How to manually update android app

Questions
#1

Hello, so for some reason, our game cannot be allowed into PlayStore so I’m looking for a way to be able to manually update the apk. I tried looking at liveUpdate but I don’t think that’s the way.

Kindly assist.

#2

Our internal script isn’t very useful to you, but you should be able to write one yourself.

@agulev gives the key parts here: Need help with Admob extension (SOLVED)

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#3

Could you clarify a bit, what do you mean by “our game cannot be allowed into PlayStore”? Is the problem that you already published your game to PlayStore and you’re now unable to publish an update?

Or is the content not allowed on the PlayStore?

#4

No, the content is not allowed as it’s gambling related. We plan on hosting the game on our website for our users and also provide an .apk for side-loading.

Problem is when updates occur; and they will :sweat:, I have no way of updating the app.
Technically, all I need is too show users an unskipable dialog that they need to update;- This can be easily done, but when they click update, I need to; if possible download the file and invoke android FileProvider like this link

#5

Ah, I see! Please review our T&S since this is related to gambling, which might not be allowed. I don’t know the details and I’m not a lawyer, but I would highly recommend you review this before continuing. :slight_smile:

In any case, the LiveUpdate functionality enabled you to update game content without the users having to download new APK/binaries. If you need to update the actual game binary, for example if you need to update the Defold runtime to get the latest fixes/features your users would still need to download the update themselves if it’s outside the PlayStore.

There is a great manual covering the LiveUpdate functionality: https://www.defold.com/manuals/live-update/

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#6

You mean to update a user installed app without the app store? You have a couple of options:

  • Add a version update check in your app and show an in-game popup when there is a new version (and maybe even link to the update to trigger a download)
  • Use LiveUpdate - The latest improvements to LiveUpdate allows you to add new content to an already existing app. Super powerful!

Ah, yes, this is a problem. As Sven says, you need to look into our T&C, specifically Section 3

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