Android App Store Primer: Google and Amazon

November 10 2011, 12:19pm

To help introduce our community to the world of Android publishing, we’ve prepared a series of Tutorials and Reference Guides for the Android Market. What follows is part of that series, focusing on the Google’s Android Market and Amazon’s App Store. Android Market About Android Market Android Market is a service that makes it easy for users to find and download Android applications to their Android-powered devices, either from the Android Market application on their device or from the Android Market web site (market.android.com). As a developer, you can use Android Market to distribute your applications to users on all types of Android-powered devices, all around the world. To publish your application on Android Market, you first need to register with the service using a Google account and agree to the terms of service. Once you are registered, you can upload your application to the service whenever you want, update it as many times as you want, and then publish it when you are ready. Once published, users can see your application, download it, and rate it. To register as an Android Market developer and get started with publishing, visit the Android Market publisher site: http://market.android.com/publish If you plan to publish your application on Android Market, you must make sure that it meets the requirements listed below, which are enforced by the Market server when you upload the application.

Requirements enforced by the Android Market server:

Your application must be signed with a cryptographic private key whose validity period ends after 22 October 2033. Your application must define both an android:versionCode and an android:versionName attribute in the “manifest” element of its manifest file. The server uses the android:versionCode as the basis for identifying the application internally and handling updates, and it displays the android:versionName to users as the application’s version. Your application must define both an android:icon and an android:label attribute in the “application” element of its manifest file.

The final 2 points are handled with the Android Configure setting during Publish time. Publishing Updates on Android Market At any time after publishing an application on Android Market, you can upload and publish an update to the same application package. When you publish an update to an application, users who have already installed the application may receive a notification that an update is available for the application. They can then choose to update the application to the latest version. Before uploading the updated application, be sure that you have incremented the Version Code and Version Name attributes when re-publishing. Also, the package name must be the same as the existing version and the .apk file must be signed with the same private key. If the package name and signing certificate do not match those of the existing version, Market will consider it a new application, publish it as such, and will not offer it to existing users as an update. Using Android Market Licensing Service Android Market offers a licensing service that lets you enforce licensing policies for paid applications that you publish through Android Market. With Android Market Licensing, your applications can query Android Market at runtime to obtain the licensing status for the current user, then allow or disallow further use of the application as appropriate. Using the service, you can apply a flexible licensing policy on an application-by-application basis—each application can enforce its licensing status in the way most appropriate for it. Any application that you publish through Android Market can use the Android Market Licensing Service. The service uses no dedicated framework APIs, so you can add licensing to any application that uses a minimum API Level of 3 or higher. For complete information about Android Market Licensing Service and how to use it in your application, read Application Licensing. Uploading Your App to the Android Market

Launch your web browser, navigate to http://market.android.com/publish/ and sign in with your Google Account. If you aren’t forwarded automatically after logging in, navigate to http://market.android.com/publish/Home and click the “Upload Application” button

Click the “Choose File” button next to “Application .apk file”, browse to Kilo.apkon your hard drive, and click the the “Upload” button. You can optionally upload a couple of screenshots to be displayed on the Market page for your app. Enter a title for your app in the Listing Details section (30 characters max). Enter a description for your app (325 characters max). Select a type and category for your app. Specify a price for your app. Indicate your copy protection and location preferences in the Publishing Options section. Enter your website, email, and phone number in the Contact Information section. Agree to the terms in the Consent section. Click the Publish button.

Congrats! Your app will be available in the Android Market almost immediately. Amazon Market About the Amazon Market The Amazon Appstore Developer Program enables mobile application developers to sell their apps on Amazon.com. By joining the program, you are able to market your apps to tens of millions of Amazon customers using Amazon’s proven marketing features and manage your apps using convenient self-service account management tools. Approval Process and Content Guidelines The minimum assets required for submission are:

a small icon a thumbnail (a larger version of the icon) a minimum of three screenshots that accurately depict your application

When you submit an app in the Developer Portal, the Amazon Appstore team will start the app review process. You can track the approval status of your app at any time by logging into the Developer Portal and finding your app in the “Dashboard” on the portal home page. If there are any questions about your app during the review process or determine it does not meet one of the Amazon Appstore’s acceptance criteria, we will notify you using the email address associated with your account and provide guidance on next steps. They will also notify you once your app successfully completes the testing process. At that point, your app will be published and ready for merchandising. Each app that you submit to us must adhere to the following Content Guidelines (from the amazon website)

Offensive Content: What we deem offensive is probably about what you would expect. We reserve the right to determine the appropriateness of all apps and to accept or reject any app at our discretion. We also have full discretion to publish maturity ratings for the apps. Pornography: We prohibit apps containing pornography or hard-core material that depict graphic sexual acts or sexually explicit material. We also don’t allow content that drives traffic to pornography sites. Illegal Activity: Each app must comply with all applicable laws. We prohibit apps that promote or may lead to the production of an illegal item or illegal activity. Developers are responsible for researching to ensure that each app is in compliance with all local, state, national, and international laws. Intellectual Property Infringement: We prohibit any app to which you do not have the necessary rights to make a