I've created an application which only purpose is to download the real full-featured application from a server of mine, ask the user to accept the permissions and install it.
I know that there are some regulations for the Apple App store about this kind of "downloader" applications, so i was wondering if there is any sort of policy or term of use that might be violated if i decide to upload this app to the Google Play store.
Thanks
Check out: https://play.google.com/about/developer-content-policy.html
I believe what you are doing is ok, but would most likely be frowned upon by Google, as they want people to use the Play Store.
Quote from the article:
Malicious scripts and password phishing scams are also prohibited on
Google Play, as are apps that cause users to unknowingly download or
install apps from sources outside of Google Play.
As long as your are informing the user of the download, and not trying to make money, you're good.
Related
I have an app that I want to be able to distribute to clients from other organisations. I don't want this app to be publicly visible on the play store, ideally the client would receive a link from me that would allow them to download the app from the play store.
I have had a bit of a search for this, so far I can only find 'Managed groups' (https://support.google.com/a/answer/2494992?hl=en) and 'closed tests' (https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/3131213?hl=en). A closed test looks to be along the lines of an ideal scenario, however the client would be aware that the app is in a testing phase, and may be able to do more with the app than intended for an end user. The managed groups also seem ideal, but they seem to be limited to my organisation, and when they talk about whitelisting that seems to be more whitelisting the apps on a user's device rather than whitelisting who can download the app.
Any help would be appreciated :)
To publish a private app within a client's organization (as a 3rd
party developer): If you’re an agency developer who wants to manage
the publishing flow on behalf of your client, or if you’ve built an
app for multiple organization clients and don't want the app to show
up in the public Play store, you can use your clients’ Organization
IDs to publish these apps directly to your client's organizations.
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6145139?hl=en
I have an application that I want to release for $x amount to the public, however, I want to allow the Google Developer Console Alpha/Beta APK to be downloaded for free. I want the testers to be able to download it for free? How do I do that?
Thanks in advance,
PS. I could swear I found the link on Google, but I can't seem to find it again.
Here is my conclusion (in short, no solution):
1- (Edit: unfortunately this point is not correct, you wont get the updates unless you download directly from the store.) The only issue is delivering the first APK to the testers, as they wont be able to download the application from the Play Store, however, downloading updates from the Play Store is doable and okay, (delivered APK must be signed with same key as Play Store APK).
2- If the application is never publicly released yet, testers must have some sort of a direct link to the application on the Play Store, as searching for it will never show up (even with package name: com.example.application). But after having the first APK, you can just look through the 'My Apps" section in the Play Store and find it.
3- Google sucks for not making this easier, especially given the triviality of the concept and the need for it.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions. But considering none of them were the answer, because there is no answer, I had to sum up my findings here.
Cheers.
After discussing this with a Google representative I found that there is a round-about way of offering the app for free to testers. The tester must initially pay for the app. However, it turns out that refunds initiated by the developer actually behave differently than those initiated by Google.
Google refund: License is revoked and the user will no longer have access to the app.
Developer refund: License is NOT revoked, the app will remain fully functional IF you are only testing for license response. If you verify Order IDs it will fail since the order status will have changed (this would be a custom implementation). For developers who implemented the recommended license verification example this would effectively yield a free app.
Caveat: I haven't tested this yet as my app is a couple months from release, but here's my chat:
me
Ok can you please explain the refund then. As I understood it a refund would deauthorize the user's license, so I assumed you meant refund outside of the Google payment system.
Artemis
If you yourself initiate the refund, the user will not lose access to the app in their library.
Unless you have designed your app to constantly check the order ID's status to trigger the revoke action or the like.
If a user initiate's a refund through Google, yes, they will no longer have the app in their library and they will lose access to the content.
me
OK, since I only check the license response from the server any refund I initiate will yield a fully functional and free app in the user's library?
Artemis
Well, I am unable to validate your app's code or what you have done in its design.
I am only able to confirm that if you refund a user's purchase for an app, that Google will not revoke the app from their library or their access to the app's content.
me
Excellent, perhaps I missed the documentation on this somewhere, but I searched quite thoroughly and most information states that the developer can NOT offer the app for free to testers.
