});
else {
var ref = window.open(url, '_system', 'location=no');
ref.addEventListener('loadstart', function(event) {
});
ref.addEventListener('loadstop', function(event) {
console.log(event.type + ' - ' + event.url);
});
ref.addEventListener('exit', function(event) {
});
}
}
on iOS still opens inside the app. For Android I think it's working fine.

I fixed my issue.
I was adding cordova.js in my html. Apparently this broke things.

Phonegap Android app trigger update programmatically

I am building an Android app that is hosted on a server outside Google Play. I need the app to check for new version and prompt user to update when the app starts.
I built a mechanism to check for new version (the app checks for a file on server and compares version) which is working well. Then I prompt user to update, but if user chooses to proceed with the update, I'm not able to trigger the download and installation of the apk.
I tried simply opening the apk url:
window.open(apkURL);
where the apkURL is the full http link to the .apk file hosted on server.
But it doesn't seem to do anything.
I've been researching but I don't find an answer on how to do this. I found some suggestions using native code, like this post Install Application programmatically on Android but I don't know how to do that from within my Phonegap app.
Intent promptInstall = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW)
.setData(Uri.parse("file:///path/to/your.apk"))
.setType("application/vnd.android.package-archive");
startActivity(promptInstall);
Is this the right way to trigger the update? How can something like this be done from within a Phonegap app?
Thanks!

I finally managed to implement this, using the File api and the WebIntent plugin. I will post the solution here in case it helps anyone.
The code downloads the apk from a remote server to the download folder in the sdcard and then triggers the install.
window.requestFileSystem(LocalFileSystem.PERSISTENT, 0, function(fileSystem){
fileSystem.root.getFile('download/filename.apk', {
create: true,
exclusive: false
}, function(fileEntry) {
var localPath = fileEntry.fullPath,
fileTransfer = new FileTransfer();
fileTransfer.download(apkURL, localPath, function(entry) {
window.plugins.webintent.startActivity({
action: window.plugins.webintent.ACTION_VIEW,
url: 'file://' + entry.fullPath,
type: 'application/vnd.android.package-archive'
},
function(){},
function(e){
alert('Error launching app update');
}
);
}, function (error) {
alert("Error downloading APK: " + error.code);
});
}, function(evt){
alert("Error downloading apk: " + evt.target.error.code);
});
}, function(evt){
alert("Error preparing to download apk: " + evt.target.error.code);
});

For you guys that use Cordova 3+, a similar solution like that of Vero is possible:
So we're first going to download the .apk file. We need the file-transfer plugin for this.
You can install it with following command:
phonegap local plugin add org.apache.cordova.file-transfer
Secondly, we need another plugin to start a webintent. This webintent prompts the user if there is an update. You can install it with the following command:
phonegap local plugin add https://github.com/Initsogar/cordova-webintent.git
Then, you can use this 2 functions in your code to download the .apk and to prompt the user if
there is an update of the application:
/*
* Uses the filetransfer plugin
*/
function downloadApkAndroid(data) {
var fileURL = "cdvfile://localhost/persistent/CegekaMon.apk";
var fileTransfer = new FileTransfer();
var uri = encodeURI(data.android);
fileTransfer.download(
uri,
fileURL,
function (entry) {
console.log("download complete: " + entry.fullPath);
promptForUpdateAndroid(entry);
},
function (error) {
console.log("download error source " + error.source);
console.log("download error target " + error.target);
console.log("upload error code" + error.code);
},
false,
{
}
);
}
/*
* Uses the borismus webintent plugin
*/
function promptForUpdateAndroid(entry) {
window.plugins.webintent.startActivity({
action: window.plugins.webintent.ACTION_VIEW,
url: entry.toURL(),
type: 'application/vnd.android.package-archive'
},
function () {
},
function () {
alert('Failed to open URL via Android Intent.');
console.log("Failed to open URL via Android Intent. URL: " + entry.fullPath);
}
);
}

Sadly you cannot access that kind of native feature within a Phonegap web container without using a plugin, all you can do is link the user to the apk (by opening the native browser for instance) and let him install it.

thank you Vero for answer ... it is help me so much...
there is a problem with your code in cordova file plugin last version.
replace entry.fullPath with entry.toURL() if you use file plugin version 1.0.0 or newer.
if you use entry.fullPath , it throw error 'there is a problem parsing package'.
from file-transfer plugin on github
These paths were previously exposed in the fullPath property of FileEntry and DirectoryEntry objects returned by the File plugin. New versions of the File plugin, however, no longer expose these paths to JavaScript.
If you are upgrading to a new (1.0.0 or newer) version of File, and you have previously been using entry.fullPath as arguments to download() or upload(), then you will need to change your code to use filesystem URLs instead.
FileEntry.toURL() and DirectoryEntry.toURL() return a filesystem URL of the form
cdvfile://localhost/persistent/path/to/file
which can be used in place of the absolute file path in both download() and upload() methods.

Working example in 2018
Based on previous comments I implement this solution
It require:
File plugin
File transfer plugin
Web intent plugin
constructor(public navCtrl: NavController, private transfer: FileTransfer, private file: File, private webIntent: WebIntent) {
const fileTransfer: FileTransferObject = this.transfer.create();
const url = 'urlApkFile';//Modified this
fileTransfer.download(url, this.file.externalDataDirectory + 'file.apk').then((entry) =>
{
webIntent.startActivity({
action: (window).plugins.intentShim.ACTION_INSTALL_PACKAGE,
url: entry.toURL(),
type: 'application/vnd.android.package-archive'
}).then(function () {
//OK
}, function (e) {
alert('Error launching app update' + JSON.stringify(e));
});
}, (error) => {
alert("downdload finish" + JSON.stringify(error));
});
}