Programmatically check Play Store for app updates

Question

I have put my app on the Google Play Store  It has been installed by lots of my company s customers  I understand the mechanism of how the app is intended to upgrade  The users should check the auto-update check box in the Playstore app for each app they want to auto-update  However some users have unchecked it or not checked it in the first place  The app i have written is for the care industry and is used by carers to deliver homecare  Some of our customers my have 1200 carers  They would have to call all the carers into the office to update the phones individually  This is obviously unacceptable  Is there a way to programmatically check if there is an updated version of my app on the Play Store  Could i have code that runs every time the user starts the app that checks the Play Store  If there is an updated version then the user could be directed to the Playstore  This will mean it is not essential to have the auto-update checked

User · Answer

Firebase Remote Config could be a possible and reliable solution for now  since google didn t expose any api to it   Check Firebase Remote Config Docs  Steps 1 Create a firebase project and add google play service json to your project  2 Create keys like  android latest version code  and  android latest version name  in firebase console- Remote Config  3 Android Code      public void initializeFirebase             if  FirebaseApp getApps mContext  isEmpty                  FirebaseApp initializeApp mContext  FirebaseOptions fromResource mContext                      final FirebaseRemoteConfig config   FirebaseRemoteConfig getInstance            FirebaseRemoteConfigSettings configSettings   new FirebaseRemoteConfigSettings Builder                                                                  setDeveloperModeEnabled BuildConfig DEBUG                                                                 build            config setConfigSettings configSettings       Get current version name and code  int playStoreVersionCode   FirebaseRemoteConfig getInstance   getString                   android latest version code    PackageInfo pInfo   this getPackageManager   getPackageInfo getPackageName    0   int currentAppVersionCode   pInfo versionCode   if playStoreVersionCode gt currentAppVersionCode     Show update popup or whatever best for you     4  And keep firebase  android latest version code  and  android latest version name  upto date with your current production version name and code   Firebase remote config works on both Android and IPhone

User · Answer

You can try following code using Jsoup  String latestVersion   doc getElementsContainingOwnText  Current Version   parents   first   getAllElements   last   text

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Google introduced in-app update api  Using that we can ask user to update app inside the application  if user accept we can directly download latest app and install without redirect to playstore  for more details please refer the below link  link1link2

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Apart from using JSoup  we can alternatively do pattern matching for getting the app version from playStore    To match the latest pattern from google playstore ie        lt div class  BgcNfc  gt Current Version lt  div gt  lt span class  htlgb  gt  lt div gt  lt span class  htlgb  gt X X X lt  span gt  lt  div gt  we first have to match the above node sequence and then from above sequence get the version value  Below is the code snippet for same       private String getAppVersion String patternString  String inputString            try                Create a pattern             Pattern pattern   Pattern compile patternString               if  null    pattern                    return null                               Match the pattern string in provided string             Matcher matcher   pattern matcher inputString               if  null    matcher  amp  amp  matcher find                      return matcher group 1                           catch  PatternSyntaxException ex                 ex printStackTrace                       return null              private String getPlayStoreAppVersion String appUrlString            final String currentVersion PatternSeq     lt div   gt     gt Current  sVersion lt  div gt  lt span   gt     gt       gt  lt div   gt     gt       gt  lt span   gt     gt       lt  span gt            final String appVersion PatternSeq    htlgb   gt     lt     lt  s           String playStoreAppVersion   null           BufferedReader inReader   null          URLConnection uc   null          StringBuilder urlData   new StringBuilder             final URL url   new URL appUrlString           uc   url openConnection            if uc    null               return null                    uc setRequestProperty  User-Agent    Mozilla 5 0  Windows  U  WindowsNT 5 1  en-US  rv1 8 1 6  Gecko 20070725 Firefox 2 0 0 6            inReader   new BufferedReader new InputStreamReader uc getInputStream              if  null    inReader                String str                   while   str   inReader readLine       null                               urlData append str                                       Get the current version pattern sequence          String versionString   getAppVersion  currentVersion PatternSeq  urlData toString             if null    versionString                return null           else                 get version from  htlgb  gt X X X lt  span gt              playStoreAppVersion   getAppVersion  appVersion PatternSeq  versionString                      return playStoreAppVersion          I got it solved through this  as this works for latest Google playstore changes also  Hope that helps

User · Answer

Set up a server that exposes an HTTP url that reports the latest version  then use an AlarmManager to call that URL and see if the version on the device is the same as the latest version  If it isn t pop up a message or notification and send them to the market to upgrade   There are some code examples  How to allow users to check for the latest app version from inside the app

