Up to now, I've only distributed a few apps by sending .apk files around. I was wondering how Android Market prevents users from distributing a paid application to other people.
+7
A:
Currently, the DRM on the Android Market is quite weak. On non - rooted phones if you check copy protection while listing the application then no one can get the apk of your application out.
The problem lies with the rooted phones with the Market app on it. All that someone needs to do is install the apk on their rooted phone and then extract it out, which can then be distributed freely (albeit illegally).
Personally, I would say to not worry about piracy that much. 98-99% of the people that would pirate and use your application would not be willing to pay the $$$ for it anyways.
Prashast
2010-03-23 06:51:11
Excellent answer, does the Android Market give you any information on who downloaded (and paid for in pay-apps) your app? I'm thinking from a support point of view.Also, is there any available 3rd party DRM utility which would also work within Android devices?
Adam
2010-03-23 13:22:34
You do get some limited information in your checkout account. It wouldn't help you much in terms of support though. You have no way to initiate contact with the user, they need to contact you first.No 3rd part utility can solve this problem for you since the payment information is only with Google and is not exposed in any way. You could check out some other app stores like SlideME which I believe has better DRM. But these app stores will only reach to a small fraction of the audience that Android Market reaches.
Prashast
2010-03-23 16:05:55
+1 for the last part.
chpwn
2010-06-25 00:50:07
A:
There is an option if you wish to distribute your 'paid' applications via SlideME to the world users (due to Android Market country restrictions), and that is to use SlideME's SlideLock v2. This is the most robust forward protection mechanism out there for Android apps.
Expect to see a sample app soon with SlideLock, to make life easier for developers to implement.
SlideME
2010-06-25 00:48:04