yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Apps and Games] wdevil12:
Bro U Rock! Keep It Up!

May i advice u something? to download apks I use jackpf's apk downloader app (on the phone, not pc). Still it works like a charm. It isn't quite popular But it does what it must. U can find the thread here http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2767595

Source code link is in there, so u can research. You may implement it to download apks easily. All it requires Device ID which can be automatically found by itself if google services installed. Op stopped working on the project, but it still works. You can continue by adding it to your app so we get fully downloadable up-dated apks easily without even GooglePlay . will wait your response bro;) Good Luck!
[Android Apps and Games] PunchUp:
Could you please add an option to disable background check?
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
APK downloads are still out of scope for now. I may look into it one day, but not before a lot of other things have happened!

I'll add this to the upcoming "settings" window.
[Android Apps and Games] Portgas D. Ace:
You can also use Blank Store from here. This side project is discontinued as well, maybe it is possible to integrate it.
[Android Apps and Games] PunchUp:
Quite unreliable I think. Accounts get blocked and many people will complain. It's better to let ApkTrack be a stable experience rather than something hacky
[Android Apps and Games] Portgas D. Ace:
This may be its greatest disadvantages (and most likely the reason why it has been discontinued), yes.
[Android Apps and Games] Chamelleon:
Thats why (for now) Raccoon is safe cause You can use spare email and no need to use device id. Yes, You need download apk's manually to pc but without any danger to be banned.
[Android Apps and Games] Chamelleon:
I installed app on my new i9195 and it's working fine so I updated polish tranlation.
[Android Apps and Games] VTCruzer:
Do you think maybe you could add a feature to open a browser and search for the package name automatically? Loving the app so far keep it up!
[Android Apps and Games] Yamuir:
Thanks
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
This idea has been submitted by PunchUp already (if I recall correctly)! The following github issue was created so I don't forget to implement this.

[MENTION=2581648]Chamelleon[/MENTION]: Thanks for the update! I'll merge it into my working tree!
[Android Apps and Games] wdevil12:
Bro, I have an awesome idea. What about checking apk files on the storage if they have update version or not? it would be the first app doing it! for instance, i have plenty uninstalled but necessary apps so i cant check their playstore page one by one. Think Of It Bro! guys you agree? is it useful you as me?
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
I'm not rejecting the idea, but I fail to see the point right now. Why would you keep "necessary uninstalled" apps on your device that need to be kept up to date?
[Android Apps and Games] wdevil12:
because of RAM, memory, etc..

i use apps like titanium backup, drivedroid.. which are used for special purposes as before flashing ROM, backing up things, installing system to pc.. so I often install/use/uninstall them. most of time I keep them outdated.

it was just an idea bro, if it brings to you difficulties..
[Android Apps and Games] Scooby1010:
Crash due to missing version info?

Great job so far on the ApkTrack tool. This has been exactly what I have been waiting for in order to (hopefully) ditch Google from my phone.

However I have encountered an issue upon my first check for updates. It appears to be happening on the MessageEase Keyboard. For some reason it doesn't show a version number in ApkTook or in the stock App manager. Which is most likely the problem.

Somehow Google Play could still tell when there was an update so the version info must be stored in a different location or perhaps it falls back onto a release date. Let me know if you need more details but I suspect this will be easy for you to replicate.
[Android Apps and Games] ironman76:
awesome!! Was looking for a long time! Thank you very much!!
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
The work on ApkTrack is still ongoing. I have implemented a few long-standing user requests:

Users can now launch a web search for updated APKs!

A "settings" screen has appeared.

Background checks can be enabled/disabled from there (default is disabled: I think it's generally preferable to avoid sending data without the user's consent).

The preferred search engine can be specified. Available choices are Google (default, but this is likely to change), DuckDuckGo, Play Store and Evozi.

These changes still lack testing of course, so I chose to publish a beta APK for those who want to help me test them out!

