I've been given the impression that something like the AndAppStore licensing system is in the works for Market. I'm not sure how close the solution will be to what we offer, but hopefully it will be close enough to offer variable feature sets and device/user/phone number locking which provides enough functionality for a single apk to switch on and off features as and when users get licenses for them.
Beyond that it's a matter of handling payments and upgrades in a sane way. Al. --- * Written an Android App? - List it at http://andappstore.com/ * ====== Funky Android Limited is registered in England & Wales with the company number 6741909. The registered head office is Kemp House, 152-160 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX, UK. The views expressed in this email are those of the author and not necessarily those of Funky Android Limited, it's associates, or it's subsidiaries. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: 27 April 2009 10:18 To: Android Discuss Subject: [android-discuss] Combining free and paid versions of app into a single apk - a proposal to the Google engineers Proposal to Google engineers : - Apps should be published as a single apk, both free and paid version - There should be an API within the app to confirm whether user is a free or paid user and disable / enable functionality accordingly - There should be a screen that can be called from the app which allows user to upgrade to the full version with a single click (this may be a callout to the normal Google Checkout payment screens and then return back to the app) - No need to re-download the apk - just start it again with the new settings Advantages : - Android market not flooded with duplicate versions of each app - Devs can issue single update which will upgrade both sets of users - Makes it easier / more enticing for users to upgrade to full version as just single click - No new download required on upgrading to full version - Saves devs time in having to produce and maintain 2 versions of each app! - Allows automatic sharing of data between free and paid versions of app - Significantly reduce refunds as apps should all be testable before payment made I can't see many downsides to this idea, so if it is not too difficult to implement, could the Google engineers please consider this proposal. I strongly believe it will help advance the Android Market above competing app stores. I would like to hear other devs thoughts on this. p.s. I posted this once before but there was a typo in the message subject (I said 'some' apk, rather than 'same' apk) that I was later unable to change. I don't think it got the response it needed, given the issues it raises could easily be addressed on the Android Market and help develop the platform. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Discuss" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