This would be great information to add to the developer console help and the testing pages.
Artemis
That is true, you cannot offer the app as free to testers.
The app must be paid for, no matter what.
However, as with all apps, alpha, beta, or production, you are welcome to refund your users however you would like.
The google play developer console now give developers the chance to provide promotion codes offering a free app or free in-app purchases, perfect for providing a free app to Alpha and Beta users:
I have an app that I want to market on google Play. Initially I want to charge a fixed price for the app.
I'm used to marketing apps on the Windows Phone Marketplace where a user simply has to pay to get the app - no "licensing" is necessary because the user can't get the app without paying for it.
I read the material about Google Play licensing and it seems to imply that unless I use the LVL, users can get ahold of my app for free. Is that right? On the other hand, if Google Play won't let them have the app without paying, why do I need to use licensing?
As the docs say, this is really to
verify that the current user did in fact pay for the application on Google Play
This is to combat piracy. Google Play won't give them the app without paying, but they might obtain the app from another source without paying and install it manually. This provides a runtime check.
We have an app that exists in the Google Play store that was created by a developer who is no longer at our company. We own the app and want to remove it, but we don't know what Google account the developer used to publish the app to the store.
Is there any way we can find out what account the app is associated with? If we try to log in under Google accounts we think it might be, Google wants to charge us $25 per guess.
If we can't find the account, is there a way to have Google remove the app for us if we can provide sufficient evidence that it's ours?
If the developer is unavailable or uncooperative, and you can prove that this app includes your intellectual property, you can file a DMCA request with Google, asking them to remove it from the GP store. Read the warnings on the page carefully:
http://support.google.com/bin/request.py?&product=androidmarket&contact_type=lr_dmca
You can't pull down the application from Google Play if you don't have the access to the account which is used to upload that application. If you are lucky and the developer who uploaded the app typed his mail as contact developer mail in application in Google Play, maybe in this way trying to send a mail you can find the account which is used to upload the app, but you can't trust that, because most of the developers and companies have different mails for communicating with the customers and it depends on that.
But if you contact to Google and explain them everything and as I told above if you are lucky you can convince them to delete the app from Google Play. Or the best situation in my opinion is to contact the developer who upload the application and ask him to remove it.
Good luck!
Pretty rough situation. I'm not going to advice you to use a corporate google account in the future, but I think the easiest way is to speak with the developer in person. Then explain to him that there are several clauses in his former contract with you, which concern the intellectual property obligations, signed by him.
If you don't have any, or if he was hired on a freelancer contract, with no mentioning of the above, then you'll have the real deal in the court when he sues you for "his" intellectual property (being th application), uploaded by him on the Play Store.
Of course, this is the worse case scenario, but you should consider it.
If you have nothing left, you can contact Google, as Android-Developer above me suggested, but you risk a denial.
It is a really complicated case and I would like to see the result of it, when you settle the things out.
i am new to android development i created one android application and i want to test this application in all aspects before submiting to the play store. I don't know the play-store approval process. please let me know the play-store approval process and also tell me how to test my application without any bugs(that will be rejected by play-store) and against to playstore approval process.
There is not much of approval process in play store, certainly not much like apple used to do. You just need to make sure you read this and your app is okay on all points.
tell me how to test my application without any bugs
Well there is no short cut for that. Do your testing.. Google won't do it for you.. If your app is good, then only user downloads it.. It is not only Google that you have to consider..
There is no play store approval process. They run some automated tests for malware and you'll be on the market in a few hours. So just do enough testing that you feel happy with the quality.
You're responsible for testing your own app. Google won't. There are just a few basic rules you need to follow, and your app will be approved:
You can't sell in-app content unless you use Google's in-app purchasing. You CAN sell physical goods using other payment methods.
You can't make your app free and then change them to paid later. Once they're free, they're always free.
You can't do anything racist, criminal, hateful, etc... and you can't do anything you don't disclose -- i.e. steal the user's contacts and upload them to your own server for malicious purposes.
Be very attentive to testing. If your app has bugs, users will quickly complain and down-rate your app.
There is no "bug policy" for google play store. Even if your app contains bugs, google will still publish it. Develop your app keeping user in mind.