I've got a simple question that perhaps somebody could answer. I know that there are some alternative markets available on the net...some of which look exactly like the android market. I was curious to know if there is some kinda open source project (or the like) for a custom alternative market.
The reason I ask is because it would come in great handy for my business. We have a few in-house apps that are currently distributed to managers as APKs via email. It would be great if we could have a central market for which managers can update our apps from as opposed to manually sending them out, at which point they must be installed manually.
I thought I saw something a while back about some type of market framework, but now I can't find any reference to it.
Any information on this subject would be greatly appreciated!
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I'm not sure that I've understood completely what you meant, but you can check out Handster or the new Facebook-based Market - ESDN.
I think he is thinking of an app that would allow him to distribute apks to "in-house" business phones.
There are lots of "market-like" apps out there - SlideME, Amazon Appstore, Handster, etc. I haven't seen or heard of any market software that is open-source, however.
Alrighty...I guess it was worth a shot. Though it would be pretty cool if something like that existed. Thanks for the replies guys.
PutterPlace said:
I've got a simple question that perhaps somebody could answer. I know that there are some alternative markets available on the net...some of which look exactly like the android market. I was curious to know if there is some kinda open source project (or the like) for a custom alternative market.
The reason I ask is because it would come in great handy for my business. We have a few in-house apps that are currently distributed to managers as APKs via email. It would be great if we could have a central market for which managers can update our apps from as opposed to manually sending them out, at which point they must be installed manually.
I thought I saw something a while back about some type of market framework, but now I can't find any reference to it.
Any information on this subject would be greatly appreciated!
Sent from my HTC Magic using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you wish, you can try this..
http://www.filesonic.com/file/1149960741
While that is an alternative market, it's not exactly what I was looking for. I'm looking for an open source alternative which would enable me to use my own repository.
I think my search has ended though...I came across an open source project call aptoide:aptoide.com
It does enable me to setup my own repository, and I think that's what I'll be going with.
Interesting... looks like I'll be adding a new element to my primary source server as well.
An alternative would be to use dropbox and allow your people to sideload the apps. The phones would have to be provisioned to do so, however.
AppBrain is real good.
Aptoid and apktor - google for them.
Aptoid.com have a php script to generate xml file for android clients, but somehow it did not work for me.
See aptoid.com server section.
Im thinking about python script, but i dont have any programming skills
Dude just go to blapkmarket.com
Thats it. Your problems are solved
Sent from my GT-I9003 using xda premium
Questions or Problems Should Not Be Posted in the Development Forum
Please Post in the Correct Forums
Moving to Q&A
I recently discovered (and published an app on) moborobo market. It looks interesting.
Another recent market I tried is opera market.
Related
Recently rooted my phone with gingerbreak and installed gladiatrix and now I want to take advantage of the sideloading!
Does anyone know of a database or something that will give me a list of the non-market apps?
Search xda forum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=530
And Google.
And whatever site you can find them on.
Google up applanet and download the apk... i have a friend that loves it...i don't find myself in need for it.
Yeah there's no real "database" per say. Everything I have I've gotten from the app store ir the amazon app store which is amazing with their 1 free app per day deal. The only times I find myself using sideloading is when im installing an apk that I've backed up myself
thats just my 2 cents
sent from XDA mobile
thanks for the replys guys! I'm just a little new to the android platform. I didn't realize that a lot of people that create the awesome apps I want can put them in the android market...you just need root permissions to use them.
I had an iphone before this and once I jailbroke it, I had to use a completely different app database to get the "jailbreak apps," so that same thought process carried over.
tl;dr - Android > Apple
spitefulcheerio said:
thanks for the replys guys! I'm just a little new to the android platform. I didn't realize that a lot of people that create the awesome apps I want can put them in the android market...you just need root permissions to use them.
I had an iphone before this and once I jailbroke it, I had to use a completely different app database to get the "jailbreak apps," so that same thought process carried over.
tl;dr - Android > Apple
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No we don't have/need cydia on android. You can download apps directly on android through a web browser and use a file manager to instal it like you do it on a desktop computer. All you need is a side loading enabled phone.
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Hello everyone.
I've just came up with this thought and I wanted to share it with you. We always hear about how Android is more prone to malware than, say, iOS.
But I'd like to know why. I'm pretty sure that, before releasing an app on the Market (oops, Play Store!), Google makes a thorough validation of it. I find it difficult to believe that Google's guidelines are less stringent than Apple's.
Why, then, or better, whence the malware?
