I completely understand the forward locking per market issue. We offered a solution to Google but got a polite "Thanks, but no Thanks" back and an indication they were working on something. That was nearly a year ago now, and as currently 3rd party markets still can't even utilise the copy-protection mechanism utilised by Market I'm not too hopeful of a universal solution.
Intercepting the market:// is a double edged sword that we've stayed away from. Yes, it would give more transparent integration for some apps, but because developers haven't listed all their apps on all of the markets there would be some broken links and the user may be left with the impression the source of the link was at fault as opposed to realising it's because their device doesn't have full market access. We've tried to steer clear of being "simple" Market copy so users know they're using AndAppStore not Market and thus the range of apps and facilities will be different (e.g. they'll get a full range of paid apps instead of a country by country hit-and-miss mix). Al. -- * Looking for Android Apps? - Try http://andappstore.com/ * ====== Funky Android Limited is registered in England & Wales with the company number 6741909. 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. On 22 Mar 2010, at 08:05, String wrote: > I really like the idea of the alternative markets, mostly because I do > feel quite strongly about the shortcomings of the official Market. > However, to date I have not listed any of my apps on any. Why not? > > On Mar 22, 6:55 am, Al Sutton <[email protected]> wrote: > >> It takes about 5 minutes to register and list your app [on] AndAppStore, so >> it's your call. > > Technically, it's probably true that takes 5 minutes to register and > list an app. However, if you're hoping to get paid for your app, > there's significantly more effort involved... The forward locking > mechanism has to be integrated into your Java code, and while this > again isn't greatly difficult in itself, it means that you have a > different version of your app for each market. > > The situation also gets more complicated if you have a "bundle" of > several related apps. Right now, I have 2 paid apps released, one > under a "freemium" model and one under a trial/license model. Both of > these are actually 2 apps in one: the free part is one app, with > internal market:// links to the paid part. This is a crucial component > of either of these models, and it only works with the official Market > - meaning that, to sell either sort of app elsewhere, I'd need to > branch my code still further. > > Al and Shane, if you could register a receiver for the market:// URL > intent, that'd go a LONG way towards alleviating this objection. > >> It's not really about the size of the market it's about whether you want >> access to more users. > > If you have an app that's supported by external means - ads, > donations, memberships, whatever - then it probably really is 5 > minutes to list it on an alternative market, and it's worthwhile to > spend that time. Otherwise, from a ROI perspective, a small market > just isn't worth the effort if it can't deliver some sales. > Unfortunate, but true. :^( > > String > > -- > 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. > -- 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.
