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I published my app update yesterday and users can manually update it on Google Play, but it should be installed automatically.

Does this have anything to do with my certificate? I receive a warning that it does not have a timestamp.

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Z0q
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  • That's not up to you, since you can not do anything. – Luca Ziegler Nov 20 '15 at 13:42
  • Well, other apps do update automatically. So why can't mine? – Z0q Nov 20 '15 at 13:47
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    Besides what @LucaZiegler has already pointed out, 1. how do you know your updates are not automatically updated? 2. Users can choose to not update a application or all applications to not update automatically. You simply cannot override their preference. You can however show an in-app prompt that a newer version of you app is available. There are several such question on SO. For example: http://stackoverflow.com/q/5555098/450534. – Siddharth Lele Nov 20 '15 at 13:48
  • You can free host a JSON file on http://myjson.com/ – Luca Ziegler Nov 20 '15 at 13:52
  • @IceMAN thank you. It is helpful. However, on my secondary phone I have automatic updates enabled in Google Play. Shouldn't it update automatically then? – Z0q Nov 20 '15 at 13:52
  • @Z0q: How long has it been since you posted the update? – Siddharth Lele Nov 20 '15 at 13:55

1 Answers1

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When apps are updated on Google Play, Google reviews the app and then makes the new version available for download if you go to the app in the store (this is in their policy) pretty quickly.

Based on experience, once the new version is "available" for download that does not mean that Google Play automatically and immediately updates the installed user base. I can speculate on why this is happens (bandwidth distribution, polling schemes, allowing developers time to monitor the update feedback, etc.).

But I am certain that not all users get the update immediately even when "automatic updates" are turned on. It takes some time for the update to propagate, maybe a couple of days. I have users that don't seem to get updates for several days even with "automatic update" turned on.

(Also, your question should read something like, "Android App not automatically updated on devices")

Jim
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  • Thank you for your answer :) I finally received the 'Update Available' notification, but once I clicked it, Google Play opened and still showed the previous version without an option to update. I chose 'Uninstall' and then 'Install', and it attempted to install the previous version with the old permissions. Why is it notifying about a new version when it is not available yet? I restarted the phone and Google Play was updated with the newest version. Is this a common issue? – Z0q Nov 20 '15 at 18:24
  • This is not uncommon in my experience. Google's distribution system is not perfect and it has to track literally billions of updates from millions of apps. There are platforms out there to help you track installs, updates, etc. for your particular app if you want to have greater control/higher confidence in your app distribution. – Jim Nov 20 '15 at 19:50