Also worthy of mention, with the settings screen being implemented, some text has been added and a lot more is expected in the future. My apologies and thanks in advance to all the kind translators!

I've tried to reproduce this bug by installing the app you linked, but everything works fine on my side, and the version is detected correctly. Is there a way you could provide a stacktrace? It's very difficult for me to investigate without it.
[Android Apps and Games] Chamelleon:
I tried to update translation on GitHub but I'm not sure I did it right. So here is new strings but without Appearance section cause I don't have it on my phone.
[Android Apps and Games] Chamelleon:
BTW this beta look like it also working in background. After turning off app and clear memory I still have notifications that some app can be updated and Greenify shows ApkTrack as background process.

Sent from XT890 on KitKat
[Android Apps and Games] Primokorn:
Did u install the beta apk and uncheck the bg process?

Actually:

- I do not have notifications

- ApkTrack is not listed into the Running tab of Apps menu

- Greenify does not show up ApkTrack as a bg process
[Android Apps and Games] Scooby1010:
Thanks for your prompt reply JusticeRage!

How do I get you a stack trace ... is it written out automatically to a log somewhere?

I did a quick search online but didn't find what I was looking for.

EDIT:

I found out about "adb logcat" which seems to have what you need. I have attached it to this post.

Looks like ApkTrack got the correct version & Google Play URL for the MessageEase Keyboard app. But then ApkTrack terminated with "java.lang.NullPointerException".

FYI

I am trying to go Google free so I don't have the play store or App Brain installed. I did initially and then decided to remove it (reinstalled ROM without GApps). Also I am currently running the Pac-rom 4.4.4 for the HTC Raider (aka Vivid aka Holiday).
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
This seems to come up a lot, so I'll add the following information on the first page as well!

Bug reports:

I am always happy to receive bug reports from the users. Well, not happy that ApkTrack crashes, but happy that I get the chance to fix a bug I missed. In order to help me do this, please give as much information as possible regarding the circumstances of your bug. This includes : Android version, ApkTrack version, and what you were doing when the crash happened. It also helps a lot if you can submit a stacktrace.

If you're not familiar with Java development, a stacktrace is a detailed error message generated by the java virtual machine which describes what kind of error caused the application to be closed. It also includes information regarding where (in the code) the problem took place.

There are several ways you can obtain a stacktrace.

Using adb: if you are comfortable with the command-line, use the adb tool packaged with the Android SDK:

$> adb logcat

Launch the command, trigger the crash, verify that a lot of output appears, and send it to me.

Otherwise, you can use CatLog to get the logging information directly on the device. It has options allowing you to save the output to the SD card. You can then transfer it to your computer and to me. Check out this tutorial by [MENTION=5476501]Train88[/MENTION]!

Let me know if additional information is required!
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
That's it, thanks for the stacktrace!

I could locate the bug thanks to it. I believe it is now fixed (along with a couple of similar ones), and the Beta APK has been updated again. Would you be so kind as to confirm that you can now use the app without any problems?

[MENTION=2581648]Chamelleon[/MENTION]: Maybe the update cycle had already started? As of yet, disabling the background checks does not stop the current checks. I intent to fix that in the future. On my device, the option seems to work. Can you confirm that ApkTrack is still performing web requests in the background?
[Android Apps and Games] Chamelleon:
Ok, I see whats wrong. Even if I have hidden system apps ApkTrack is checking it so even after turning off app it has activity checking system apps until it's done. 2nd thing is just after minimize app and restore arrows stops spinning so it looks like it's done even it's not.
[Android Apps and Games] tmhung2015:
thank you for source code.
[Android Apps and Games] Primokorn:
[MENTION=6419498]JusticeRage[/MENTION] you can redirect to this guide for using Catlog: http://xdaforums.com/android/help/guide-easiest-to-utilize-catlog-t2865994
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
Oh, yeah, I had noticed that too. I intend to solve this in the upcoming versions.

Thanks! I've added the link to my post.
[Android Apps and Games] Scooby1010:
It works like a charm now :)

I even tried with all system apps
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
Glad to hear that!

