Auto-update of an Android app never happens

Question

I have a somewhat unusual Android app in the Play Store that\'s running on dedicated devices 24/7 (it collects sensor data, it\'s not meant to run on phones used for anythin

Answer 1

Make sure the port 5228, TCP and UDP, is not blocked by a firewall per https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/2651367?hl=en

We've had a similar problem for years. Our apps run on school deployed devices. Whenever we push an update, it reaches may be 10% of devices within 24 hours, the rest seem to "hang". It takes about a week for another 30% of devices to get the update, while the remaining %60 never get it. There is no difference in settings across devices. All set to auto-update of course.

The way we "solved it" is our app is checking if the market has a newer version (there are libraries for doing it, but we have own server responding yes/no). If there is a newer version of the app, we invoke the intent to open Google Play with the app's page. The user has to manually click "Update" at that point.

If there was a native or cleaner way to push the updates we'd love to hear, even at this point in the game. Bothering users to update is not ideal.

Answer 2

This is a long shot: Maybe there was any change in the apps required permissions?

That would require manual updating (even if auto-update is on). Maybe you installed the app first in those old devices, then changed the permissions, then installed the app in new devices, then updated the app. That would make the autoupdate system work in the newer devices, and not work in the older ones.