I wonder if there's a way to update whole app without Play Store SDK(but download from my server).(Not only XML, but also all of code and configs)And without any pop ups to touch.
As far as I know, it's prohibited. One method that I know about update without play store is like this: Automatically install Android application
However, I guess Xiomi Applications achieved this feature(auto update).
I found this page
And it has Github Repository
It has SlientAutoUpdate Class and it's experimental. And it seems the device must be rooted to use command codes such as su.
Is there any way without rooting?
I want the users not to touch anything to update the app.
in THIS topic you have multiple samples for auto-update, but these still need some user interaction (at least "Install"/"Update" button click on some system screen)
but there is also another method for changing source code without reinstalling APK, so-called hot-fixing. check out these libs:
Tinker
AndFix
Amigo
worth noting: Google is forbidding using these hot-fix libs/ways. note that developer can release some APK and some day it may add some extra code only from its server side, users just runs again app. then dev may trick user to grant some new permission or turn on some feature (users trusts this app, is using it for a while) allowing to execute some not-friendly code (e.g. some virus, malware, ads etc.), which wasn't present at the moment of uploading APK to Google Play Store console (which is scanning all APKs uploaded as update, may refuse publishing)
I built an app for a client, but it must be private so I can't publish it in the store.
This application is installed in 30 devices, so every time I release some updates another guy has to install the new app in every device. I was wondering if I could update the app from a link or something.
My idea is to insert in a table the current version with the link of the app that expo provides me after the build.
Once I press the button "check for updates" I check the version installed and if it's old, I will download the app from the link and install it automatically.
Is it possible at least for Android? For ios I don't care so much since it is installed only in one device.
I read about updates from expo wiki but I think it works only for published apps
thanks
Put the .apk on a server in the internet.
Everytime your app starts it starts a thread that checks if the .apk on the internet is different/newer from the one that is running.
If so then the new one is downloaded automatically.
When all done your app starts an install intent at a suitable moment.
Google Play can distribute private app to devices registered in your organization.
You can read this for more info: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6145139?hl=en
Some of the applications I have installed on my phone update automatically, I don't even have to click anything. This is the behavior I expect from the application I'm developing myself. Do I have to configure something or will android market take care of this?
This is not a behaviour you can set on the application itself. Each user chooses how the applications he downloads are updated. This is a market setting.
In the latest versions of the market, the default is now set to auto-update, but the user is free to untick the box and decide for manual updates, per application. If you open settings, you can also decide whether it's done on Wi-Fi only or on mobile data as well.
This will be done on all updates except the ones where a permission change occurred. For them, the market will still require a manual update.
Auto update is possible. But you should click app to start it at least.
In the start process, you can send the current version status to server through web service, server will identify the version if there is new version. if yes, a new version apk file will be downloaded, and the most important is how to install a apk file sliently.
Generally, you can run the
pm install -r xxx.apk
the apk will be automatically installed, and your app will be updated.
I'm almost positive you can't force users to update their installed apps, but I think it is the default behaviour of the Android Market.
In one of our projects where we are implementing an application using Android/HTML5/JavaScript there is a requirement for having an Android Auto update kinda feature which is as described below:
Update Native version: The Native version of our application should be easy to update. New versions should be possible to “push”, or at least notify, the user of. Does this require that we publish it to the Android Market?
As of now Notification of the new version can be send to the device but we need an approach to automatically download the new version and install ie., either update the existing version or overwrite it. Hosting the new version in Android market is the last option according to the client
If someone/somebody has earlier come across or implemented such a feature, could you kindly reply back.
If you are using the Android market , the best solution is to just notify the user that an update is available. Depending on the update or Application you may decide not to allow the user the access the app if an update is available.
You will always need to push a new APK to the market , the user may setup the auto update feature but I believe there is no way for an app to force the setting.
Any method which will allow the app to auto update would either need more privileges from users or a routed device , which I guess is not a big enough percentage of users to try the feature.
The android market allow to auto-update applications. Is you want to do it without using the android market, your users will have to enable apk install from unknown sources and they will have to confirm each installation (unless their phones are rooted I think)
There is a nice service called http://push-link.com
This hosts you APK and manage updates. You can choose how the user is going to be notified and see the progress installation of all version.
Cheers...
