CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaandroideclipse
Mick
Mick

Reputation: 7937

How to maintain a paid and free version of an app

I have built a free version of a game app which is now on the market with a name like com.mycompany.myfreegame. Now I want to make a paid version. There will no doubt be tweaks and bug-fixes to both versions required for years to come so I want to encapsulate the encoding of the free vs paid information in as compact a way possible so that I can essentially fix bugs in both versions simultaneously.

If the entirety of the differences between the two versions was handled at runtime then I could set a single flag in the source code and that would be the end of the problem. Unfortunately there are two other things to consider,

  1. The name of the package needs to be different between the two versions.
  2. Some xml needs to be different. For example the free version needs linear Layouts for holding ads, the paid version does not.

What is the simplest way to achieve this goal?

Upvotes: 17

Views: 3208

Answers (5)

galex
galex

Reputation: 593

May be the best way now is to use Android Studio + gradle. This case allows to build both paid and free versions with one command in console. More details are in this post: https://stackoverflow.com/a/17286142/1705370

Upvotes: 1

Gophermofur
Gophermofur

Reputation: 2101

I think what you're looking for is a Library Project http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/projects/index.html#LibraryProjects

From that web page:

If you are creating an application that exists in both free and paid versions. You move the part of the application that is common to both versions into a library project. The two dependent projects, with their different package names, will reference the library project and provide only the difference between the two application versions.

Another question, very similar to this one, seems to have a decent discussion and answer: Multiple Apps with a shared code base

Edit: Here is a link on how to implement a library project. http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/projects/projects-eclipse.html

In regards to different versions being slightly different, a library project can accomodate. The library project is built first, then the parent (the project that uses the library) is built last and they are merged together. Both projects can define the same resource identifiers and the project built last (parent project), gets priority (overwrites). So essentially, you can override strings/layouts (possibly more, not sure?) in the parent/calling application.

For example: Say you have two projects, free and paid.You could create a string with a default implementation (free version) and override it in your paid version (parent app).

Code in shared libraries Strings.xml file:

<string name="AppName">My Application (Free)</string>

Code in parent app Strings.xml file:

<string name="AppName">My Application Premium</string>

Upvotes: 4

Eugenio Cuevas
Eugenio Cuevas

Reputation: 11078

I would go with Maven. You can define a parent project with three sub-projects, say:

  • Common
  • Paid
  • Free

Maven allows to have different configuration files, while having the same code base.

For example, I currently have a project where two databases are used, so all the app config files remain on a common project, where the database configuration files and classes remain on each project folder. When I do a build in the parent, every child project is built, unit tests passed, etc...

Moreover, this is only one of the thousand advantages of maven!

EDIT: I just found out, you have an android-plugin for maven, with cool features also

Upvotes: 3

Luis Ollero
Luis Ollero

Reputation: 383

I think you are looking for something similar to this:

Multiple Android Application Package .apk files from single source code

Basically, the easiest approach here is to have two different manifest files and two different main activities and switch the compilation using Ant, though the latter is optional.

Hope it helps.

Upvotes: 0

dwemthy
dwemthy

Reputation: 471

I think the first approach I'd try is using 3 projects in Eclipse: one for either version of the game, and a library project with all of the shared code. The library project would be where all the code for your core gameplay goes, and the version specific projects manage loading different layouts, putting ads in the free version, and adding levels/features/hats to the paid version.

You might be able to accomplish your goal of a single code base with a compiler flag using an ant task, but that's beyond me.

Upvotes: 7

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