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How to BROWSE MOBILE VERSION of ANDROID MARKET on PC?

L

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I want to be able to use my PC to view the android market as it is rendered on an android device.

I do not want to see the web version of the market ( https://market.android.com/ )

I want to see and browse the mobile version ( ie: market://search/?q=com.google.zxing.client.android ) in a browser on my pc.

The mobile version is organized differently and shows different information (such as the email address and/or phone number of the developer) which it foes not show in the web version.

My next (and BIGGER goal) is to download/archive the market and the info for all the apps in there to tweak and make a browsable website where people can leave comments for each piece of info (for instance people can comment on a particular permission while others can comment on different permissions of the same app but in a crud type of table).

ANother reason is to act like a kind of Archive.org (wayback machine) for the mobile version of the market... I want to take weekly or monthly "snapshots" of the mobile version of the android market as it would appear in the market app on an android device. It doesnt necisarily need to LOOK exactly like it as long as all the same info is there that is there from what you would see if you were browsing for apps using market app on your android device.

I have many ideas on how I want to use this data for the betterment of the android community along with ways to monetize however the above are jsut examples so that hopefuully a saavy code-monkey/hacker/whatever will understand what I am looking for and be able to show or help me easily (and hopefully quickly).

Any direction is MUCH APPRECIATED!!!!!!!!!!

Email or chat me livead at gmail or respond here is fine too.

Thnx!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DS
 
I doubt it's possible, sorry.

I also think
Code: 
com.google.zxing.client.android
isn't a url as such, but a piece of code/process which tells android to execute the market app. I could be wrong on that front though.

Given the market website, app and concept are kind of a big deal to Google and Android, I can imagine they'd have a bit of an issue with what you want to do.
 
You might be able to get the SDK and use the virtual machine to get it to work but I doubt it, you need to find a way to emulate an android device on your computer
 
I understand about the market:// being a command to process the rest of the "url" (call to function) and also the emulator so I guess I am looking for an emulator which can spit out the content into a pc based usability... almost like an extractor of sorts.
I also am aware that android/google may not "want" it to be done however it "will" be done eventually... I would love a solution to be part of that "will be done". It NEEDS to be done without building another, incomplete, directory/database.

Another way to think about it is like an "offline" mobile android market - I can then use that data to build out whatever interface I need to develop more robust and crowd/social usability.

Again, any and all input, help, direction is TOTALLY APPRECIATED!
 
Try this:

How To Enable the Android Market in the Google Android Emulator - How-To Geek

android market on emulator - Google Search


If you're looking to scrape data that's a bit harder.

It's been done, but it's pretty hard and the people that have accomplished it aren't super interested in sharing...

This is how Androlib and AppBrain originally got their data. Basically you'll need a google account and there is a hack where you can send those credentials to the servers and get back data in XML.

There was a blog post about a year ago I read where the guy explained about half of how the hack works, however I dont have the URL anymore...
 
alostpacket said:
Try this:

How To Enable the Android Market in the Google Android Emulator - How-To Geek

android market on emulator - Google Search


If you're looking to scrape data that's a bit harder.

It's been done, but it's pretty hard and the people that have accomplished it aren't super interested in sharing...

This is how Androlib and AppBrain originally got their data. Basically you'll need a google account and there is a hack where you can send those credentials to the servers and get back data in XML.

There was a blog post about a year ago I read where the guy explained about half of how the hack works, however I dont have the URL anymore...
Click to expand...

Thnx so much... ! I KNOW it can be done as you have kind of confirmed.. now... to get it done... CALLING ALL CAPABLES!
One big datascrape would be perfect! So many uses!
Imagine being able to comment and reply for each permission, or reply to a comment, better threading of social issues and information sharing, better easier and more detailed categories with crowd influences across the board, separate feature request sub-menu for each app for example or remove/fix these/this problem section for each app... so much more possibility which can be implemented NOW instead of waiting for Google to decide when and how it can monetize and control it enough to allow the communication.

Anyhow... CALLING ALL CODERS! Lets rock this out.
 
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