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I have some functionality for rating my app and for viewing/installing other apps I have on the marketplace that I need to test in the android avd emulator. To do this I need to have the latest google play apk installed but I am unsure of the official location to download this from so I can install it on to the emulator.

Lot's of the sources I have found are for file sharing sites and out of date apks and I would be grateful for a link to the official apk. For some reason best known to themselves I don;t seem to be ble to get it from the main google play site. this is most confusing!

Or is there another way to test market app functionality on an emulator?

jamesc
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    possible duplicate of [Installing Android Market App on Emulator](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4263339/installing-android-market-app-on-emulator) – Paresh Mayani May 09 '12 at 07:38
  • I'm going to try to get the latest apk from a friends phone and try that – jamesc May 09 '12 at 07:48

2 Answers2

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what you are looking for is: "market://details?id=" + APP_PNAME

I strongly recommend using the android code snippet app rater

good luck

thepoosh
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  • I am using that market:// link with the package names but I need to test and I just get force close errors because the google play app is not installed on the emulator. so where can I get the proper/latest apk from? – jamesc May 09 '12 at 07:36
  • @jamesw, try reading this link: [http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/21862/how-to-enable-the-android-market-in-the-google-android-emulator/](http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/21862/how-to-enable-the-android-market-in-the-google-android-emulator/) – thepoosh May 09 '12 at 07:41
  • Thank's muchly, that was one of the out of date links I was referring to. It's an old 1.5 apk version. – jamesc May 09 '12 at 07:47
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First, this is not a programming question. Second, there is no such thing as an 'official download location'. The Play Store application is only available on licensed devices. Even if you pulled the apk from your device, it won't run on the emulator as is, since it requires other components as well. So, test on a real device if you need access to the Market/Play store.

Nikolay Elenkov
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  • But I don't have an android phone, that's why I am using the emulator! Since when has testing your code not been a programming question? – jamesc May 09 '12 at 07:38
  • You are asking where to download an app that is not available for public download -- that is not a programming question. If you asked how do I test this and this on the emulator, that would be a programming question. At any rate, buy an (cheap) Android device, or get someone to test it for you. – Nikolay Elenkov May 09 '12 at 07:48
  • I asked where I can get the apk from and explained that I need it to test. – jamesc May 09 '12 at 07:52
  • OK, it that is how you see things. Cf. the title of your post: 'Android, official download location for google play apk for testing?' If it was 'Testing Google Play Store integration on an emulator' or some such, it might be passable. But really, get someone to test it for you, or prepare to waste many hours trying to get the Play Store to work on the emulator. – Nikolay Elenkov May 09 '12 at 08:04
  • Thanks for the comment. I have someone who will test but it seems wrong to have code that does not function in my own environment. I get the point now (I didn't when I asked the question) that this is not as straight forward as it should be. – jamesc May 09 '12 at 08:12
  • Even we don't like it, it's Google's policy. They probably could provide some sort of a 'dummy' market app for testing on emulator, but, AFAIK, there is not such thing for now. Some things can be tested by adding a Google account on the emulator, but for other things like in-app payments you need a real device with a recent version of the market/play store. – Nikolay Elenkov May 09 '12 at 08:16