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Update 17 October 2019  https   developer android com guide app-bundle in-app-updates  Update 24 april 2019   Android announced a feature which will probably fix this problem  Using the  in-app Updates API  https   android-developers googleblog com 2018 11 unfolding-right-now-at-androiddevsummit html  Original   As far a I know  there is no official Google API which supports this   You should consider to get a version number from an API    Instead of connecting to external APIs or webpages  like Google Play Store   There is a risk that something may change in the API or the webpage  so you should consider to check if the version code of the current app is below the version number you get from your own API   Just remember if you update your app  you need to change the version in your own API with the app version number   I would recommend that you make a file in your own website or API  with the version number   Eventually make a cronjob and make the version update automatic  and send a notification when something goes wrong   You have to get this value from your Google Play Store page  is changed in the meantime  not working anymore     lt div class  content  itemprop  softwareVersion  gt  x x x   lt  div gt    Check in your app if the version used on the mobile is below the version nummer showed on your own API   Show indication that she he needs to update with a notification  ideally   Things you can do  Version number using your own API  Pros    No need to load the whole code of the Google Play Store  saves on data bandwidth    Cons    User can be offline  which makes checking useless since the API can t be accessed   Version number on webpage Google Play Store  Pros    You don t need an API   Cons    User can be offline  which makes checking useless since the API can t be accessed   Using this method may cost your users more bandwidth mobile data Play store webpage could change which makes your version  ripper  not work anymore

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Firebase Remote Config is better    Quickly and easily update our applications without the need to publish a new build to the app   Implementing Remote Config on Android  Adding the Remote Config dependancy  compile  com google firebase firebase-config 9 6 0    Once done  we can then access the FirebaseRemoteConfig instance throughout our application where required   FirebaseRemoteConfig firebaseRemoteConfig   FirebaseRemoteConfig getInstance      Retrieving Remote Config values  boolean someBoolean   firebaseRemoteConfig getBoolean  some boolean    byte   someArray   firebaseRemoteConfig getByteArray  some array    double someDouble   firebaseRemoteConfig getDouble  some double    long someLong   firebaseRemoteConfig getLong  some long    String appVersion   firebaseRemoteConfig getString  appVersion      Fetch Server-Side values  firebaseRemoteConfig fetch cacheExpiration               addOnCompleteListener new OnCompleteListener lt Void gt                       Override                 public void onComplete  NonNull Task lt Void gt  task                        if  task isSuccessful                              mFirebaseRemoteConfig activateFetched                               We got our config  let s do something with it                          if appVersion  lt  CurrentVersion                                show update dialog                                                 else                              Looks like there was a problem getting the config                                                              Now once uploaded the new version to playstore  we have to update the version number inside firebase  Now if it is new version the update dialog will display

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Tarun answer was working perfectly but now isnt  due to the recent changes from Google on google play website   Just change these from  Tarun answer    class GetVersionCode extends AsyncTask lt Void  String  String gt          Override      protected String doInBackground Void    voids             String newVersion   null           try               Document document   Jsoup connect  https   play google com store apps details id     MainActivity this getPackageName        amp hl en                        timeout 30000                       userAgent  Mozilla 5 0  Windows  U  WindowsNT 5 1  en-US  rv1 8 1 6  Gecko 20070725 Firefox 2 0 0 6                        referrer  http   www google com                        get                if  document    null                    Elements element   document getElementsContainingOwnText  Current Version                    for  Element ele   element                        if  ele siblingElements      null                            Elements sibElemets   ele siblingElements                            for  Element sibElemet   sibElemets                                newVersion   sibElemet text                                                                                              catch  IOException e                e printStackTrace                      return newVersion                Override      protected void onPostExecute String onlineVersion             super onPostExecute onlineVersion            if  onlineVersion    null  amp  amp   onlineVersion isEmpty                   if  Float valueOf currentVersion   lt  Float valueOf onlineVersion                       show anything                                   Log d  update    Current version     currentVersion    playstore version     onlineVersion              and don t forget to add JSoup library  dependencies   compile  org jsoup jsoup 1 8 3     and on Oncreate     Override protected void onCreate Bundle savedInstanceState        super onCreate savedInstanceState       setContentView R layout activity main         String currentVersion      try           currentVersion   getPackageManager   getPackageInfo getPackageName    0  versionName        catch  PackageManager NameNotFoundException e            e printStackTrace               new GetVersionCode   execute         that s it   Thanks to this link

