Application Licensing

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splatt

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Do we have access to the Android Application Licensing facilities from within B4A?
 
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johnthomcode

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Hi,

I was just searching for this topic and found this thread. Do you think it may be supported in the future? It looks like it's the newly recommended method for protecting software, but it also may be easily defeatable and requires Internet access?

Thanks!

-John
 
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Kevin

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Just wondering if this is something that still "will not be available in the near future" or if this is a possibility sometime soon?

Is the problem somewhere in how B4A works? Or is it just difficult to implement?

I'm hoping to possibly put my first app on the market (a paid version) when I finish it and I'm not sure if I should wait for this option or not.
 
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hackhack

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To me 'near future' is six months - so not near future, would not before spring next year - at the earliest. Of course Erels yardstick may be different.

As for licensing and copy 'protection' I think it has been amply proven that it generally doesn't work - there will always be someone who cracks something. But if you make something good there are always people who will pay for it.
 
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Kevin

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It does look a bit complicated, but I'd set it up if it were available.

Brad: What do you mean exactly by "market copy protection"? I must plead a bit ignorant when it comes to all of the ins and outs of the Android Market.

The whole subject of copy protection is debatable anyway, of course. I've been writing Windows software for years and have spent money and time trying different ways to protect my software from theft only to find it floating around anyway. In the end I wound up giving out the paid version through a password-protected area on my site (the PW is automatically generated when the customer makes the purchase through PayPal). The software itself has no protection, but as has been said, honest people will still buy it if they like it and people who steal it likely wouldn't have bought it anyway.

Still though, if there is a way I can protect it somewhat, I'm all for it.
 
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Brad

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When you upload an app to the market you can chose to copy protect it..It's just a simple radio button. They will be doing away with it in favor of Application Licensing. But they have been saying that for a long time..The only downside is that your app cannot be installed on the sd card. Attached is a screen shot of the option.
 

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Kevin

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I wonder if that just sets/changes/overrides the "Can Install To External Storage" bit that you can set using B4A?

That's one thing I've felt would help prevent theft is not letting people install to their SD card. Naturally, rooted people would be able to get to the APK, but still, most people would not.

I don't plan to allow that option, but I know some people complain when they don't have that option enabled (by reading various comments in the market on random apps). My app had only been about 700 KB until I started using PNGs for graphical buttons to make it look much nicer. By the time I'm done it will probably be about 1.5 MB. Eye candy is important to me on this app so I can't do much about the overhead the images cause. I just hope that the size doesn't put people off. To me that isn't that big but I have seen people complain over smaller apps.
 
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Highwinder

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Erel - We really do need this, it's becoming important.

If we like it or not, Android Market is moving in this direction. Though it may be difficult to implement in B4A, it will still be a necessity. The Licensing option seems to be better for the end users/customers than existing Copy Protection, which has device limitations.

I for one am grateful that the service exists, which seems quite capable and saves me from having to write my own elaborate copy protection engine that may or may not work.

Erel, the moment that Google drops the current App Protection and goes with the License model, you're going to see an immediate demand for it in B4A.

Consider this a down-on-knees shameless begging request to get this implemented in B4A. Clock's definitely ticking on this one.
 
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Widget

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Photoshop does a great job at reducing PNG file sizes with no visible loss in resolution. You can also check out free utilities by doing a Google search on "reduce png size". Also if you convert the images to JPG you may save a lot of space.

Widget
 
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Widget

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Kevin

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Widget said:
Photoshop does a great job at reducing PNG file sizes with no visible loss in resolution. You can also check out free utilities by doing a Google search on "reduce png size". Also if you convert the images to JPG you may save a lot of space.

Widget
Click to expand...

I did some quick testing with the PNGs in Paint Shop Pro today and I do think I may be able to cut the total size of the button images by 30-45% altogether. Right now I think the biggest drawback of my app is that it takes a couple seconds to load in, which is probably worse on a slower device. JPGs may be an option for some of the images, but there are quite a few that need to have transparency due to their shape and position. Thanks for the tip though. I just released an update today so I'll wait a bit on this but I am going to try and optimize all of my button images and see what I get.

........ also, and more on topic: App security! Thanks Erel! :sign0074:
 
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Highwinder

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Fantastic, Erel!

Erel, hats off to you sir. I get the distinct impression that you were already working on it. :sign0188:
 
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