690820 - Create beta and release builds with different update channels for non-Google stores

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Firefox for Android Graveyard :: General, defect)

Description

[Mark Finkle (:mfinkle) (use needinfo?)]

Some stores, like the Amazon and GetJar stores, do not have an update mechanism. Firefox already has an update mechanism, but we disable it and use the Android Market mechanism.

To put Firefox into additional stores, we need Beta and Final release builds that can be updated with the Mozilla update system, like Nightly and Aurora.

We should change the app.update.channel for these builds so we can track them separately from the default Android Market releases.

Comment 1

[Matt Brubeck (:mbrubeck)]

(In reply to Mark Finkle (:mfinkle) from comment #0)
> Some stores, like the Amazon and GetJar stores, do not have an update
> mechanism.

This is incorrect.  Amazon at least does have an update mechanism; but one problem is that we can't trust update mechanisms for stores that are not part of the default install on the device, since the user might uninstall the store itself.  From bug 690791 comment 6:

> Thomas was concerned about users who install install Amazon Appstore as a
> third-party app on their devices, then install Firefox through the Amazon
> Appstore, then uninstall the Android Appstore app.  Then they will stop
> receiving automatic updates for Firefox (along with all other Amazon
> Appstore apps).
> 
> Personally I think this is an edge case that does not need to block
> distribution in the Appstore, especially if the majority of Amazon Appstore
> customers end up being Kindle users (for whom the Appstore is built in and
> can't be uninstalled).  For the few users who are affected, they can easily
> update Firefox themselves from the Google Android Market or directly from
> Mozilla.

On the other hand, we might cause even more problems if we enable our own update mechanism.  For example, suppose the Amazon Kindle Fire ships without the ability to enable non-trusted installs.  (The Kindle example is hypothetical, but nearly all AT&T phones actually do ship this way.)  Then shipping Firefox with updates enabled will cause Firefox to download updates that the user can't actually install.

Installing updates through our own mechanism will probably also *break* auto-updates delivered through marketplaces like Amazon Appstore, just as installing Firefox manually will cause the Google Android Market to stop auto-updating it.

Comment 2

[Matt Brubeck (:mbrubeck)]

Also note that our release and beta builds *are* built with the updater enabled; we just don't publish any updates to the current "release" and "beta" channels.  So if we do want builds that update through AUS, all we need to do is do is create builds with different update channels, and start publishing updates to those channels.

Comment 3

[Matt Brubeck (:mbrubeck)]

See bug 631824 for the previous discussion of this issue.

Comment 4

[Matt Brubeck (:mbrubeck)]

To clarify my above comments:  I think we *should* create new builds with update channels that provide updates, and distribute those builds from the Mozilla website and through any app stores that don't provide their own update service (like GetJar, I think?).

For app stores like Amazon and Google's that provide their own update services, I think we should continue using the current builds and channels where we do not publish any updates ourselves, for the reasons in comment 1.

Comment 5

[BMO Automation]

Closing all opened bug in a graveyard component