Scott Main | 50e990c | 2012-06-21 17:14:39 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 1 | page.title=Application Licensing |
| 2 | @jd:body |
| 3 | |
| 4 | |
| 5 | <p>Google Play offers a licensing service that lets you enforce licensing policies for |
| 6 | applications that you publish on Google Play. With Google Play Licensing, your application can |
| 7 | query Google Play at run time to obtain the licensing status for the current user, then allow or |
| 8 | disallow further use as appropriate. </p> |
| 9 | |
| 10 | <p>Using the service, you can apply a flexible licensing policy on an application-by-application |
| 11 | basis—each application can enforce licensing in the way most appropriate for it. If necessary, |
| 12 | an application can apply custom constraints based on the licensing status obtained from Google Play. |
| 13 | For example, an application can check the licensing status and then apply custom constraints |
| 14 | that allow the user to run it unlicensed for a specific validity period. An application can also |
| 15 | restrict use of the application to a specific device, in addition to any other constraints. </p> |
| 16 | |
| 17 | <p>The licensing service is a secure means of controlling access to your applications. When an |
| 18 | application checks the licensing status, the Google Play server signs the licensing status |
quddusc | ce4027b | 2013-03-29 15:32:38 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 19 | response using a key pair that is uniquely associated with the application. Your application |
Scott Main | 50e990c | 2012-06-21 17:14:39 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 20 | stores the public key in its compiled <code>.apk</code> file and uses it to verify the licensing |
| 21 | status response.</p> |
| 22 | |
| 23 | <p>Any application that you publish through Google Play can use the Google Play Licensing |
| 24 | service. No special account or registration is needed. Additionally, because the service uses no |
| 25 | dedicated framework APIs, you can add licensing to any application that uses a minimum API level of |
| 26 | 3 or higher.</p> |
| 27 | |
| 28 | <p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> The Google Play Licensing service is primarily intended |
| 29 | for paid applications that wish to verify that the current user did in fact pay for the application |
| 30 | on Google Play. However, any application (including free apps) may use the licensing service |
| 31 | to initiate the download of an APK expansion file. In which case, the request that your application |
| 32 | sends to the licensing service is not to check whether the user paid for the app, but to request the |
| 33 | URL of the expansion files. For information about downloading expansion files for your application, |
Dirk Dougherty | 2b286bb | 2012-11-29 17:25:09 -0800 | [diff] [blame] | 34 | read the guide to <a href="{@docRoot}google/play/expansion-files.html">APK Expansion Files</a>.</p> |
Scott Main | 50e990c | 2012-06-21 17:14:39 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 35 | |
| 36 | |
| 37 | <p>To learn more about Google Play's application licensing service and start integrating it into |
| 38 | your applications, read the following documents:</p> |
| 39 | |
| 40 | <dl> |
Dirk Dougherty | 2b286bb | 2012-11-29 17:25:09 -0800 | [diff] [blame] | 41 | <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/licensing/overview.html">Licensing |
Scott Main | 50e990c | 2012-06-21 17:14:39 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 42 | Overview</a></strong></dt> |
| 43 | <dd>Describes how the service works and what a typical licensing implementation looks |
| 44 | like.</dd> |
Dirk Dougherty | 2b286bb | 2012-11-29 17:25:09 -0800 | [diff] [blame] | 45 | <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/licensing/setting-up.html">Setting Up for |
Scott Main | 50e990c | 2012-06-21 17:14:39 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 46 | Licensing</a></strong></dt> |
| 47 | <dd>Explains how to set up your Google Play account, development environment, and |
| 48 | testing environment in order to add licensing to your app.</dd> |
Dirk Dougherty | 2b286bb | 2012-11-29 17:25:09 -0800 | [diff] [blame] | 49 | <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/licensing/adding-licensing.html">Adding |
Scott Main | 50e990c | 2012-06-21 17:14:39 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 50 | Licensing to Your App</a></strong></dt> |
| 51 | <dd>Provides a step-by-step guide to add licensing verification to your application.</dd> |
Dirk Dougherty | 2b286bb | 2012-11-29 17:25:09 -0800 | [diff] [blame] | 52 | <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/licensing/licensing-reference.html">Licensing |
Scott Main | 50e990c | 2012-06-21 17:14:39 -0700 | [diff] [blame] | 53 | Reference</a></strong></dt> |
| 54 | <dd>Provides detailed information about the licensing library's classes and the service response |
| 55 | codes.</dd> |
| 56 | </dl> |
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