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Inside OnCreate method write below code    VersionChecker versionChecker   new VersionChecker        try           latestVersion   versionChecker execute   get            Toast makeText getBaseContext    latestVersion   Toast LENGTH SHORT  show           catch  InterruptedException   ExecutionException e            e printStackTrace            this gives you play store version of app    then you have to check app version as below  PackageManager manager   getPackageManager        PackageInfo info   null      try           info   manager getPackageInfo getPackageName    0         catch  PackageManager NameNotFoundException e            e printStackTrace              assert info    null      version   info versionName    after that you can compare it with store version and setup your own update screens  if version equals latestVersion            Toast makeText getBaseContext     No Update    Toast LENGTH SHORT  show         else           Toast makeText getBaseContext     Update    Toast LENGTH SHORT  show             And add VersionChecker class as below  public class VersionChecker extends AsyncTask lt String  String  String gt         private String newVersion        Override     protected String doInBackground String    params             try               newVersion   Jsoup connect  https   play google com store apps details id      package name      amp hl en                        timeout 30000                       userAgent  Mozilla 5 0  Windows  U  WindowsNT 5 1  en-US  rv1 8 1 6  Gecko 20070725 Firefox 2 0 0 6                        referrer  http   www google com                        get                        select   hAyfc  htlgb                        get 7                       ownText              catch  IOException e                e printStackTrace                       return newVersion

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There s AppUpdater library  How to include    Add the repository to your project build gradle     allprojects       repositories           jcenter           maven               url  https   jitpack io                        Add the library to your module build gradle     dependencies       compile  com github javiersantos AppUpdater 2 6 4        Add INTERNET and ACCESS NETWORK STATE permissions to your app s Manifest      lt uses-permission android name  android permission INTERNET   gt   lt uses-permission android name  android permission ACCESS NETWORK STATE   gt      Add this to your activity     AppUpdater appUpdater   new AppUpdater this    appUpdater start

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Coming From a Hybrid Application POV   This is a javascript example  I have a Update Available footer on my main menu  If an update is available  ie  my version number within the config file is less than the version retrieved  display the footer  This will then direct the user to the app play store  where the user can then click the update button   I also get the whats new data  ie Release Notes  and display these in a modal on login if its the first time on this version   On device Ready  set your store URL          if  device platform     iOS              storeURL    https   itunes apple com lookup bundleId BUNDLEID           else            storeURL    https   play google com store apps details id BUNDLEID     The Update Available method can be ran as often as you like  Mine is ran every time the user navigates to the home screen   function isUpdateAvailable         if  device platform     iOS               ajax storeURL                type   GET               cache  false              dataType   json             done function  data                isUpdateAvailable iOS data results 0               fail function  jqXHR  textStatus  errorThrown                commsErrorHandler jqXHR  textStatus  false                     else             ajax storeURL                type   GET               cache  false            done function  data                isUpdateAvailable Android data              fail function  jqXHR  textStatus  errorThrown                commsErrorHandler jqXHR  textStatus  false                         iOS Callback  Apple have an API  so very easy to get  function isUpdateAvailable iOS  data        var storeVersion   data version      var releaseNotes   data releaseNotes         Check store Version Against My App Version   1 14 3  - gt  1143      var  storeV   parseInt storeVersion replace     g            var  appV   parseInt appVersion substring 1  replace     g                ft-main-menu-btn   off        if   storeV  gt   appV               Update Available             ft-main-menu-btn   text  Update Available                ft-main-menu-btn   click function                  openStore                       else               ft-main-menu-btn   html   amp nbsp                Release Notes         settings updateReleaseNotes  v    storeVersion  releaseNotes             Android Callback  PlayStore you have to scrape  as you can see the version is relatively easy to grab and the whats new i take the html instead of the text as this way I can use their formatting  ie new lines etc   function isUpdateAvailable Android data        var html     data       var storeVersion   html find  div itemprop softwareVersion    text   trim        var releaseNotes   html find   whatsnew   0  innerHTML         Check store Version Against My App Version   1 14 3  - gt  1143      var  storeV   parseInt storeVersion replace     g            var  appV   parseInt appVersion substring 1  replace     g                ft-main-menu-btn   off        if   storeV  gt   appV               Update Available             ft-main-menu-btn   text  Update Available                ft-main-menu-btn   click function                  openStore                       else               ft-main-menu-btn   html   amp nbsp                Release Notes         settings updateReleaseNotes  v    storeVersion  releaseNotes             The open store logic is straight forward  but for completeness  function openStore         var url    https   itunes apple com us app appname idUniqueID       if  device platform     iOS          url    https   play google com store apps details id appid     window open url    system       Ensure Play Store and App Store have been Whitelisted      lt access origin  https   itunes apple com   gt     lt access origin  https   play google com   gt

