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I am currently developing an application where I want to be able to have an option to allow the user to donate money for the app. Is there a particular way about doing this for android. I have tried looking at google but it mainly shows about paypal donation buttons for websites

Boardy
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    Via the paypal website you can create a link that is specific to your PayPal ID that will allow people who follow it to donate any amount that they'd like to you. All you'd have to do for this to work on android is put a button in your app that when clicked creates an Intent containing this link and start it. That will open up the browser to the correct page that the user can use to make a donation. – FoamyGuy Feb 19 '11 at 21:57
  • Note: the link is on the "email" tab (I had issues figuring out what this link was for a few minutes, LOL) – onaclov2000 Jan 09 '13 at 17:30
  • For Paypal Donate (button) Link: Note: This button is intended for fundraising. If you are not raising money for a cause, please choose another option. Nonprofits must verify their status to withdraw donations they receive. Users that are not verified nonprofits must demonstrate how their donations will be used, once they raise more than $10,000. – hB0 Aug 31 '13 at 21:02
  • @FoamyGuy : Can you please provide a snippet for this. I searched a lot to open an Intent in my Android app and redirect the user to PayPal donation page, but found nothing. Please help with this. Thanks – YuDroid Nov 26 '14 at 07:11

4 Answers4

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Like @alocaly said, you're unable to recieve donations through a system different from android market payment or ads inside the application.

However, it is still possible to have your application on the Internet by free and with a donation button. The difference is that you cannot post it on the Android Market, so you'll have to do some extra work:

  • Upload to a webserver, so it can be downloaded to your phone.
  • Create a website (or post your application to another "illegal" market), so people can find your application.
  • Use some sort of advertising to let people know your application (Twitter retweets, community ads, GoogleAds, SEO, whatever)
  • Manage some kind of update system. Since you don't rely anymore on the Android Market, you don't have an automatic updating method (Android Market updates applications when you post a new version of it), so you should have a small class that checks a website looking for a new version (it's not that hard) and downloads a new version when there's one available.
  • Make work the Paypal button like @Tim said

However, you are able to do something that I've see out there: create a free version of your application and post it on the Android Market, and post another version of the same application called "Same program name (Donation)", costing some money. When someone wants to donate you, they'll only have to buy this version.

I hope it helps

Sergi Juanola
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I think it should be possible.

There's a similar discussion on Google Groups which basically says that donations are allowed as long as you don't offer additional functionality for that money.

Meaning no functionality is enabled after the donation is made.

casperOne
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Marcel N.
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    the group doesn't exist anymore – Bachask8 Nov 23 '13 at 21:31
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    For future readers of this answer, the group doesn't exist anymore (as of 2013 apparently). Moreover, things might have been changed since 2011, so better look for an answer somewhere else. – Marcel N. Mar 12 '15 at 07:26
  • I strongly discourage using PayPal for in-app payments as it violates the [Google Play Developer Policy for monetization](https://play.google.com/intl/en/about/monetization-ads/). – Paul Lammertsma Apr 21 '20 at 09:28
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I don't know what importance it has, but I think that the chart / terms of services we sign as android developers don't allow the usage of this kind of monetization. As this is a subject that is changing a lot in Android world, with the soon to come API to pay in apps, I'm not sure it still has any importance, but you should still be aware of that.

alocaly
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    That's true for the terms of service for Android Market, but I'm pretty sure that it does _not_ apply to us as "Android developers" in general. Other markets (e.g., Amazon App Store) have their own terms. Plus you can also just post your app at a web site and try to draw users that way. Users just have to enable installation of so-called "Unknown sources" under Settings > Applications. – Ted Hopp Apr 14 '11 at 17:36
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Maybe you should take a look at this post, which explains how to integrate Paypal payments into an Android App witout leaving the App itself: How to integrate paypal donate in android app?

Community
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Matthias B
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