Android - Pre-installed app stopped being updated by Google Play on version 3.7.13

Question

We are facing an issue with the latest version of Google Play Android app. Here's the issue:

We created several “stub” applications for one of our clients (a cell phone carrier) to be pre-installed on the devices they sell. All the stub does is to call the application page on the Play Store (Android Market before that) by using an Intent with the url market://?default=packagename. The stub has the same package name and is signed with the same certificate as the full application but with a previous versionCode. As we expected, once the store page was open, the “Update” button would be displayed as Google PLay was able to detect that the app was already installed but a new version was available on the market.

The latest version of Google Play app (3.7.13), instead of displaying the “Update” button, it displays an “Open” button instead. As if Google Play wasn't able to identify there was an update to the application. This only happens if the application was never downloaded before on that user account. Has anything changed on how Google Play handles app updates?

Is there any other way we can have pre-installed applications on a device that can be picked up and updated by Google Play as if it was downloaded by a user?

Answer 1

We faced the same issue and it seems (for us) to be a Google Play sync issue. If you download some apps (so Google Play server do recognize the device) and you wait for some time (some hours actually), the embedded apps will appear on Google Play server as installed apps and the update will work from Google Play app.

Really looks like the new release of Google Play takes ages to sync with the server and get to a consistent state.. Very confusing for users...

Answer 2

I was having this issue because I was testing the stub by launching it directly from the SDK. When you do that the app won't be seen as the same version on Google Play. So, the play store will display the install button. You need to generate a signed APK and install it on a phone so that google play sees it as the same app on the store.