Windows App hosting options?

[XylemFlow 8]

This isn't specifically a Delphi question. More of a general Windows development and deployment question. I'm looking into the best options for hosting my application. My application is free and should be available publicly to everyone who wants to download it. My revenue model is based on advertising on my website, so I want to drive all the download traffic through my website. Of course the best option is most likely to host it on my website, but the application is fairly large and the number of downloads it high. My current web host is unlikely to provide enough bandwidth without me upgrading it. I'd also like to prevent people sharing the download link and thus avoiding visiting my website. If it was hosted on my site I would simply change the download file name every few days. What other options are there with 3rd party hosting? I have looked into using the Windows Store, but even if I make the listing undiscoverable I can't avoid people sharing the link and avoid going through my website. It doesn't look like Windows store provides a feature for changing the URL on a regular basis, and if they did how would I synch my website to the new link each time?

[Nigel Thomas 35]

Not the answer you are looking for, but you are aware that many users these days have browser adblockers installed? I suspect depending on advertising revenue from website visits to support your application may not be the best way of funding your work on it.

[Fr0sT.Brutal 900]

You can host a download server at AWS or something similar and only allow to retrieve the file by short-living session codes which you will generate at your website. The code should contain encrypted expiry time together with some salt so that download server could decrypt it and check whether the link is still alive

[XylemFlow 8]

On 12/11/2022 at 2:32 AM, Nigel Thomas said:

Not the answer you are looking for, but you are aware that many users these days have browser adblockers installed? I suspect depending on advertising revenue from website visits to support your application may not be the best way of funding your work on it.

Thanks, but I've used this funding model for some time and it's already proved to be easily profitable enough and I've had no complaints about the ads. The whole internet seems to be based on advertising so I think people are used to it. On the other hand, very few people are willing to pay for software in my experience. I've found that a lot more income can be made from free software with advertising compared to the same paid software without advertising, simply because it is much more likely to become popular. Of course it depends on the type of software and the target users

Edited December 12, 2022 by XylemFlow

[Mike Torrettinni 198]

On 12/9/2022 at 9:24 AM, XylemFlow said:

so I want to drive all the download traffic through my website.

You might get better answers on forums related to website design... but, I have a simple /downloads page where php script does the downloading on Download button, there is no direct links. I don't have it designed this way because of ads, but I want to make sure they always download the latest version.

 

On 12/9/2022 at 9:24 AM, XylemFlow said:

My current web host is unlikely to provide enough bandwidth without me upgrading it

I would multiply download file size with the download times you think you will get in a month, then you find the hosting that suits the download bandwidth. From my experience, the hosting packages don't just cut you off when you reach the max bandwidth, but they send multiple warning before you reach it. And then you can decide to upgrade or switch to another hosting, if that is easy for you to do. Don't forget that is pretty common to download zip files, so this can give you a little help with bandwidth.

 

[John R. 18]

You should check the "Secure Token" option from KeyCDN, which seems to meet your requests:

• Handles large traffic worldwide via a trustworthy CDN
• Provides secure download URLs which can only be used from your website as the link expires otherwise

I've been using them for years with great satisfaction. See: https://www.keycdn.com/support/secure-token