Scenario
I have an app that I've been working on for 6 months. I have already made the app for native iOS and about to put it on the Apple App Store. I know that I will want to work on the Android version of the app starting soon, but I would like to "lock-up" the name of the app on the Google Play Store before I begin working on it. I would hate to work another 6 months working just to get to the end and find that someone else took that name.
Question
How do I save an app name on the Google Play Store for future distribution?
You don't need to, Duplicates of names are allowed in Google Play. :)
Related
I'm using Google Play Store to distribute an app.
For a certain issue, I would like to install an OLDER version of my app to one of the client's device.
I'm struggling to do so, is there any way to do that?
No matter how and which "testing" method I apply, Google Play automatically shows the HIGHEST version of the app which is the "release" version ignoring the old test versions.
Creating an APK would be NO way because I need Google Play's own signature in the apk to make things work (to test the things we would like to)
Is there any way at all to distribute my OLDER app version from Google Play store?
(By the way Google's testing methods are inexpressibly unusable even apart from this problem. You never see what really happens, you cannot really manage the testing channels the GUI is miserable the notification email is late the testing is slow and painful you don't see the version number in the Google Play Store, there are like 3 methods to do so and the difference between them is not self explaining, I give 1 start to the developers who made these parts of Google Play I hope they read this.)
Thanks in advance.
From Google Play Console go to App bundle explorer
Then choose the version you want to install
Go to Downloads tab
click on Copy sharable link
install it from you device using this link
Note: the device's Google Play account should be an internal tester and enable internal testing from Google Play on this device.
I've searched for examples of iOS app clip & Android instant Apps but could not find more than few examples.
I am looking for released apps in App Store/Google Play or open source examples.
good examples could make developing these new features easier and gives developers new creative ideas to use these wonderful tools.
Do you have an app that utilizes App clip or instant app?
How did this affect your app?
What is the challenges you have faced?
Note: I know this is not a typical question but it need to be asked in a community full of great developers who love to share knowledge with others, and I don't think there is a better place than here.
Intro
I know it's been 10 months since you posted the question but I just stumbled upon it now... I've developed an app called ARShades for both iOS and Android that allows the user to try glasses on via Augmented Reality and I'm still in charge of development. The app supports both Instant App and App Clip, although I'm facing troubles making the the app banner show for the App Clip.
Firebase issues
As far as I can tell developing App Clips is a tad harder than develeloping Instant Apps, I'll tell you why. The main apps for both systems make extensive use of Firebase Firestore and many other features. This isn't a problem on Android where sockets are supported across the board, while on iOS they are only supported in the main app, so I had to use REST API to read and write data on Firebase when developing the App Clip, it's been a nightmare since it was the first time for me dealing with REST APIs (I just finished yesterday and published the update).
App Size
Another issue I faced is related to reducing the app size. On Android I had to remove all the unused images and compress the remamining ones. On iOS I had to separate the asset catalogues between: used only by the main app, shared, and used only by app clip. And of course I went through some compression works there too. I forgot to mention that I developed a new app as Instant App on Android, while you cannot do the same on iOS since it must be in the same project.
App to site linking
Another insidious part was the linking of the site to the apps. I managed to do it on Android by making changes to the manifest and specifying the host, while I can't seem to find a way to link the App Clip to the site in ay way. I've done everything the documentation says. I've put the apple app site association file in the .well-known folder but nothing, no banner shows up. I'll keep working on that.
Edit: Everything is now solved.
Conclusions
So, to sum up, I've found Instant Apps better on the developing and hassle side of things, the support sockets, hence the full suite of frameworks the full apps have. I hope I kind of answered your question, although I think you have documented yorself elsewhere in these past 10 months XD
Links to Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.spaarkly.arshades&hl=en_US&gl=US
Link to iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/arshades-demo/id1586661818
Link for trying Instant App / App Clip
for each app in the playstore, it says how many installs there are. Eg. depending on the app the category could be something like 10k-50k or for popular apps such as FB it is in the millions.
I am wondering what "installs" means. Is it that the apps are actually installed on the users phones right now or would a download/install and deleting the app 5 min later also count towards this number??
Tried to google this but without much success.
Thanks,
Chris
I read about alpha/beta testing of apps in Play Developer Console. I have almost understood the concept of beta/alpha testing. Just have a question:
I want my app to be visible in Play Store but only those people can download it who are invited (like using email addresses or G+ communities). Seems like Alpha/Beta Testing hides the app from public.
But I have seen several apps (Can't think of the name) in Play Store with the text similar to This app is still in beta. Please wait until we reach more audience. And as expected there's no install button.
I want something similar to this. Public can see but only those can install who join G+ community.
Does open/closed beta testing provide such feature?
I'm a bit confused after reading a post from 4 years ago regarding the Apple ID and Bundle ID. I was told by someone with a very high reputation score that the Apple ID and Bundle ID are the same. But according to the post I read they aren't.
*****The possible duplicate question is the question that confused me. My question has to do with whether or not the App ID and Bundle ID are the same, and if that means I have full access to my code. That doesn't seem clear to me in the question from 4 years ago. Things may have also been updated.
My question also has to do with only seeing info.developersname.appname and not com.???.???
I had a company that has since disappeared develop my Demeters Harvest app. I am now working on trying to learn the basics before going with a new developer and I am confused about how to gain access to the XCode so a new dev can update the app that has some glitches.
When I go into my portal I see three provisioning files for the app with the same App ID: info.OLDDEVELOPERNAME.demeter. One is with XC in front and then there's a Wild Card too.
Are none of these the bundle that lets me work on my app? I don't know if these mean I do have the bundle or not.
Thanks.
I think I see your confusion. The Bundle ID and the App ID have to match, but they are not in fact the same thing. The App ID is what is in iTunes Connect, the Bundle ID is what is found in your app (Xcode project). You can't change your App ID once your app is in the store, and since your Bundle ID has to match your App ID to release your app, they are sometimes referred to as the same.
If you create a new project, you can set your Bundle ID to the App ID in the iTunes Connect, and it will be accepted by iTunes Connect.
EDIT: Picture of where to find accepted Bundle ID in iTunes Connect.