Where do apps live? - google-play

This is a naive question. I'm creating my first app (using Phonegap). I'll create versions in both the App Store and Google Play Store. My question is: where will the downloadable files live?
I haven't been able to find the answer online, because I'm not sure how to phrase the question in a simple Google search. I've thought of 2 possibilities:
The downloadable files live on my server. When someone chooses to install the app from the App Store or the Google Play Store, that store authorizes the download from my server.
The downloadable file lives on the App Store's servers or the Google Play Store servers. When someone chooses to download it, the file is served directly by them.
I'm almost sure the answer is #2. That makes the most sense. But I haven't found confirmation online.

You can opt to host it on your server or use services provided by Google and Apple.
Hosting on your server will require you to maintain those servers , etc.. Hosting with Google & Apple will take away that maintenance.
Use Google Expansion Files for Google Play Store App and Content Hosting for Apple
Google Allow APK size of 100 MB any additional files can be uploaded using Expansion files. Refer to this link - https://developer.android.com/google/play/expansion-files.html
Maximum file size for an IPA file is 2 GB in Apple. If you are using Apple's in-app purchase module , then you can upload additional files using Content Hosting given by apple. Refer to this link https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/LanguagesUtilities/Conceptual/iTunesConnectInAppPurchase_Guide/Chapters/CreatingInAppPurchaseProducts.html

Related

Upload APP to google play with more than 100MB [duplicate]

App apk size around 145 MB. It Contains 9-10 gif Images around 100 MB.So,I can't upload app on google play store.
So I am trying to implement app bundle by using this link:-
https://medium.com/#AndreSand/android-app-bundle-96ac16b36875
app bundle makes successful with .aab extension but its size is not less and when I try to upload it on google play store it gives an error that some apk file size has more than 100 MB.
Google Play currently requires that your APK file be no more than 100MB. For most applications, this is plenty of space for all the application's code and assets. However, some apps need more space for high-fidelity graphics, media files, or other large assets. Previously, if your app exceeded 100MB, you had to host and download the additional resources yourself when the user opens the app. Hosting and serving the extra files can be costly, and the user experience is often less than ideal. To make this process easier for you and more pleasant for users, Google Play allows you to attach two large expansion files that supplement your APK.
Read APK Expansion Files.
FYI
The new app publishing format, the Android App Bundle, is a more efficient way to build and release your app. The Android App Bundle lets you more easily deliver a great experience in a smaller app size.
will be more better to upload low size APk otherwise user will never download app from play store. if you have large images or gifs and you don't have server then you can use firebase storege where you can easily store your files and fetch . where you can upload your file and get images paths .

What is the best way to host the Apple App Site Association file?

To enable certain Apple app features (Sign in with Apple in this case) Apple requires that you register an associated web domain. This domain needs to host a file called apple-app-site-association (with no extension) in the root of that domain.
I am looking for a free way to do this. My developer website is hosted by Wix website builder. Wix will not allow you to upload files with no extension. Even if they did, I'm not convinced that their domain system would allow it. Wix domains follow the pattern of https://{YourUser}.wixsite.com/{YourWebsite}. Apple would look for the file at https://{YourUser}.wixsite.com/, a location which you have no control over. I believe that the other free website builder, Squarespace, suffers in the same way. Someone found a Cloudflare workaround, but Cloudflare no longer works with either website.
I didn't know it would be such a pain to put this file somewhere. What is the best solution to this? I'm surely not the first person to stumble into it.
I wasn't able to get a working solution with any of the standard website building platforms. I was able to get two slightly different solutions working though. GitHub Pages is free and lets you set up a repository that meets the requirements for Apple's file. Firebase lets you do the same thing through their "Hosting" service, in the free tier. On Windows you will need to use command prompt to create a folder that begins with a period for both repositories. GitHub Pages can be uploaded to from any Git program, Firebase Hosting requires you use their command line tools package.

