What Happens When Your Users Install an AIR For Android Application Without AIR

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I’ve gotten this question a couple of times so figured it might be worth a blog post (because I wasn’t sure until I tested it). Now that the AIR runtime is on the Market, there are going to be apps that need it. If you’re one of those application developers who creates one, what’s the user experience for someone who hasn’t yet installed AIR for Android? It’s actually pretty nice.

The application will install just fine without any issues. When the user tries to run that application, they’ll be presented with this screen:

After that, they can click the install link and it will take them to Adobe AIR in the Android Market where they can download and install it. After that, the application will work just fine.

Related posts:

  1. Publishing AIR Apps to the Android Market
  2. The Camera API and Geolocation Exif Data on AIR for Android
  3. Me on the Android Central Podcast
  4. AIR and Flash Player coming for Android and Mobile Devices
  5. Could We Make The Flash Install More User Friendly on Linux?
  • http://www.biskero.org Alessandro

    Ciao Ryan,

    great release.
    One question that never got a clear answer is:
    what happens if there is a bug in AIR which prevents users to user their purchase content? What’s the strategy behind solving these issues?

    For example I have seen many developers deployed AIR Mobile content in the Market which was created with Beta software and not the just released AIR Mobile runtime. It’s a clear situation where there might be problems and devs should understand that they should sell content on officially released runtimes to avoid the above issue.

    Alessandro

  • ryanstewart

    Hey Alessandro, I’m not sure I understand the question. I don’t know that AIR would affect the purchase at all because the runtime is completely separate from the applications.

    =Ryan

  • http://www.biskero.org Alessandro

    Ciao Ryan,

    ok, if there is a bug in AIR which affects purchased AIR Mobile content, what’s the strategy to avoid these issues?

    A user will have a non functioning content and the developer will be blamed not Adobe. This is especially important if it’s paid content.

    Alessandro

  • Adi

    Hi Ryan :)

    I have a question. Where did the Adobe AIR installation take place? we know that in the PC/MAC/Linux, Adobe AIR will install automatically in system folder, Do the AIR for Android have the same mechanism ?

    If yes, can I move the Adobe AIR installation to SD card (and my AIR application still run normally)?

    thanks ryan ^_^

  • ryanstewart

    Hey Adi, the runtime doesn’t support moving the app to the SD card. So it lives on the internal drive.

    =Ryan

  • James

    Alessandro, if there a bug, postpone that feature or have a workaround, you have ask a question that was answer 10 years ago.

  • http://flashmobile.scottjanousek.com/ Scott Janousek

    Alessandro,

    I’m guessing Adobe will be pushing many updates to the AIR runtime just as they are for the FP 10.1 on Android.

    Whether users upgrade to the newest runtimes with fixes is TBD, but it can’t be worse than deploying a device into market with serious bugs and users NOT being able to update their runtime because it involves flashing a device (such is the legacy of Flash Lite). Or can it?

    This is one of the strengths of native, in that bits that ship are completely your product.

    In this regard, I see your point, and agree that it’s the “right tool for the right job”.

    If I were creating an enterprise app I would probably not do so using AIR until it matures, I’d go native …

    However casual content in the AIR marketplace is a little more forgiving, at least in the fact that you will get bad reviews, rather than a client or end users potential legal action because of potential bugs.

  • Adam

    Very excited to upload our AIR app ‘Darcel vs Pigeons’ this morning! Adobe had done a great job.

  • ryanstewart

    @Allesandro,

    Well the runtimes will be backwards compatible, but I think in general we’ll follow the same procedures we do today for bugs. I realize there’s maybe a bigger issue with “paid” content but I think the same processes still apply.

    =Ryan

  • http://www.biskero.org Alessandro

    Ciao,

    @James, I think you confused the issue, is the other way around. Never been addressed before! When the runtimes are part of the OS, we know the bugs and we do workarounds. But when the bugs are introduced after the “game” is started and the devs are not in control is a different story!

    The solution is pretty simple, just give some time, before releases, to developers to do tests, for example in the developer program.

    Alessandro

  • http://www.costaverdepapersupply.com/estore2/ Mike Rodriguez

    It’s interesting to see how AIR matures on a mobile platform. With all of the troubles of Flash on Android, and not to mention the feud with Apple and the iPhone, AIR may be a viable choice if it can show that it can be secure enough to work on Android. I think updates should be kept native until it shows just that.

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