Considering that there are no more bug reports incoming, I have decided to release a new stable version of the application (1.0b). (Those using the beta APK don't have to update, this is basically the same.)

Next, I will be working on the following features:

Better version comparison: some logic to check if a version number is greater than another one. This will prevent false positives for people using beta versions of applications.

More comprehensive settings: add more options to the settings screen. In particular, move the sorting and system app masking options there. Hiding unknown applications (and Xposed applications maybe, since someone requested it) will also go in there.

Finally, the most important to me is implement to update sources. This will reduce the number of requests sent by the application, and allow users to track stable or beta releases for Xposed applications. And this way, ApkTrack will be able to track its own updates (finally!)

I've looked into releasing ApkTrack on the Play Store, but it turns out I have to pay a 25$ registration fee. ApkTrack costing me money in addition to time is a bridge I don't want to cross. Any donations I receive will go towards this goal though.
[Android Apps and Games] Primokorn:
Thanks dude! As an open-source app you could publish ApkTrack on F-Droid. I'm guessing it's free.
[Android Apps and Games] PunchUp:
It's already available there
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
It's indeed distributed over there, although I have yet to understand how to trigger a new build when I post new releases. I have also contacted their team to figure out how I could sign the distributed APKs with my own keys, which seems better to me from a security standpoint.

I have also released a new version (1.0c). Normally, I wouldn't make a new stable build with such few improvements, but it turns out that AppBrain had begun serving us capchas, causing the update checks to fail silently. So I have implemented new measures to seep through the cracks and get their webpages anyway. Unless you upgrade to 1.0c, AppBrain may not work any more and you may receive the dreaded "no update information found" message.

Sadly, I only have a single device with a single mobile provider, so I can't guarantee that this occurs worldwide Any feedback regarding this situation would be appreciated.

Also, AppBrain people, if you read this and you're specifically targeting ApkTrack, please get in touch with me. I'm sure we can talk this through!

If you upgrade, you'll also reap the benefits of the new version comparison algorithm: there shouldn't be any more false positives if your version is more recent than the latest detected one. It also seems to work with version numbers which have a complex structure, yay!
[Android Apps and Games] PunchUp:
Going really well JusticeRage :good:
[Android Apps and Games] babu_bd:
cant install

I'm on jb 4.2.2 and cant install this app
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
Hey! Sorry to hear about that. You'll have to give me some information if you want me to do something about this, though... What happens? Is there an error message you'd feel comfortable sharing?
[Android Apps and Games] Kiba No Ou:
Would be possible to check updated app also on APKMirror and F-Droid and an option to check update in all sites?

Best regards,

Keep up the good work ;)
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
Hey !

APKMirror doesn't seem reliable enough to me when it comes to version checks, because it relies on APKs posted by its users if I get things correctly.

That being said, it seems perfectly valid as an APK search engine, so I've added it along with Google, Evozi, etc. The beta APK has been updated (also included: serbian translation, thanks to pejakm.

I'll probably add F-Droid as well, but since APKs can be downloaded from there I need to work on a way to integrate the direct link to the APK properly.

The work on other features is still ongoing, but it's taking a bit longer because I have to update the database's structure, and I would like to get it right on the first time.
[Android Apps and Games] pyler:
Downloaded 1.0c stable and installation failed. Resigned using ApkEditor and it works. So something wrong wih your certificate maybe.
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
That's weird. I've just tried re-installing the app myself, and no certificate error occurred. Did you by any chance keep a copy of the error message? Were you upgrading ApkTrack, or was it a new installation?
[Android Apps and Games] wdevil12:
will you add "share" or "open with" buttons next to apps? it will allow us to open that app's page on play store, browsers and apk downloader. please bro add it
[Android Apps and Games] empathy07:
Thank you very much. I've been using another app for a long time which has the ability to search for an specific app that is not installed. If I don't remember bad this is the way how that app works (manually for all apps).

