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new page distributing branded android app
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Carla Schroder
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@ -5,71 +5,39 @@ Distributing Your Branded Android App (Enterprise Only)
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Now that you have created your branded Android app with ownCloud's ownBuilder
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service (:doc:`creating_branded_apps`) how do you distribute it to your users?
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There are multiple ways: :ref:`email`, :ref:`publish_server`, or
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:ref:`publish_google_play`.
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:ref:`publish_google_play`. However you distribute it, the first step is to
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digitally sign your new app. Signing your app verifies authorship and
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authenticity.
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When you create your branded Android app we supply you with two ``.apk`` files:
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one for debugging and testing, and one for deployment, like these examples::
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acmecloud_1.7.0-debug.apk
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acmecloud_1.7.0-release-unsigned.apk
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The second ``.apk`` file, ``acmecloud_1.7.0-release-unsigned.apk``, is the one
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you will sign and distribute.
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.. _email:
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Digitally Signing Android Apps
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------------------------------
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Email
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-----
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Signing your app is required, and the most time-consuming part is installing
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the commands you need to sign them. You need three commands to sign your app:
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``keytool``, ``jarsigner``, and ``zipalign``. Follow these steps:
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You can download your branded Android app from your account on
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`Customer.owncloud.com <https://customer.owncloud.com/owncloud>`_, and send it
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as an email attachment to your users. When they open your email on their
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Android phone or tablet, they must first click the the download arrow (bottom
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left of the screenshot) to download your app.
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1. Install the signing commands
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2. Create a self-signed certificate with ``keytool``
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3. Use ``jarsigner`` to sign the app, and to verify signing
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4. Use ``zipalign`` to optimize your app
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.. image:: ../images/android_custom_1.png
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You only need to create a certificate once, and then use it to sign all of your
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branded ownCloud apps. If you publish your apps on Google Play they must all be
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signed with the same certificate.
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When the arrow changes to a green checkbox, it has been downloaded.
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Installing the App Signing Tools
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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.. image:: ../images/android_custom_2.png
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Now your user must click on the green checkbox, and this launches the app
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installer, and all they have to do is follow the installation wizard to install
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your branded app.
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.. image:: ../images/android_custom_3.png
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When the installation is complete, the `ownCloud Android App Manual
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<https://doc.owncloud.com/android/>`_ contains instructions for using the app.
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.. _publish_server:
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Publish On Your ownCloud Server
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---------------------------------
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You can distribute your custom branded app from your ownCloud server. Simply
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upload it to your ownCloud server and share it like any other file. Your users
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can log into your ownCloud server on their Android devices with any Web browser
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and download your custom branded app. Your users only need to open their top
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left pull-down activity menu to see the download, tap the app name, and then the
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installer opens.
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.. image:: ../images/android_custom_5.png
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.. _publish_google_play:
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Publish to the Google Play Store
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--------------------------------
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You may elect to publish your app in the Google Play store, either as a free
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or paid app. There are serveral steps to publishing a free app:
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1. Create a Google Play Publisher account.
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2. Sign your branded app with your own signing certificate.
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3. Upload your signed branded app to your Google Play Publisher account.
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As part of creating your Google Play Publisher account you will have to create
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some screenshots of your app in specific sizes, and create a store description.
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Prequisites
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^^^^^^^^^^^
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You need three commands to sign your app: ``keytool``, ``jarsigner``, and
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``zipalign``. ``keytool`` and ``jarsigner`` are in Java runtimes. Linux users
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``keytool`` and ``jarsigner`` are in Java runtimes. Linux users
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can get these in OpenJDK. For example, on current versions of Debian,
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Mint, and Ubuntu Linux you need to install two packages. The first one supplies
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``keytool`` and the second one supplies ``jarsigner``::
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@ -77,13 +45,23 @@ Mint, and Ubuntu Linux you need to install two packages. The first one supplies
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$ sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jre-headless
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$ sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jdk
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It is simpler to get these on CentOS and Fedora, as they have created some nice
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On SUSE systems, install this package::
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$ sudo zypper install java-1_7_0-openjdk-devel
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It is simpler to get these on CentOS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, as they have
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created some nice
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wrapper scripts around ``keytool`` and ``jarsigner`` that you can install
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standalone::
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$ sudo yum install keytool-maven-plugin.noarch
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$ sudo yum install maven-jarsigner-plugin.noarch
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Mac OS X and Windows users can download the Oracle JDK from `Oracle's Java
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Download
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<http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html>`_
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page.
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``zipalign`` is included in the `Android Software Development Kit
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<https://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html>`_. It is a large download, but
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once you have downloaded it you can copy the ``zipalign`` binary to any
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@ -92,28 +70,30 @@ computer and use it. Go to `Android Software Development Kit
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"Download Android Studio" button.
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.. image:: ../images/android_custom_17.png
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:scale: 75%
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Download the appropriate **SDK Tools Only** package for your operating system.
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.. image:: ../images/android_custom_18.png
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Unpack it and change to the unpacked directory, for example
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``$ cd android-sdk-linux`` on Linux systems. There is one more step, and that
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is to install additional tools::
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:scale: 75%
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Unpack it and change to the unpacked directory, which is ``android-sdk-linux``
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on Linux systems, ``android-sdk-macosx`` on Mac systems, and
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``android-sdk-windows`` on Windows systems. There is one more step, and that is
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to install additional tools. Run this command from the unpacked directory::
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$ tools/android update sdk --no-ui
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tools/android update sdk --no-ui
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This will take some time. When it's finished you'll find ``zipalign`` in the
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``build-tools`` directory. For convenience, you could copy ``zipalign`` to your
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home folder or other location of your choice, and to any other computer without
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installing the whole Android SDK.
