So, I have a few little android apps now, and am thinking about releasing the in the Amazon App Store. However I have one fundamental question I don't see answered anywhere.
How is Licensing handled if you release the app on the amazon store? I am currently using the Google LVL licensing in my paid apps to ensure the user is licensed to run them. I assume that an app sold on Amazon, isn't going to have any connection to tell Google, hey, this app was purchased, they are licensed, so send them an OK TO RUN status when they launch it. Or am I mistaken?
Does Amazon have its own LVL type code? Or do you just have to forget licensing all together if you want to sell on Amazon?
Simply remove all LVL code from your app (making it unprotected), then select the copy protection radio button when submitting your app to Amazon. They'll add the licensing code to your app before resigning it and releasing it on the Amazon Appstore.
No store-provided licensing code works in other app stores. Many have rolled their own, with varying degrees of simplicity.
I have an app in Android Market. What should I do to ensure the app
works in the Amazon Appstore?
You should make sure that your app does
not include any copy protection functionality (you have the option to
apply Amazon’s DRM technology – see our FAQ on DRM). You should also
take a moment to understand the different signing options available to
you (developer signed or Amazon signed) and choose the option that
works best for your users.
Source
Related
Is it possible to publish an iOS App in App Store and Google Play Store, which is unlisted and can't be found by search? Only people, who have the link to the App in the Store can download it. Is this possible?
Both Google Play and Apple's App Store have options for publishing Enterprise apps. The two stores have different options and conditions, but it's possible.
Other options that are available to you is to release the app as an Alpha or Beta version for specific people on the Play Store, or simply create an .apk file and allow people to install it without passing through the store.
On the Apple App Store, you also have the option of having your app approved by the review team and then using codes for specific users to redeem on the store (but you only have about 100 of those per version) or submitting the app for TestFlight review (which is a much shorter process), in which case you'll be able to install the app on 1,000 different devices.
I hope one of these options works for you. Good luck!
Yes, this exact thing is now possible in the Apple ecosystem. It's called "unlisted apps". See here. Not sure about Google/Android.
I am currently working on an Android app and I am wondering which would be the best way to distribute it to customers. I understand that one can create a private channel but I haven't been able to determine whether our customers would be able to use it. From what I've gathered, a private channel is for internal distribution; I wonder if someone without an e-mail account from our company would be able to download it this way?
If Google Play is not the answer, what would you do? I know the app can be distributed through e-mail or links to download it but I'd rather avoid having users change their devices' configuration to allow installing APK from unknown sources.
Not sure what your beef with Google Play is but even if you're not intending to publish the app at all, you can still take advantage of the beta testing mechanism -- you can distribute a Google Play to limited audience -- i.e. a list of google accounts.
Apart from that, if I'm not mistaken TestFlight supports Android package distribution. Looks like they dropped Android support
Is it possible for an android application to act as a custom market place?
The imagined behavior of the app:
Download XYZ app from the built in Google Play Store
Opening XYZ app yields a UI similar to that seen in the Play Store
The user can navigate through XYZ app and select a custom app supported by XYZ to install on their phone
This custom app would not be located on the Play Store and the .apk would be directly installed from the context of the XYZ app/marketplace to the users phone
I did some research and found alternative Android App Stores such as:
Amazon App Store for Android
GetJar
SLideMe
F-Droid
But is it possible to have an alternative marketplace like this that can be accessed from an app that was downloaded from the Google Play Store? Does google allow this type of practice?
So I suppose the heart of my questions is: Is it possible to create an android application that has permissions to install other 3rd party applications directly to a users phone? (without needing to leverage the Play Store or needing to jailbreak the phone)
Thanks in advance for the answers and insights! And please let me know if anything I'm saying doesn't make sense.
(Extra Credit: I would also be curious to learn about the feasibility of doing this with an iOS app as well)
To add to the other answers, you will have problems with some of Google Play's rules. AFAIK they don't allow your app to direct users to a different store. So you won't be able to keep your app on Google Play store in that case.
EDIT
It is not in the Terms and Conditions, as confirmed by #Cumulo Nimbus.
It is in clause 4.5 of the Developer Distribution Agreement:
4.5 Non-Compete. You may not use the Market to distribute or make available any Product whose primary purpose is to facilitate the
distribution of software applications and games for use on Android
devices outside of the Market.
My interpretation of the above was, and still is, that we can't point people to a different app store.
Kudos to #zmarties for pointing me at the Developer Program Policy which links out to the Developer Distribution Agreement. I knew I'd seen this somewhere...
In terms of iOS, Apple does not allow different app stores unless you jailbreak (iOS-speak for rooting) your phone. They are not as open minded as the Google.
Android apps don't need to be rooted in order to install third party apk's. The use just needs to allow this in their settings. The apps you have listed simply instruct their users to enable this setting.
The best example of a third-party "free as in freedom" app store would be F-Droid
Technically it's possible.
The current Developer Program Policy does not seem to prohibit it either - all they have to say on the matter relates to installing "dangerous products" from outside the play store:
Dangerous Products: We don't allow content that harms, interferes with the operation of, or accesses in an unauthorized manner, networks, servers, or other infrastructure.
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.
Having said that, I can't quickly see any alternative apps stores that are themselves in the Play Store.
I want to publish a paid-for app on Amazon app store as well as Google Play. I plan on doing two separate builds for my app, one with the Google Play Licensing library incorporated and enabled (for submitting to Google Play) and one with the Licensing library disabled (for submitting to Amazon app store; Amazon has its own Licensing facility). Other than this, the two builds will be identical (same package name etc). Does anyone know whether or not this strategy is a feasible way to go?
A worry I have in particular is app updates. If a user purchases my app from Amazon app store and I publish an update to Google Play, would the user receive a notification telling them that an update is available for them from Google Play?
I currently have apps on both the google play market and Amazon market and have not come across any of the issues you have mentioned above. I am using ecplise and created the apk file using a certificate and used the same apk file for both Android markets.
As they are seperate markets and as you mentioend Amazon has its own authentication meaning google play updates are not an issue and therefore need to be done on both Markets.
Google Play vs Amazon Appstore
Finally, things to look out for is if you have any links referencing the play market you need to change these to the Amazon market, as Amazon will fail it otherwise (upload to Amazon market can take several days), hope this helps.
When you submit the android apk file to the Amazon app store it signs itself and publishes the app.
I uploaded by debug build (not even any signed apk) and amazon accepted it and the app is now in their app store. Amazon might have some sort of automated signing the application.
Make sure you've not implemented anything related to Google play
store.
Good luck!
I am writing an app and face the same situation, I found the best solution was to make your app into a library project and import it into two separate projects for release.
These separate projects would have any changes necessary for launching from a specific store but the bulk of your code would be in one library. That way any updates you do to the library will be carried across to both releases automatically on the next build.
I have a paid app that I'll be uploading to the market and maybe amazon market. I always thought that when you bought an app, it was automatically linked to your account. Reading the application licensing info on the dev site, I'm wondering if I do in fact need to implement that manually to prevent somebody from downloading my app and then putting a free copy of it online. Or is this used to control more advanced licensing issues?
It isn't required, but it's recommended. Android License Verification Library (LVL) makes really easy to implement licensing in your application. With LVL you query the Android Market to see if the user purchased the licence of your application, and you decide what to do (close the app, enter a trial mode, etc).
For Android LVL see http://developer.android.com/guide/publishing/licensing.html
Remember that this only works for the Google Android Market. If you upload you application to another market (for example, the Amazon market) remember to turn off Android LVL and switch to the mechanism provided by that market (I think Amazon injects a DRM system automatically when you upload your apk).