Anyway, maybe you want to add this feature. Recently this feature starts to work really bad and I don't use anymore that app. Mostly because the app itselfs became not useful for the my purposes. But I was happy with it a lot of time.

Now I can tell you I'm glad to find this one. Because it's reaaally useful. And I think that I don't need the feature that I was talking but maybe others yes.

I'm a graphic designer and I've noticed that the app has an icon that didn't have before. Nice one. Tell me if I can make anything to help in the future.

Thank you and sorry for the mistakes, actually I'm trying to improve my English.
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
I don't plan on adding a "share" feature, mainly because I don't particularly like social networks and "sharing" an update information (or even an app) doesn't make much sense to me. I'm unlikely to work on adding interactions between ApkTrack and the Play Store, because the application was created for people who don't want to use the former.

Thank you for using the application!

I don't think I will work on a search feature for apps that aren't installed. The scope of ApkTrack really is to check for updates. Discovering and installing new applications would make it a kind of alternative app marketplace, and this isn't a direction towards which I wish to go.
[Android Apps and Games] wdevil12:
i was not talking about social network's share buttons. anyway, thanks.
[Android Apps and Games] empathy07:
Totally agree. Love it how nice is now.

I don't wish too! :/

Ah! I understand now... the search function that I've been talking before doesn't allows you to install apps, only to track. Doesn't matter. As I said totally agree with the scope of ApkTrack.

Cheers!
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
At long last, new features have been implemented. Updates can be fetched from F-Droid, Xposed Beta. Even if ApkTrack does it best to guess which source to use, the user can specify one manually (just long-press one an application in the list).

I have also added a system that allows other developers to set custom websites to track their own applications. Internally, ApkTrack uses a JSON array of elements which look like this:

{
"name": "ApkTrack Stable",
"version_check_url": "http://kwiatkowski.fr/apktrack/version.html",
"version_check_regexp": "<stable-version>([^<]+?)</stable-version>",
"download_url": "http://kwiatkowski.fr/apktrack/ApkTrack.apk", // use %1$s for version number and %2$s for package name
"applicable_packages": "^fr.kwiatkowski.ApkTrack$"
}

If you want an entry added for your app, feel free to send me a pull request on GitHub. The download URL is optional, but it allows users to skip the APK search and download the latest one directly. Feel free to contact me for more information.

This means that ApkTrack, both beta and stable (well, at least stable will be when it reaches version 1.1), is now able to update itself.

Important notice :

I have made a mix-up with my 1.0c release, and published APKs signed with my development key. Thanks to [MENTION=5064841]pyler[/MENTION] for pointing this out. I have set up a new process for releases which will prevent mistakes like this in the future, but in the meantime, people upgrading from 1.0c may encounter MISMATCHED_CERTIFICATE errors. You'll probably have to uninstall the old version before installing the new one. Apologies about this!

A new Beta APK has been released. As always, let me know if you encounter any bugs!
[Android Apps and Games] a.l.c.h.e.m.i.s.t:
can't install over 1.0c. what's the problem?
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
Can you try re-downloading the APK and installing again?
[Android Apps and Games] babylovebabie:
Really useful. Will you ever add the function to update the apps?

---------- Post added at 02:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:37 AM ----------

Really useful. thanks guy :)
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
Probably not: finding APKs automatically is difficult, and brings a lot of security issues I don't really want to take responsibility for. For Xposed, F-Droid and a couple of predetermined apps for which an official website distributes APKs, ApkTrack provides the direct link to the download page, so updating is relatively easy (albeit a manual process).
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
Hi everyone! I just wanted to check if anyone had encountered problems with the latest features. I've had one report of ApkTrack ignoring the specified update source (EDIT: seems to have fixed itself), but so far I could not reproduce the issue.

