Hello everyone, Please forgive me because I know the answer is probably right here in front of me but have been searching and can't find the answer here as a search returns nothing. I've used different search phrases to try and locate the info. With 1341 topics to read it's going to take me a few days if not weeks to read them all before I stumble across this. Trust me I've been reading a lot up in here. :) I created my first Android app. I uploaded it to my test web server for this project. I created a Text based link to the Android App.apk file but when I downloaded it to my mobile phone it renamed the extension of the app to a .txt file format. Then when I clicked on the app icon (which was how it displays in my download folder) to install the app it doesn't allow me to install the app. Instead it tries to open the file and I see a bunch of code and gibberish. How can I host my Android App on my own site so that I can download it and install it to my phone for testing purposes? Thanks in advance for reading this and your contribution in helping me find out what I'm missing. J

There is probably a way to do this and i'm shure someone can tell you on here, but I would probably pay the 25 dollar fee to upload the app to the android market then link the market from your site...just a thought

this is standard html solution: the download link should be a standard html link eg; http://www.yourdomain.com/yourapp.apk to make it pretty you can always use your aref tags to make the link display any text you want eg; <a href=http://www.yourdomain.com/yourapp.apk>any text you want link</a> the text displayed would be [any text you want link] and would link to [http://www.yourdomain.com/yourapp.apk] (excluding the brackets) @ SFNeNT: think this also answers your question about creating an mp3 download link, though obviously this would have to be on a custom html page :-)

forgot to add: when android device is directed to http://www.yourdomain.com/yourapp.apk it will automatically recognise it and download and install

First of all thank you @SFNent and @steveh6883 for your replies. I am definitely going to do the $25 to distribute my Android app through the Android market but was just trying to see how this worked via a link off of a test site. Here is the URL: (URL removed since @steveh6883 and David Book saved the day!) and as you can see @steveh6883 I did make it a direct link to the app. I directed my Samsung Moment to that URL and clicked on the link. It tries to read it and interpret or decode the app and I get a bunch of jibberish. It doesn't recognize it as an app. So my question now is... is this a function of my phone tripping or am I not setting up the link correctly. The app again is just a test I am doing but the link is set up correctly because I can download it from my laptop. It just won't download via my mobile phone as an app. Now it won't download at all and it always wants to open or read the app which comes across like foreign language. Again thanks for your help and any direction on how to get this to work would be greatly appreciated. I want to be able to distribute my real apps via web sites that I own as well as the Android Market. Thank you and anxiously awaiting your reply. J

Hi The problem: Just checked your site on on Samsung Galaxy & PC, the text redirect link works but as you say is gibberish And the solution is ... You need to rename the apk file WITHOUT the space (not a recognised format for naming), either just delete the space or add an underscore instead of space (standard for naming where spaces should be)

dont think you need to recompile, just rename apk file without the space and dont forget to allow your device to use non-market apps settings>applications>allow unknown sources [allow install of non-market applications]

Welcome form Chino. Glad to hear you dug through ten hours of forum posts! Kidding, we really need to start organizing all the posts (on the to-do list). The other's have shared some good advise....There are a few gotchas but you seem to have most of it figured out (way to go, tons of folks can't get that far). a) Visit the settings panel on your phone MAKE SURE IT ALLOWS NON-MARKET APPS b) Applications > Allow Non-Market Apps (some phones bury this and it's tough to find but all Android phones have the option c) In Eclipse: Highlight your project name then right / command click to show the content menu. Look through this long list near the bottom you'll see Export Signed Application. In theory it should work Unsigned too because your not using the App Market but I generally sign them always because it's not any more difficult. d) Follow the steps, 'Browse' to a place on your computer to store the .APK it will create for you. Finish. e) Find the .apk you just created (Eclipse created it for you) and FTP it to your website. f) Use the regular browser on the device and navigate to the .apk. mysite.com/myapps/coolapp.apk Should work.

@steveh6883 and I posted a second apart - same advice - too funny. Awesome.

OMG @David Book and @steveh6883 you guys are AWESOME! I love BuzzTouch and this forum truly does rock! I said this on FB and am saying it again here!! I didn't mind reading as many posts as I did in the forum because I know I can learn a lot by doing that but after a while I was feeling like I was never going to find the answer and that is why I posted. I'm stubborn and don't like asking for help unless I've tried and tried and tried on my own. I want to respect people's time. :) I had turned on to allow Non-Market apps and did sign the app but looks like the spacing in the file name was the culprit! Thank you BOTH so so much. J p.s. NOOOOOOOOOOOW I'm going to try and tackle the Apple app compiling with Xcode. Thankfully I have a Mac and the $5 to get my copy. I'm hoping that compiling the Apple app isn't difficult. I almost made it on my own with the Android app but that darn spacing got me. Love you guys and I am soooooooooo excited that this worked! WOOT! p.s.s. Thanks @David for the kind words of encouragement. It truly means a lot and I am getting teary eyed because I've been wanting to do this for some time now and BuzzTouch is allowing me to do it!

Just tested again on Samsung Galaxy & all downloading, installing & running fine :-)

Thanks @steveh6883 for following up and testing for me. I just created a second app and this time did not include any spaces in the name. It downloaded and installed just fine. You rock!!!!! :)

Removed because I didn't post this twice. Not sure why it appeared twice.