Does an app's APK have to be downloaded from Google Play to use Google Play services

Looking at the Google Play Services documentation, it doesn't say specifically whether an app has to have been downloaded from Google Play to use Google Play services or InApp purchasing.
Unfortunately virtually all my 200-400 a day free game app downloads are from sites like 'APKMonk' that download apk files directly without using Google Play (and don't ask permission for this). I get maybe 5 or 6 Google Play downloads a day, about 2% of the downloads, as I can't afford spending a load to Google to advertise and getting the download numbers for their top lists is practically impossible for independent developers otherwise.
Google Analytics and Admob serves have been working with these rogue downloads, but I'm getting no InApp purchases, even for free promo items, and very few leaderboard and achievement posts (12 leaderboard posts out of thousands of rogue downloads so far).
Is this because they didn't download from Google Play in the first place? Should I add a message to uninstall their apps and reinstall from Google Play?
It doesn't matter where they have been downloaded from.
For inApp purchases, it only matters whether they have Google play installed on their device.

Integrating Google Drive with Google Sites (intranet)

I've setup a Google apps account with the view to use it for my intranet, email, document sharing etc.
With this is Google Sites, in which I have created a basic intranet site, my understanding originally was that Google Sites would enable me to integrate with Google Drive (formerly Google Docs). I presumed it would be easy to create a "Documents" page in my intranet and then display recent documents that were added to Google Drive.
However if you do create a Documents page in Google Sites then this seems to be completely separate from the Documents in Google Drive.
I have read about Google Picker API but I'm not completely sure this is what I'm looking for.
Has anybody any experience of using Google Drive for business in this way? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?
Any help would be great thank you
You'll have to get into the scripting a bit. see this link for one way to solve this https://developers.google.com/apps-script/articles/embedding_docslist_in_sites
And yes Sites have a 'file cabinet' which is completely separate form Google Drive.
Overdrive provides this functionality. It is a commercial product though. The folder structure within Overdrive matches the Google Drive folder structure. Documents you see listed within a folder in Overdrive are the same as those you can access directly in Google Drive.
I have no affiliation with this company, I've just been trialling it.
Another product you can use to do such kind of integration is Metadrive. This tool give you the possibility to create views and search within Google Drive and Team Drives.

a replacement to ad-hoc on the appstore

My company needs to upload an app to the store , that will only be available to 80 people over the world that will get the permission to test it.
The ad-hoc method requires their iphones id's to be register with the app, and obviously we dont have it.
Whats the best way, to upload the app to the store ,to let this people to get it ?
(NO, without just go to the review process of apple)
thanks.
Besides the enterprise developer program, Ad-Hoc distribution is the only way to limit your audience.
If you try to game the app store with an unreasonable high price and promo codes (limit of 50 codes per app version) Apple will kick you out of the review process in no time.
Use testflight to get device IDs easier and deploy you app to the testers.
There is no way to do that, for the Adhoc, you must register their UDID devices.
You can upload the app in the AppStore, put it's price high, and give the prople that you want to test the app a redeem code that will download the app free, but i think the number of redeem code you have is 25. If you find anyway to do that, share it with us please.
If the 80 people that will be testing/using the app are employees of the company, you should look into the Enterprise Developer Program. Enterprise development lets you deploy an internal app to employees of your organization that is not released to the App Store. It essentially lets you build an Ad Hoc like version of your app that can then be installed on devices without the need to get UDIDs.
The cost is $299 instead of the normal $99 and there are a few caveats on whether or not your organization qualifies. But if you do qualify, it vastly simplifies deploying an internal app and it gives you specifically what you were asking for - no review and no need to ask for UDIDs. You can put the signed bundle up on a website and simply give people the URL to it for OTA installation, so you don't even need iTunes.
Alternatively, if the end users are not a part of your organization, you can also look into developing Custom B2B Apps. This one comes with a few more hoops to jump through and it also requires an Apple review, but it allows your app to be sold only to specific customers and doesn't put it in the App Store. If you're already a developer with Apple, there's even a WWDC video on it.

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