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I am building an Android application that will be distributed in a controlled environment. (i.e. app will be pre-installed on specific devices that will be given out). The app will be installed outside of Play store. The final apk will be ~50MB but can grow over that in few releases.

The question I have is, if there is a way to release updates to the application using some method so that we only have to provide "patch"? This could include updating dependent library and code not just assets?

I have found is expansion files. http://developer.android.com/google/play/expansion-files.html

bond
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1 Answers1

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You have two possibilites to distribute your application:

  • use Google Play
  • host Your app on your server

Google Play store has bullet proof update mechanism and supports delta updates since Android 2.3. It also supports a so called private channel to specify which users can access your private apps.

If you use your own server you have to download the ~50 MB on each update or you have to implement your own smart update technology what I wouldn't recomment. In my understanding expansion Files are for assets and not for code but I might be wrong.

So in Your case I would recommend to use a private channel to distribute your app.

ChrLipp
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