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This will take some time, as it is a large download. When it's finished you'll
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find ``zipalign`` in the ``build-tools`` directory. For convenience, you could
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copy ``zipalign`` to your home folder or other location of your choice, and to
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any other computer without installing the whole Android SDK.
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Digitally Signing Your App
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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Google requires that your apps be digitally signed with your own signing
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certificate, to verify authorship and the authenticity of your app. Self-signed
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certificates are acceptable. In these examples the name of the app, as supplied
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After installing your signing tools, signing your app takes just a few steps.
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In these examples the name of the app, as supplied
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by ownBuilder, is ``acmecloud_1.7.0-release-unsigned.apk``.
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To create your certificate copy the following command, replacing
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@ -196,7 +176,8 @@ it's good::
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The last step for preparing your ``.apk`` for release is to run ``zipalign`` on
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it. ``zipalign`` optimizes your file to use less memory. You must specify both
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an input and an output file, so this is good time to give your app a shorter
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name, and it should not say "unsigned"::
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name, and it should not say "unsigned". Our example file will be renamed to
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``acmecloud_1.7.0.apk``::
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$ zipalign -v 4 acmecloud_1.7.0-release-unsigned.apk acmecloud_1.7.0.apk
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Verifying alignment of acmecloud_1.7.0.apk (4)...
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@ -208,8 +189,65 @@ name, and it should not say "unsigned"::
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Verification succesful
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Again, this emits a lot of output, and when you see **Verification succesful**
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at the end you know it succeeded, and it is ready to upload to the Google Play
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Store.
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at the end you know it succeeded, and it is ready to distribute.
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.. _email:
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Distribution via Email
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----------------------
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You can download your branded Android app from your account on
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`Customer.owncloud.com <https://customer.owncloud.com/owncloud>`_, and send it
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as an email attachment to your users. (This is not the optimal way to distribute
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it as it is over 2 megabytes in size.) When they open your email on their
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Android phone or tablet, they must first click the the download arrow (bottom
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right of the screenshot) to download your app.
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.. image:: ../images/android_custom_1.png
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When the arrow changes to a green checkbox, it has been downloaded.
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.. image:: ../images/android_custom_2.png
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Now your user must click on the green checkbox, and this launches the app
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installer, and all they have to do is follow the installation wizard to install
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your branded app.
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.. image:: ../images/android_custom_3.png
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:scale: 75%
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When the installation is complete, the `ownCloud Android App Manual
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<https://doc.owncloud.com/android/>`_ contains instructions for using the app.
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.. _publish_server:
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Publish On Your ownCloud Server
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-------------------------------
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You can distribute your branded app from your ownCloud server. Simply upload it
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to your ownCloud server and share it like any other file: you can create normal
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ownCloud shares with ownCloud users and groups, and you may create a link share
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to share it with anyone. (See the **Files & Synchronization** section of the
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`ownCloud User Manual
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<https://doc.owncloud.org/server/8.0/user_manual/files/index.html>`_ to learn
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more about sharing files.)
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.. _publish_google_play:
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Publish to the Google Play Store
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--------------------------------
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You may elect to publish your app in the Google Play store, either as a free
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or paid app. There are several steps to publishing a free app:
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1. Create a Google Play Publisher account.
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2. Sign your branded app with your own signing certificate.
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3. Upload your signed branded app to your Google Play Publisher account.
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As part of creating your Google Play Publisher account you will have to create
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some screenshots of your app in specific sizes, and create a store description.
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Create a Google Play Publisher Account
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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@ -236,6 +274,7 @@ the Save Draft button to preserve your changes.)
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On the next screen, enter your product description.
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.. image:: ../images/android_custom_8.png
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:scale: 75%
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Then you'll have to upload a batch of graphics in various sizes for the
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**Graphic Assets** section, like these images for a smartphone and seven-inch
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@ -269,6 +308,7 @@ For now let's make this a free app, so click the Free button and select the
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countries you want to distribute it in.
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.. image:: ../images/android_custom_13.png
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:scale: 75%
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Now you may upload your app.
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@ -280,6 +320,7 @@ page and click **Upload your first APK to Production**. You don't need a license
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key for a free app.
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.. image:: ../images/android_custom_14.png
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:scale: 75%
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Drag-and-drop, or browse to select your app.
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@ -288,19 +329,22 @@ Drag-and-drop, or browse to select your app.
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A successful upload looks like this:
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.. image:: ../images/android_custom_20.png
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:scale: 75%
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Your app is not yet published, but only uploaded to your account. There is one
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more step to take before you can publish, and that is to go back to the
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**Pricing & Distribution** page and fill out the **Consent** section.
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.. image:: ../images/android_custom_21.png
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:scale: 75%
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Click the Save Draft button, and if you followed all the required steps you
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should now see a **Publish App** button.
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.. image:: ../images/android_custom_22.png
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It will not be published immediately, but after review by Google.
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It will not be published immediately, but after review by Google, which usually
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takes just a few hours.
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.. image:: ../images/android_custom_23.png
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