ideas for android application update

Question

Hi,

I'm planning to use my website to provide updates for my android application whenever the user decides to perform an update( in case there is one available) . I'm thinking to use http requests for the communication between the user and the server, so whenever there is a new update the server sents back to the user the link to download the apk of the update through the android browser. So far I think it should work !?!. But once I have the apk of the new update on the card ,and the installed old version of the application how do I actually perform the update ?

Answer 1

Show an alert and send the user to your application page on the Android Market (or an alternative market) instead. Most users will find this method more familiar.

If you want to host apk files in your website and let users download them directly anyway, then you should configure your site to identify the apk extension as an Android package. To do this you can add the following to your .htaccess (assuming your web server is using Apache):

AddType application/vnd.android.package-archive apk

If not the Android browser will not recognize the file as an Android application, and won't offer the user the choice to install it.

Answer 2

Unless you have a reason to avoid using the android marketplace, I would recommend just pushing updates through the store. Getting a notification that an update is available is more user friendly than requiring manual checks for updates that may not exist. Also, the installation is taken care of for you.