Off-Market Application Updates

[Eddie_Brock]

I am curious about the procedure for updating an app that was acquired off the market. Do you simply install over your existing app? And if so, what happens to your existing data?

Is there a way to tie your installed apps to the market, so it can automatically check for updates? Any information is appreciated.

 

[TheBiles]

Get your updated .apk and install it just as you normally would. There is no way to automatically update non-Market apps unless you get them from a repo that keeps up-to-date, but I won't get into that because it leads to a lot of warez discussion.

 

[KlaymenDK]

I'm using the Last.fm client. I'm a paying subscriber, but the app is not available in the Market for me. This makes it a very good example without venturing into warez-land.

Since I can't see the app in the Market, I don't know when there are updates. There are one or two work-arounds, however:

1. first of all, the Last.fm app itself comes up and says when I'm running an older version; this is specific to this app and I don't expect every app to do that (it's a bit of an annoyance sometimes, really).
2. Second, I'm using aTrackDog to keep status of all my apps (even a couple of uninstalled ones (waiting for them to improve)).

I realize that with Android 2.x, the Market should keep its own updates, but I find it a bit erratic; I've been using aTrackDog on v1.x, in part because those versions of Android didn't have a built-in check, and in part because I've been using TrackerDog for ages on PalmOS.