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Android Updating Apps on Google play

kupo15

Member
I tried searching for the answer for this but had no luck. I'm trying to figure out how to allow the user to update the app when I upload a new build version to the store, you know how FB and all the other apps are able to let you know an update for the app is available to download?

I'm in the internal testing phase and pushed it to a closed alpha to test things. Then I uploaded a new version of the app to the playstore in the alpha channel as well but when I check to see if I can update it, nothing appears. All I'm able to do is "Open" the app that's already on my device in which case its the older version.

It seems like I would have to uninstall the current version manually then reinstall the latest version.

1. This is a pain and isn't as professional as simply having users update the app and uninstall/reinstall happens automatically
2. Having them uninstall the app also removes the ini file and deletes their saved data which is no good

How do I get around this? Is the update feature only available for Production versions and how do I go about not deleting the ini file? I'm about to check out unchecking the "always do a fresh install" option. I didn't know about that before.
 
S

Starpolygon

Guest
Hi, Google play apps are updated automatically if users haven´t manually changed this in their settings. If you update your app in closed alpha with a higher version number - it will be available for install from your app store page by pressing "update". Sometimes you need to reload the play store app to clear the cache of your play store page.
 

kupo15

Member
Hi, Google play apps are updated automatically if users haven´t manually changed this in their settings. If you update your app in closed alpha with a higher version number - it will be available for install from your app store page by pressing "update". Sometimes you need to reload the play store app to clear the cache of your play store page.
Thanks, that's what I thought and it didn't seem to appear. Maybe I did something wrong before but just got an update button so it seems to be working properly and retained the data. Thanks!
Yep, I saw that before. It just didn't seem to be working but now it is.

I have one issue that I think can't be fixed or worked around I want to confirm. I started this program testing with a friend by direct installing the apk through dropbox link and not the playstore because I didn't have the playstore set up or the experience using it. It appears as though since the Playstore doesn't recognize it because it wasn't installed through them that the update feature won't work until they download it through the playstore.

The problem is that this requires a manual uninstall which will wipe the saved data and it will have to be reentered in the playstore version. Is there any workaround for this? Like being able to copy the ini to a different location on the phone so that when its uninstalled the ini file is still there to be accessed from the playstore version?
 
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