Unless I get more bug reports, I'll probably make a stable 1.1 release in the next few days!
[Android Apps and Games] PunchUp:
I have a weird problem. Not related to the latest version particularly. After I update an app, ApkTrack still shows the older version. Then I have to clear the app data for it to rebuild the list. Am I missing something?
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
This may be intended behavior. ApkTrack does not detect app updates, you have to click a button to refresh the app list (every time you install, uninstall or upgrade an app). I should definitely make this automatic however. I'll work on this before releasing the next version.
[Android Apps and Games] PunchUp:
Ah right. That explains it. Thank you
[Android Apps and Games] Primokorn:
Everything is fine here :) Being able to manually set a default source for each app is very handy.
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
Glad to see the app seems to work!

Alright, I've worked on this update detection issue. A new Beta APK has been published. Beta users, this is your chance to verify that ApkTrack can indeed update itself now.

When an app is updated, added or deleted, ApkTrack should detect it automatically, removing the need to press the "refresh" button. One caveat remains: when ApkTrack itself is updated, it gets restarted mid-process, so it doesn't detect its own update properly. The "refresh" button has to be pressed for this particular case. I'll try to figure out a way to improve this situation.

This is still an improvement for most use cases!
[Android Apps and Games] Primokorn:
Apktrack has successfully detected the update 1.1a.

However Apktrack does not detect updated apps (see screenshots after the update of ROM Settings Backup app) and the Play Store cannot be selected from the Open With window even if it has been set as the default source. If I choose Chrome it opens a web search via Google instead of Google Play.
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
Ah.

Could you post a logcat of what happens while you are installing a new APK? Maybe I'll find information in there that will help me fix the problem.

As for the Play Store page, this is normal. Some update sources don't provide direct access to APKs, in this case, when the search button is clicked, ApkTrack performs a search with the search engine selected in the settings. I think what's confusing here is that I use the same icon for the direct link provided by the update source and for the web search when no direct link is available (but I couldn't find a nice "download" icon).
[Android Apps and Games] Primokorn:
Here is a good website for icons: http://www.flaticon.com/

I have attached a (huge) log :) I started the record when performing a check in ApkTrack for Cloudmagic app. It finished once the app has been updated and that ApkTrack has found the new version (after a restart).
[Android Apps and Games] Primokorn:
FC when I hit the button to redetect installed applications (log attached)
[Android Apps and Games] JusticeRage:
Hi everyone!

I apologize for not giving any news for a full week, I have been doing a ton of stuff. Among which, playing Pillars of Eternity and drinking alcohol.

Thanks a lot for the bug reports (this was actually the same crash). I have fixed it and posted a new Beta APK which should solve the issue!

I have also used [MENTION=4958579]Primokorn[/MENTION]'s very useful link to add a new icon specifically for APK direct downloads. It should be clearer now when an APK can be searched, and when an APK can be downloaded.

If you are not too familiar with Git, GitHub allows you to edit files directly online. For instance, go to this page, click on the pen icon and you will be able to modify the file and add new download sources.

You do need to have some understanding regarding programming however. The file contains regular expressions (if you don't know what those are, that's okay but you won't be able to edit the file properly). So if there is a particular update source you want to add for some APK(s), feel free to post the details here (or via a private message) and I'll work out the details myself !

[MENTION=4958579]Primokorn[/MENTION] : I haven't figured out why the automatic update detection doesn't work for you yet, but I'm still working on that!

Finally, on related news, I have made the ApkTrack repository cleaner by creating separate branches for the "release" and "beta" channels of the application.

EDIT : I've noticed that AppBrain is yet again serving us with capchas. Now I'm pretty sure they're targetting ApkTrack. They even added some code in their HTML to trick ApkTrack into displaying false version numbers (<div class="clDesc">Version 1000000</div></div>, nice one guys). As always, if anyone from AppBrain is reading this, I'm more than willing to discuss this. In the meantime, the Beta APK has been updated to circumvent their new measures. I intend to fix the release version as well by bumping it to 1.1, as soon as you guys confirm that there are no more FCs!

EDIT2 : I've reached out to them on Twitter. Let's see where this goes.