android: Detect if App was downloaded from market

Question

I've got an app which I would like to distribute through the market place and also from my own site. How do I, using only one build and one key, check to see if the app was downloaded from the market place or not?

This question is answered by having the code signed with different keys, but we ideally want a single build.

Sergey - Stick this down as an answer and I'll mark it as correct. From what I can tell, you're right in that this is not possible. — Martyn, Oct 11 '10 at 15:50

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 21 '11 at 18:02

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packageManager.getInstallerPackageName(context).equals("com.google.android.feedback")

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/pm/PackageManager.html#getInstallerPackageName(java.lang.String)

answered Oct 21 '11 at 18:02

Andy McSherry

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This might not be a viable solution, as [some developers are reporting](http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers/browse_thread/thread/d3c0ac0748e38132) that `getInstallerPackageName()` does not always return the same value (or any value at all) when the application is installed via the Market. – Paul Lammertsma Nov 20 '11 at 20:32

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 19 '10 at 16:38

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It seems that this can't be done.

answered Oct 19 '10 at 16:38

Martyn

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Note that it only can't be done given the OP's constraints. It could done by signing the Market build with a unique key, and comparing a checksum of the key against a stored value inside the app. Personally, I prefer to customize by build script for release vs. debug builds. – Paul Lammertsma Nov 20 '11 at 20:39

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 08 '10 at 17:30

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On my Android 1.5 handset only applications installed via Market are listed in "My downloads" in Market App, so the question is if you can retrieve that list in runtime. I don't know if it's the same with Android 2.x.

answered Oct 08 '10 at 17:30

matm

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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 23 '10 at 11:04

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Paid apps from the market can use the Android Licensing Module to determine if they are buyed from the market. But for free apps i don't know a solution

http://developer.android.com/guide/publishing/licensing.html

answered Dec 23 '10 at 11:04

ludwigm

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 08 '10 at 15:50

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I don't know if this really correlates or not, but if you can read /data/system/packages.xml market apps seem to have installer="com.google.android.feedback" while those bundled with the system build and those locally compiled do not.

answered Oct 08 '10 at 15:50

Chris Stratton

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Recently Android Market has package "com.android.vending". – Pointer Null Jan 07 '12 at 08:15

android: Detect if App was downloaded from market

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