Developing Android Applications with Adobe AIR [19]
If the user installs an update of your application, previously saved data is preserved.
Registering As an Android Developer
To submit your application to the Android Market, you must have or create a Google account and sign up as an Android developer. You also must pay a one-time registration fee of $25 (see https://market.android.com/publish/signup).
You should read the Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement (http://www.android.com/us/developer-distribution-agreement.html) as well as the content policy which determines what content is allowed (http://www.android.com/market/terms/developer-content-policy.html).
If you are going to sell applications through the Android Market, you need to set up a merchant account with Google Checkout. For more information on this topic, refer to Monetizing Your Application.
Publishing an Application on the Android Market
An AIR application is packaged as a standard Android application. Therefore, you can distribute it via the Android Market or via another website of your choice.
To publish your application, go to the Developer Console page at http://market.android.com/publish/Home and click on the Upload Application button. Figure 4-2 shows the necessary steps to submit an application.
Figure 4-2. Steps to upload an application to the Android Market
Uploading Assets
Select “Upload assets” to upload the APK file. At the time of this writing, the maximum allowed size for this file is 50 MB. You can also upload at least two screenshots at 320×480, 480×854, or 480×800; one high-resolution, 512×512 icon; one promotional graphic at 180×120; a feature graphic at 1,024×500; and the URL to an optional promotional video (must be YouTube).
Unless you select the Marketing Opt-Out button, Google has the right to promote your application in the Android Market or other Google-owned properties.
Listing Details
Upon selecting “Listing details,” you can enter the title, a description, some promotional text, the type, and the category of your application. The default language is English, but you can choose additional languages. As of November 2010, applications need to have a content rating of All, Pre-Teen, Teen, or Mature, as per the Android content policy (see http://www.android.com/us/developer-content-policy.html).
Publishing Options
The Android Market Licensing Service is a protection option to prevent users from copying an application from a device. At runtime, it queries the Android Market to obtain the user’s licensing status. The License Verification Library (LVL) is a component of the Android SDK. It does increase the file size, so choose it only if you are selling your application.
WARNING
LVL is a Java-only API with no integration with ActionScript. At the time of this writing, no solution has been offered to protect applications.
Distributing Applications via Adobe InMarket
Adobe offers a service called InMarket that handles distribution of AIR applications, including credit card processing, hosting, and marketing. You receive 70% of the sales revenue. InMarket has an ActionScript license manager that only works within its system. For more information on InMarket, go to http://www.adobe.com/products/inmarket/ or http://www.webkitchen.be/2010/12/02/inmarket-monetizing-your-apps-made-easy/.
Publishing for the Amazon Market
In March 2011, Amazon opened Appstore for Android, which offers Android games and applications as well as Free Amazon applications.
Note that the Amazon store does not do any filtering, so in your application description, clearly indicate the requirement for at least Android 2.2 and an ARMv7-A processor.
To make your application compatible with this Appstore, you must build an APK specifically for it (build a separate one for the Android market). You must use only AIR 2.6 and