I'm developing an application that will most likely be preinstalled on devices. It will be also available on Google Play. Is there a way to update those instances that are not downloaded through Google Play, since Google Play won't notify users about an update.
I was thinking about, as suggested here, trying to contact my site periodically, and when update is available, download it.
Is there a way to do this update automatically, or even silently, so that user doesn't have to do anything (like running the package manually). Or, when my site shows update is available, to offer users an update through Google Play, even though it's not installed through Market (EDIT: This Google play option would be preferable, because than users wouldn't have to check "allow install of non-Market sources".)
i had the same issue, now i check at the start of my app if theres a new version in my configuration xml.
I compare the actual version with the tag "< app_version >1.1< /app_version >" of my configuration.xml
if its lower i ask with a custom AlertDialog if the user proceed with the upgrade
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW ,Uri.parse(myapk_link));
startActivity(intent);
after the download the user has to run the package manually.
if you choose the update from the Android market use:
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW ,Uri.parse("market://details?id=com.package.name"));
startActivity(intent);
com.package.name must be the "package" of your app
or
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW ,Uri.parse("market://search?q=" + APP_NAME));
startActivity(intent);
Just found a way that works. Fire an Intent for a Market that searches for my application.
Tested with OpenIntent Newsreader because for it was easy to find an older version .apk. Market finds an application, and when user clicks install, replaces older version with the one from the Market. I think that is much easier solution for a user than downloading manually .apk and running it.
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW ,Uri.parse("market://search?q=" + APPLICATION_NAME));
startActivity(intent);
Is there a way to update those instances that are not downloaded through Google Play, since Google Play won't notify users about an update.
Old question, new answer:
After digging on exact the same question (pre-installed app on device, how can I provide a update through Google-Play) I found this information on support.google.com*:
Google Play can manage updates to preloaded applications, provided the following conditions are met:
The preloaded app needs to be in the system partition
The preloaded app needs to be free
The preloaded app needs to be signed with the same signature as the app published in Google Play
The Package Name of the preloaded and updated app needs to be the same
The Version Code of the updated app needs to be greater than that of the preloaded app
* as of 2015-04-13
I'm developing an application that
will most likely be preinstalled on
devices.
Then you need to be talking to the device manufacturers and asking them your questions. Nobody else will be able to tell you what is and is not possible, given their device and the carrier(s) that will distribute it. The answers will depend heavily on how they create their firmware, whether your application will be part of the firmware or "installed" as a normal app, what their arrangement with the carrier is vis a vis firmware updates, etc. You may not even get a vote in the matter.
Here is the option for latest version update
https://developer.android.com/guide/app-bundle/in-app-updates#update_readiness
try this google library to update from the application
dependencies {
implementation 'com.google.android.play:core:1.5.0'
...}
I hope this will help anyone
If whoever bundled the app on the device does a proper job of it, then the app will still have a market link (even as a system app) and Market will prompt the user to upgrade it if a new version is available. After all, that's exactly what happens with an app like GMail that's pre-installed on phones.
You cannot install or upgrade a package automatically. Only the Android Market is capable of doing this (i.e. it silently updates itself).
You can certainly download a package and fire the Intent to install it, but the user will have to have the "Allow non-Market apps" options enabled, and they'll still have to manually approve the install/upgrade.
One place to possibly investigate is how Google Maps does it. This is generally pre-installed, but always appears to be shown as an update in the Android Market app, I believe. Whether there's a special flag in the packages.xml or manifest, I don't know.
There is a nice service that helps your app keep itself updated. Take a look at https://www.pushlink.com
In this product there is a NINJA mode that allows to perform updates without user interaction.
For other "modes", enabling "Install non-market app" is still needed. If it not enabled, the installation process is going to ask for it and redirect the user to the Application Settings, and after that, the user can install the app.
It's possible to fully automatically update an app, if you can sign an app as a system app. We wrote an app for specific hardware, we created an update app that the manufacturer signed for us. The update app runs on device startup, checks current version of the app and the new version, and installs the new version if necessary.
The use case would be a kiosk app, on tablets of one make and model, that don't have Google Play.
Google in 2018 Android dev summit announced android in-app update api's for developers so you can read whole story out here and get updated on this question.Android in-app update api details
https://developer.android.com/guide/app-bundle/in-app-updates