So I just uploaded my APK to PhoneGap. Now I've done this with iOS before and I had to create a provisioning profile (through Apple Developer site) with each phone ID for the users to download the app. Now Android is a different thing, I have NO CLUE how to add the users to test the app. It's in the "Permissions" tab. I've searched and have found ZERO information about this. It has to be something so simple that I am missing :/
There is no need to do anything for Android - you can send the final APK file to any testers and they can install it directly on their phones.
Note: they may need to turn on 'Install from unknown sources' - if they do not have that enabled the system will prompt them to turn it on when they try to install it
Related
I need to setup an environment in an android device where only white listed apps are allowed to launch. The environment should
prevent user from installing new app and uninstalling existing app
prevent access to settings
prevent access to file directory
The Owner App are supposed to allow
download of white listed APK from a designated server within it's network
user can update white listed APK by downloading and installing it
user can launch multiple white listed app
I have looked through Android's Device Ownership and Screen Pinning references and APIs but couldn't find a solution to my above stated problem. Any pointers?
What do you think of this? http://www.andreas-schrade.de/2015/02/16/android-tutorial-how-to-create-a-kiosk-mode-in-android/
UPDATE:
Well, I've decided to use vendor like MobileIron. Thanks for the input regardlessly =)
I'm coming from an Android background so please bear with me.
I'm having a really tough time grasping the concepts of certificates, identifiers, and provisioning profile. I have signed up for a developer account, and (hopefully) gone through the correct steps to create a certificate and provisioning profile for production/distribution. I have tried looking up a guide for the newest xcode that would "walk" me through the whole process, but I keep finding old and outdated resources. I was just wondering if someone could go through the steps you need to export an iOS app.
I've followed the Apple Distribution guide, but I'm still very "confused". Again, I've never worked/developed/released on any platform besides Android, and I guess they made it very easy.
Apple states:
Create a distribution certificate.
Create a store distribution provisioning profile.
Archive and validate your app.
For Mac apps, test the Mac Installer Package.
Submit your app using Xcode or Application Loader.
I've created a distribution certificate. The "name" of it is my Companies name.
I've created a store distribution provisioning profile. The "name" of it is my Apps name.
So I'm confused with both of these things. Should I keep them secret? Should I download and save them? Also, what the hell is this wild card identifier.
I understand this is a broad question, and it may get flagged for being too specific, but I hope I am not the only person having this problem.
what do you mean by export an app? If you want to distribute the app to testers/clients you'll need to do the following steps:
Add devices to you apple account
Add devices to your development distribution profile
In xcode -> preferences -> accounts, double lick the iOS account (lower right corner) and hit refresh. This will pull down your new development profile with new devices.
In xcode, check your bundle identifier matches your provisioning profile (either in info.plist or targets->general->bundle identifier
in targets -> build settings, make sure 'code signing identity' is set to the same identity the provision profile uses.
in menu, select product -> archive. if build is successful, this will launch organizer.
in organizer, selected the most recent build, and click distribute
select save for enterprise or ad hoc deployment
select the development provisioning profile and export your app. It will now install and run on any of the devices you set up in step 1.
I have a question. How can I make an Android app installation to work similar as works installation from the official App Store for Android? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_software_distribution_platforms) Do I need to have Root access? Or should it be a special version of Android where App Store will work as Google Play? Currently, I’m only able to install applications as “Unknown Sources”, where my application downloads the apk File and calls a system installation window where user confirms the installation. The problem here is that the file to be installed can be copied (even just a brief moment). It may be ok for free applications or the ones with server authentication (log/pas) but for paid apps it could be a problem.
Even if you install the app and delete the APK, it's still very easy to recover the APK of an installed application. The only way you can really protect your app is by using in-app licensing checks or locking the app to a certain device by using the device's id.
Further, on unrooted devices, you can not install apps outside of the Google Play store, unless you enable installation from unknown sources. To get around that restriction -- and to allow auto-updating or silent installation -- you will need to root and install a modified package manager.
I want to allow user to install my app directly from my web-site, not through the Android market.
I'm working on a specific non-phone android device, which can't be connected to the Android market.
how can I accomplish such a thing ?
The device can download the APK files like a normal file. After that, the user can open it and gets prompted to install it by checking the apps permissions. This required the unknown source preference (Preferences->Applications->Development usually) to be checked.
If you want to create some sort of drive-by-download/install: Thats not possible for (obvious) security reasons.
I developed an android application for a study and need to make it available on the website that participants will be directed to. Preferably, I would like to make it so that participants can type in a url/click a link on their phone, download the .apk file, and install it. Is this possible? If not, how would you recommend I go about making the app available?
The best thing to do is to put your application on the Market and have a market link on your website. See here: http://developer.android.com/guide/publishing/publishing.html#marketintent
The less preferred way is you can also have the apk directly linked to on your website, but you need to get your users to enable "unknown sources" under applications in their system settings; something that many users would be hesitant to do. See mobile grooveshark.com for an example of this.
There are 3 basic ways to get an app onto the phone:
1) Android Market - Probably the easiest, but uploading it there would make it public.
2) Download form a URL : Your users would have to enable the ability install APK's from "unknown sources" (Typically found in Settings > Applications > "Unknown Sources" checkbox) - Note: This feature isn't guaranteed to be on all phones. AT&T typically disables this for phones they sell. T-Mo & Verizon do not. (International carriers, I don't know off the top of my head)
3) Side-load: If your participants are developers or have access to the Android SDK, they can connect the phone to a computer via USB cable and run the command "adb install (apk filename)". Note that for this, USB debugging would have to be enabled: Settings > Applications > Development > "USB Debugging" checkbox.
Most likely option #2 is the one that suits your case best. That said, it won't work if your participants bought their phone from a provider who disables downloading APK's from unknown sources, so you might want to think about #1 or #3 as a backup.
If people access an .apk file from their phone's email or web browser, I believe they are automatically prompted to install it. They will have to enable downloading apps from unknown sources in their settings though, but if they haven't, they are automatically redirected to do so.
In order to let your customers to install your app you can make it by two methods:
let your customers enable the unknown source from the security settings then your customer will be able to install your app, otherwise they can download it only
if you dont want your customers to enable this feature, you can publish it to the play store, then put that link in your website, when the customers click the link they will be directed to play store then they can install it without enabling unknown source which i mentioned in the first point
First develop your app for publishing.
Then make your website.
Then you can publish your app on your website and people can download your app.