3rd party Android app or Apple app stores

[TimCruise 2]

I am new to publishing phone apps.

 

I heard that official Android app store and Apple app store do not allow publishing apps built on older SDK.  Moreover, I heard that apps built on new sdk cannot run on older phones; and apps built on older sdk can run on new phones.

 

So, we face a situation that we want to build apps on older sdk so that more phone users can run our apps; but we cannot publish these older apps to recent official Android store or Apple store.  Am I right? 

 

Since I provide user software to future customers as a free service, so the best solution is to upload to 3 party trustworthy app stores.  Can you recommend some of these app stores to me?    This scenario enables me to develop on RAD Studio v10.4 or v11 without renewing it every year.

Edited December 18, 2021 by TimCruise

[Lars Fosdal 1792]

I am an Android user, and I never use anything except the Google Play appstore. I have done a few sideloads, but that has been from sources that I trust fully.

Apple doesn't allow other app stores nor does it allow/enable sideloading - unless you void any remaining warranty and jailbreak your iOS device.

 

My personal advice would be to stay away from unofficial "stores" as they are likely to be ripe with exploits and will drag you down into the mud.

 

[Fr0sT.Brutal 900]

F-Droid but only opensource apps

Xiaomi probably have something alike (heard they with Huawei and some other companies were going to run their common market but not sure they did).

 

[Dave Nottage 557]

On 12/19/2021 at 6:47 AM, TimCruise said:

So, we face a situation that we want to build apps on older sdk so that more phone users can run our apps; but we cannot publish these older apps to recent official Android store or Apple store.  Am I right? 

Play Store has a restriction on the target SDK level (30), but does not have a restriction on the minimum SDK level set for an app, so you can support users that have lower versions of Android.

 

The iOS App Store apparently has a restriction of a minimum version of iOS 9.0.

On 12/19/2021 at 6:47 AM, TimCruise said:

This scenario enables me to develop on RAD Studio v10.4 or v11 without renewing it every year.

That might work if you find a viable alternative for Play Store. If you wish to target app stores, you need to stay current with Delphi.

[TimCruise 2]

Then, I have to give up 3rd party phone app stores. 

 

We have been installing proprietary software for the past many decades.  App stores restrictions are solely for monopoly.

 

• So the closest solution is to distribute Android apps to my users directly through my own company site.  I know it works if they allow installation.  I install one commercial Android app through the developer's own site because google bans bi-way phone recording apps.

 

Now new problems arise:

• Can iphone and ipad users install Apple apps distributed directly from my own company web site?  I did successfully install RAD Studio Platform Assistant downloaded from RAD Studio site on my macOS environment.
• What are restrictions on iphone versions and sdk versions building my iphone apps?  If you can show an official document, it would be great! 

Edited December 20, 2021 by TimCruise

[Lars Fosdal 1792]

9 minutes ago, TimCruise said:

App stores restrictions are solely for monopoly.

I disagree. Security is a major factor. 

Ref. Apple app store for macOS is not limited like iOS.  You can distribute stand-alone installation packages for macOS, but not for iOS.

[TimCruise 2]

4 minutes ago, Lars Fosdal said:

Ref. Apple app store for macOS is not limited like iOS.  You can distribute stand-alone installation packages for macOS, but not for iOS.

[Dave Nottage 557]

3 hours ago, TimCruise said:

Can iphone and ipad users install Apple apps distributed directly from my own company web site?

Yes. They're called Custom Apps: https://developer.apple.com/custom-apps/

 

3 hours ago, TimCruise said:

What are restrictions on iphone versions and sdk versions building my iphone apps?  If you can show an official document, it would be great!

Yes, that would be. It seems they're hard to find.

[TimCruise 2]

57 minutes ago, Dave Nottage said:

Yes. They're called Custom Apps: https://developer.apple.com/custom-apps/

Glad to hear a closer solution; but I guess apple will charge us big $.