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Include JSoup in your apps build gradle file     dependencies       compile  org jsoup jsoup 1 8 3      and get current version like     currentVersion   getPackageManager   getPackageInfo getPackageName    0  versionName    And execute following thread     private class GetVersionCode extends AsyncTask lt Void  String  String gt         Override     protected String doInBackground Void    voids         String newVersion   null      try           newVersion   Jsoup connect  https   play google com store apps details id     MainActivity this getPackageName       amp hl it                    timeout 30000                   userAgent  Mozilla 5 0  Windows  U  WindowsNT 5 1  en-US  rv1 8 1 6  Gecko 20070725 Firefox 2 0 0 6                    referrer  http   www google com                    get                    select   hAyfc  htlgb                    get 7                   ownText            return newVersion        catch  Exception e            return newVersion                    Override     protected void onPostExecute String onlineVersion            super onPostExecute onlineVersion           Log d  update    Current version     currentVersion    playstore version     onlineVersion           if  onlineVersion    null  amp  amp   onlineVersion isEmpty                  if  Float valueOf currentVersion   lt  Float valueOf onlineVersion                       show dialog                                 For more details visit   http   revisitingandroid blogspot in 2016 12 programmatically-check-play-store-for html

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You can get current Playstore Version using JSoup with some modification like below    Override protected String doInBackground Void    voids         String newVersion   null      try           newVersion   Jsoup connect  https   play google com store apps details id     MainActivity this getPackageName       amp hl it                    timeout 30000                   userAgent  Mozilla 5 0  Windows  U  WindowsNT 5 1  en-US  rv1 8 1 6  Gecko 20070725 Firefox 2 0 0 6                    referrer  http   www google com                    get                    select   hAyfc  htlgb                    get 7                   ownText            return newVersion        catch  Exception e            return newVersion            Override protected void onPostExecute String onlineVersion        super onPostExecute onlineVersion        Log d  update    playstore version     onlineVersion       answer of  Tarun is not working anymore

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There is no official GooglePlay API to do it   But you can use this unofficial library to get app version data   And  if the above doesn t work for you  you can always http connect to your app s page  e g  https   play google com store apps details id com shots android amp hl en  and parse the  Current Version  field

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private void CheckUPdate         VersionChecker versionChecker   new VersionChecker        try         String appVersionName   BuildConfig VERSION NAME          String mLatestVersionName   versionChecker execute   get            if  appVersionName equals mLatestVersionName                AlertDialog Builder alertDialog   new AlertDialog Builder Activity this               alertDialog setTitle  Please update your app                alertDialog setMessage  This app version is no longer supported  Please update your app from the Play Store                 alertDialog setPositiveButton  UPDATE NOW   new DialogInterface OnClickListener                     public void onClick DialogInterface dialog  int which                        final String appPackageName   getPackageName                        try                           startActivity new Intent Intent ACTION VIEW  Uri parse  market   details id     appPackageName                           catch  android content ActivityNotFoundException anfe                            startActivity new Intent Intent ACTION VIEW  Uri parse  https   play google com store apps details id     appPackageName                                                                         alertDialog show                     catch  InterruptedException   ExecutionException e            e printStackTrace              SuppressLint  StaticFieldLeak   public class VersionChecker extends AsyncTask lt String  String  String gt        private String newVersion       Override     protected String doInBackground String    params             try               newVersion   Jsoup connect  https   play google com store apps details id   getPackageName                         timeout 30000                       userAgent  Mozilla 5 0  Windows  U  WindowsNT 5 1  en-US  rv1 8 1 6  Gecko 20070725 Firefox 2 0 0 6                        referrer  http   www google com                        get                        select   hAyfc  htlgb                        get 7                       ownText              catch  IOException e                e printStackTrace                      return newVersion

User · Answer

Google introduced In-app updates feature   https   developer android com guide app-bundle in-app-updates  it works on Lollipop  and gives you the ability to ask the user for an update with a nice dialog  FLEXIBLE  or with mandatory full-screen message  IMMEDIATE    Here is how Flexible update will look like    and here is Immedtiate update flow    You can check my answer here https   stackoverflow com a 56808529 5502121 to get the complete sample code of implementing both Flexible and Immediate update flows  Hope it helps

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Google has introduced in-app updates API  The API currently supports two flows    The    immediate    flow is a full-screen user experience that guides the user from download to update before they can use your app  The    flexible flow    allows users to download the update while continuing to use your app

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confirmed only that method work now   newVersion   Jsoup connect  https   play google com store apps details id     AcMainPage this getPackageName       amp hl it                            timeout 30000                           userAgent  Mozilla 5 0  Windows  U  WindowsNT 5 1  en-US  rv1 8 1 6  Gecko 20070725 Firefox 2 0 0 6                            referrer  http   www google com                            get                            select   hAyfc  htlgb                            get 5                           ownText

[android] Programmatically check Play Store for app updates

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