Now that android has a web store I was wondering how is this done and how this thing works internally? I think this is really awesome. Is this available on the SDK's? Are all android versions supported?
Thanks
Its not about SDK.
There's Android Cloud to device messaging. you have to get that app on your phone, and the webstore sends the market link to the APK , OTA to your phone, because your phone has that app.
Then your phone knows how to interpret that URL and install an app.
Similar to this, we already had Chrome to Phone thingie.
UPDATE: Thats something which needed some experiments. I just tried to install an app on my phone. Market Webstore asked me to sign-in and after signing in, I could see all the apps that I currently have on my phone. looks like my google account was recording that too. As I clicked the install button, Market said the app will be downloaded on my phone.
Looks like it has marked that app for installation in my google account, and when my account is synced on phone, the phone will realize that it has to download this app and will download it.
But, as of now, nothing seems to be happening.
UPDATE: Damn! The download started! There were two options in the market webstore about the device you wish to install it to, and don't know why, both of them were 'phone'.
I selected the upper option, and download started almost instantly, AND Silently
thus, you get your answer. silent installs are there.
Related
I've created a device owner app, which I install through a QR code when I factory reset my devices. Everything's fine until here.
Now I have a new version of the same device owner app, and I want to update the devices which have the previous version to this new version.
Is it possible to achieve this using Google Play?
I don't want to use custom methods like uploading the APK somewhere and downloading it with some Java code, because I want to centralize the releases in Google Play.
So far I have uploaded the new version (version code is 5, old one is 2) of the app to Google Play and tried to upgrade from there, but it does not work: in Google Play I just see the app as installed, and the "Disable" and "Open" button, but not the button to upgrade it.
Any thoughts? I've found some posts like the ones below, but they're 5 years old, maybe something has changed and this is not longer possible.
Install updates for a Device-Owner App
Install a GooglePlay located App from NFC
I haven't been able to find any specific information on updates with device owner apps. The documentation is extensive about how to create and install a device owner app, but not on how to upgrade it.
Thanks a lot in advance!
You didn't install it from play store , I THINK you can't update Device-Owner apps which were not installed from play store , except for the way you mentioned.
I have a two accounts which are signed in different gmail addressess on a device.In First account install app via Play Market then get into Second account and tried to install the same app.As you guess app is installed without downloading.It works ok, but go to back First account and uninstall app via play market and install again. The same stuff, it is installed without downloading. And app is gonna crash, because app couldn't download my indeed libs files. Does anyone have idea what kinda approach google has in this situation? Please give me completly ideas?
My app uses AdMob. My app doesn't contain any inapp purchases. No device is excluded in developer console and devices tested had higher sdk version than minimum required. My app is optimized with proguard and then zipaligned. Users can install other apps without problems. Why are they getting this error? How can I solve it?
Also when trying to install it via browser on a PC? In this case, where does the error occur, on the pc or the mobile device?
Which app is it?
I think Google Play takes random amount of time even after app being published, before it becomes available for download. Same thing happened to other person I know. After few hours of app being published (not app being uploaded) his app could be downloaded. His app could be downloaded before mine even though mine app was uploaded before his.
We have a fleet tracking Android app which is isntalled on around 100 mobiles.
Problem is to update each mobile whenever there is a patch release. And unfotunately we have not set auto-update.
Now we need to call each driver and follow the process of update from google play.
This is becoming very tedious as they have to go to google play, search the application and install/update it.
And the mobiles are located all over the country.
Before it was easy as Goolge play was giving an option to know the apps installed on each mobile.
Need your advice on how do we manage/automate this update issue.
Build an in-app push notification that there's a new version and have an easy link to Google Play from it. However, this does have a bootstrapping problem, and you will have to make everyone install the new version manually (as in you call them and ask them to do it) at least once. Still, this is your only viable option, as Google Play developer agreement prohibits pushing app updates through other channels.
If you have email or IM contact with the drivers, you can also send them a message there's a new version with the direct link to the Google Play. They will have to open it on their device, of course.
The link format should be market://details?id=com.mycompany.myapp, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mycompany.myapp, or http://market.android.com/details?id=id=com.mycompany.myapp. Either of these three in general should work, though some OEMs have messed up their devices configuration and prevent Google Play app from intercepting the http/https form properly.
You could check a text file located on a server or something like that and then lookup if the current instaleld version is the same as the server version. If not you could download the new apk and open it. As far as I know this is not allowed by Google Play so you must remove the app from google play
I am about to write an App which is customized to Macau, a city in Southern China. I am experiencing some uncertainties and would like to seek help from the fellow developers.
I have checked with Android Dev Guide and found out that we have gotta sign the App with self-generated key or a digital certificate issued from Certificate Authority. May I know whether there are any differences in the user experience when downloading and using the App for self-generated key or digital cert from CA? I heard that Symbian Apps would display alert message like "This App is untrusted" if the App is not formally verified. I do not want this to happen in my App, and I am worried about other tiny differences.
Moreover, I would like to ask about the requirements for digital certificate for signing the App. Is there any specification? Must the key be a .keystore file for signing? I am thinking about applying one from the Post Office for signing, but am worried whether it works.
From the Google Dev Guide, it says we need to plug the Android device to the computer using USB and run the App and perform testing using the computer. May I know more about the testing procedures from the experienced? After this debugging process how can I test the App on a standalone Android phone just like using the App normally? Can I simply sign the App with debug key in the debug mode and use it on the device? Must the device be developer device or Nexus One for performing testing?
If I publish the App to the Web server, i.e. users can download the file and use my file, would my source code be leaked out and get accessed by other people?
Last but not least, as I am developing the free App in Macau, I was stuck when I saw that Macau is not on the developer location list. I wonder whether I can publish my App on the Android Market. When I settle the Google Checkout payment, which option should I choose as my location, as neither China nor Macau is on the list. Should I choose "Hong Kong", my neighbouring city, or simply click "US" for convenience? Can the Android users in Macau download my App from the Android Market? (I cannot see Macau on the supported distribution location list...)
I would really appreciate it if you could kindly answer my loads of questions. Thank you very much!
That's way to many questions for one post, but I'll take a shot at a few.
You must sign your app using a keystore. It should be one you created, but hey, that is your choice. Any app not downloaded from the market is considered "untrusted" and users will receive that error upon installing it.
As far as debugging, you can debug on an emulator and/or a device (phone). Most people will recommend both. Information about how to get started can be found on the Android Development website. More specifically, you can try this
or this.
You can sign the app with a debug key if you setup USB debugging on the phone.
You publish apps as .apk files, which is complied code, not source. Even then it is hackable, just like anything else.