Verify that apk is a paid copy (avoid piracy of app)

android apk android-lvl copy-protection
Codebeat picture Codebeat · May 25, 2012 · Viewed 8.1k times · Source

I'm totally new to the Android Play store. I'm working on an app that is almost finished and ready to publish.

But I notice that you can copy the apk file (after purchase) to another location (sd card for example) and install it on another device. That is something I want to avoid.

My questions are:

  • Does the Google Play store sign the apk file with some unique id before downloading? If is true, can I read/get this code from the apk?
  • Is it possible to know the email-address of the user that purchase the app or can I access some other details of the user?
  • Is it possible to get an unique detail of the device?
  • Is there another solution available to protect the copy of the apk?

I want to create a registration method that binds the device to the app, so when the user tried to copy the app, it is not possible to use it. Is this all possible?

If you have any questions, let me know.

PS: I used Adobe Flash Builder to build the app.

Answer

Kumar Bibek picture Kumar Bibek · May 25, 2012

Your best bet is a combination of LVL (Android License Verification Library) and tracking device installations.

LVL http://developer.android.com/guide/market/licensing/index.html

Tracking Device installations http://android-developers.blogspot.in/2011/03/identifying-app-installations.html

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