The best answer I could give myself is that malevolent apps are modified versions of pirated software that people download from the Internet. Like, a guy downloads the pirated version of Plant versus Zombies thinking that it's going to be the exact replica of the original (paid) version, but inside the downloaded app there's actually a malevolent piece of code that, then, ends on the webzines.
Hence, two questions for you guys:
Where's the Android malware coming from?
How can Google stop it?
Thank you a lot for your attention, I hope the answers will be numerous!
UltimateGoblin said:
malevolent apps are modified versions of pirated software that people download from the Internet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I've never seen malware that was made from an actual app. They are usually small separate apps with familiar icon or name and (sometimes) tons of temp files so that Asphalt7.apk won't be the size of 123 kb.
I'm not sure that Google checks anything before people report about it. There are numerous hello world apps there
Because androids source code can be seen by anyone it makes android an easier target than ios who keep their code a secret.
Google run a general check, they call their software "bouncer", but if the apps don't do anything suspicious until on an actual device it can miss the malware.
How could they stop all malware? They can't, even the very closed ios cannot stop all malware, but the user has ultimate control because we can see exactly what apps can access before installing them and so it makes it easier to spot suspect apps.
Dave
( http://www.google.com/producer/editions/CAownKXmAQ/bigfatuniverse )
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk 2
Ok, I am looking at an online Android/iPhone app builder. They either offer the option to build one for free with unlimited downloads or you can pay yearly with different tiers for different download limits. The difference being that the free one has ads.
Anyways, when asked about just creating the app with their site, then hosting it on your own server and having everyone download it from there instead of paying the yearly fees, the site owner made this statement.
" my personal opinion in the long run you will pay more in this case because every time when apple releaes new iOS (like 6 now) or android has new phone (like samsung galaxy S 3 now) you will have to purchase new binary code from us that supports the latest updates/fixes."
Is this true? I don't see how each new device that comes out will require an update in your app.
Also, as stated, if you pay the yearly fee for the lowest amount of downloads, I assume they can only track downloads from Google Play or the Apple app store. I don't see any way they can track downloads from my own server hosting the .apk file. Anyone have any insight on this to correct me if I'm wrong?
For the record, I'm just looking to develop an app to play my Shoutcast Streaming audio station. I make no profit on the station, so have no capital to spend over $1K a year to have an Android and iPhone app. I mainly want to give it to my friends, and make it available to anyone who visits my Website. I really like the design that I did with this site, and am willing to pay something for it, just not worth $1K./year....
Anybody?
Have you tried installing the official Android Software Development Kit on your computer, and making the app yourself? You don't need to use an online service, and you choose exactly what gets compiled into the apk (ads, Google analytics, etc.).
post-mortem said:
Have you tried installing the official Android Software Development Kit on your computer, and making the app yourself? You don't need to use an online service, and you choose exactly what gets compiled into the apk (ads, Google analytics, etc.).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the reply.
I actually do have the SDK installed, and am looking into what it takes to make my own app. But, don't I have to know xml and Java to create apps using the SDK?
You do need to know those two languages.
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The Lepricon said:
But, don't I have to know xml and Java to create apps using the SDK?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That online service allows you to write apps without knowing xml or Java?
post-mortem said:
That online service allows you to write apps without knowing xml or Java?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's kind of like Appinventor, all visual, just assemble the parts and stuff.
It's nice, just kinda pricey. I once posted the job on freelancer.com and got offers for about as much as this company is asking, and with freelancer I would have owned the app afterwards.
But, again, it's kinda hard to foot the bill when it's a non profit app.
Ok, I'm off to learn XML and Java.......
Oh, almost forgot.... the original questions...
" my personal opinion in the long run you will pay more in this case because every time when apple releaes new iOS (like 6 now) or android has new phone (like samsung galaxy S 3 now) you will have to purchase new binary code from us that supports the latest updates/fixes."
Is this true? I don't see how each new device that comes out will require an update in your app.
Also, as stated, if you pay the yearly fee for the lowest amount of downloads, I assume they can only track downloads from Google Play or the Apple app store. I don't see any way they can track downloads from my own server hosting the .apk file. Anyone have any insight on this to correct me if I'm wrong?
any ideas anyone?
I think he means every time Google releases an update to Android (updated OS, not new device). So, for example, you build your app to run on Jelly Bean. But when Key Lime Pie comes out, your app may not work as expected on those devices running KLP. Then, you'd have to pay them to recompile your app with updated binaries, or risk losing market share.
If your app is really simple and would run fine on Android 2.2 and up, then that "purchase new binary" thing is not applicable.
