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Android App Updates

We have developed an Android application and plan to install them on tablets and distribute it to our customers. Now we need to decide on the process of sending updates to the application when they are available.

Can anyone suggest a better approach to achieve this process of sending updates?

Is it possible to update without changes, that is, update the application without user intervention by checking, downloading and installing the latest version using the application?

Thanks in advance, Navin

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android tablet updates
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You can use the Google C2DM service to send a push notification to a device that informs it of an update. You can then receive a broadcast receiver to receive push notifications and start downloading. See here for more details. http://code.google.com/android/c2dm/index.html

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The simplest solution that I know of is to retrieve the current version number from the Internet, compare it with the existing installed version, and if there is an update available, a pop-up dialog box with a link to the Android Market page for a specific application.

So basically you decide when you want to check (application launch, regular intervals, etc.)

And then you request a remote file containing the latest version number.

You compare this to the installed version number, and if latest > installed shows the user a link to the Android Market.

afaik, you cannot silently update the application for security reasons

Here is some code where someone implemented the above solution: http://www.androidsnippets.com/check-for-updates-once-a-day

Launching the Android market on the device: http://developer.android.com/guide/publishing/publishing.html#marketintent

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