But, hell, if you're willing to learn XML & Java... go for it!
Was just wondering what peoples thoughts were on using the Android Licensing copy protection in their apps? Do you use it and do you spend a lot of time on it or have any creative ways to help enforce it?
As we all know any kind of drm will always be cracked but I just wanted to know if people found it worthwhile to have..
I'm using In-app-billing, because I found that even licensed apps can be copied.
And yes, all apps can be cracked eventually, but most of the publishers of cracked apps remove them if you ask to. So that's what I'm gonna do!
Sent from my Nexus 4 running Android 4.2 JB
I don't like license checks that force you to be online, but I do like to have 'something' in place...
Recently I started working with some OEMs in India who wanted to pre-load my apps on their devices. Very exciting obviously, but I didn't know if I could trust them as I'd never heard of them.
So what I did was get the app to load a web page on one of my servers off the screen (9000%x...) so that it couldn't be seen. The page it linked to was empty, but if I wanted to I could modify the code to include a redirect that would send it to another page. Then in my 'onPageOverride' event I just said if URL = 'stopapp.htm' then do whatever it was I wanted to do.
What I actually have it do in that event is to fill the entire screen with that web page. The user then can't interact with the app underneath, but they get a message that I can create at the time saying 'This app has been illegally distributed' or whatever else I want to say. I can even forward them on to the download page if I want this way.
This works well too because if the user isn't online, the page just doesn't load and nothing happens. But if I want to stop offline use as well I can save a file in File.DirInternal and have the app check for that. 'SwitchOff.txt'. They get caught once, then they can't use the app.
Obviously this doesn't work quite like a license check, but what you *could* do with it is to have the app pop up with a message to people using an old version that's not updated. That's probably downloaded off of some file sharing site, so you could then just keep pestering them to 'update' and send them to the Play Store to do so. You can also check how many of the users on that version of your app are legitimate by looking at your Play Developer Console.
One thing to note is that the redirect URLs you use will need to be different in every version of your app that you release.
Hope this helps someone! I wish I'd done it sooner, one of my apps is all over the web grrrr...
pretty much the same as what I'm doing atm except I just ping a server in the background and display a popup if the result meets certain conditions.. I don't disable the app either as I can't be 100% certain it's pirated, instead I display a "scary" popup saying if they're using a pirated copy this is illegal etc.. your average user won't know how the popup was generated so it should be enough to make them think "someone" is onto them and go the proper route.. With the added bonus a genuine user can just press ok and carry on using the app
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4
Currently, none of my apps use licensing.
For one of my paid apps, about 5% of the downloads are from non-Google Play sources, meaning, I'm not seeing any revenue from those 5%.
There is an Android API, that allows developers to see which platform their app was downloaded from. So, I've been thinking about adding that hidden feature to my apps and maybe do something fun with it. But, haven't got around to it yet. My thinking has been that if somebody downloaded a pirated copy of my app, then they probably weren't going to pay for it in the first place. And, hopefully, they will tell their friends about it and maybe one of them will actually purchase it through Google Play.
I already have all my licensing code in place and commented out. Since my app is pretty new I want to see how it does before adding licensing. Since the app is free and income is from IAP its not too bad. I'd only turn on licensing in the next release if I see a pressing need for it.
Currently, none of my apps use licensing.
Is there any way to convert website into android app? I have a website carpet cleaner picks and I want to make an app as well. What I want is complete website must be converted into android app? This is something called webview or something like that if I am not wrong.
There have been dedicated apps for that, which in time lost functionality.
You can fiddle with the Sketchware app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.besome.sketch which is a very simple visual programming app for Android, and put together an app which opens a webview of your site. You can build anything on that even without being a programmer.
See what I did with the website of our scientific society (and I'm no programmer at all): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.debernardis.SITD_in_tasca
EDIT: unfortunately Sketchware, last version, has new problems with showing webviews. Until they fix that, my solution is unfeasible. Already built apps are still working.
debernardis said:
There have been dedicated apps for that, which in time lost functionality.
You can fiddle with the Sketchware app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.besome.sketch which is a very simple visual programming app for Android, and put together an app which opens a webview of your site. You can build anything on that even without being a programmer.
See what I did with the website of our scientific society (and I'm no programmer at all): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.debernardis.SITD_in_tasca
EDIT: unfortunately Sketchware, last version, has new problems with showing webviews. Until they fix that, my solution is unfeasible. Already built apps are still working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, That is good. Thanks for this. Now, I can have an app of my website portable carpet cleaners