Samsung Galaxy apps Problem

wealthyson

Hey andromo guys, please need your help with respect to this problem below. and I did use samsung appstore in the andromo target markets section.

thanks.

<Defect>

There’s no Samsung SDK used in the Manifest file.

<Procedure>
1. Check if Samsung SDK is embedded in Manifest file. 
2. Check if Samsung SDK is used in practice.

<Expected Result>
Application must be developed by using Samsung SDK if it’s to be newly registered.

Please note that if seller submits application without actual usage of Samsung SDK, Samsung GALAXY Apps team may reject seller’s application at the next submission. 
This could cause seller’s access to Samsung GALAXY Apps disabled.

Smartphonesgo

i have also the same problem with 4 apps of mine rejected. There must be some major update on the samsung SDK , i hope the andromo guys can help.

lorne

I've been looking into this issue today. There have not been any announcements from Samsung and they have not made any changes to the Samsung SDKs we're using. This seems to be a change in how they determine whether an app uses their SDKs. Someone on StackOverflow reported that they tried submitting one of Samsung's own sample apps from the SDK and even it was rejected. 

One way to get an app approved seems to be to require the SPen feature in the app's manifest, even if the app doesn't use that feature at all. I'm investigating this as a potential workaround but it might reduce the number of compatible devices and there's no way to know whether it will continue to work if Samsung changes their submission process yet again.

Insplisity

Samsung is one strange app store, that's for sure. Thanks for looking into this, @lorne.

wealthyson

Agreed @hendrixs and thanks a lot @lorne please do look into it.

wealthyson

Any updates on this???

lorne

This StackOverflow post seems to indicate that including a "com.sec.feature.spen_usp" uses-feature declaration in the manifest might help, but I haven't been able to confirm whether it makes any difference yet. (It might also reduce the number of compatible devices and give users false expectations.)

However, that post is a couple months old, and may not even be relevant to this situation. We were already getting past the binary checks by actually making use of the Samsung imagefilter SDK.

We are also already making the only manifest change that is actually mentioned in any of the Samsung documentation, which is to declare the following permission:

com.samsung.android.providers.context.permission.WRITE_USE_APP_FEATURE_SURVEY

@archdemonn: it would be very helpful if you could inform Samsung that your app already includes the com.samsung.android.providers.context.permission.WRITE_USE_APP_FEATURE_SURVEY permission in the manifest, which their documenation says is what you need to do in order to be recognized as using a Samsung SDK, and ask them exactly what else they require your app to declare in the manifest in order to pass.

stmike

Bellow is the last letter from Samsung. Pay attention on the item 4. It's seems that Andromo must implement the real Samsung SDK that will be in use. For example pen, some image filters, visual views or something else. I home Andromo resolve this problem.

The following policy changes will be applied to the GALAXY Specials category of Samsung GALAXY Apps.
- Effective from : October 1, 2014
- Changes
1. A number of applications selected by the administrator will be shown in the GALAXY Specials category.
2. Applications not selected by the administrator can only be found by searching.
3. Applications will be displayed only as GALAXY Specials in Samsung GALAXY Apps, regardless of the 6 sub-categories in the GALAXY Specials selected by the Seller Office.
4. The GALAXY Specials category aims to provide applications that have implemented Samsung SDKs to provide enhanced Samsung device experience for users. Applications that have not properly implemented the Samsung SDK may be removed from the store, and in case of fraud / copyright issues, your seller status may be considered for termination.

wealthyson

@lorne... Sure i will immediately do that and let you know of the feedback being provided to me... Thanks a ton for all your continuous support!!!!

priyank1991

Hi guys,

Even I am getting the same problem for my wallpaper apps. My apps were under "device test delayed" for almost 2 weeks and later were rejected because of the same reason as with @archdemonnn. I have also received the email posted by @stmike above. I am not sure if they just want the SDK present or they want it implemented too. Also as to how they determine if we have implemented the sdk is unclear to me.

@lorne: I will also write to samsung as you have suggested. But till then I request you to check from your side about the 4th point that they have mentioned in their email about implementation of their sdk:

4. The GALAXY Specials category aims to provide applications that have implemented Samsung SDKs to provide enhanced Samsung device experience for users. Applications that have not properly implemented the Samsung SDK may be removed from the store, and in case of fraud / copyright issues, your seller status may be considered for termination. 

It would really suck if they actually terminate our store for this reason.

Thanks.

colinadams

To reiterate what Lorne said in another thread, Andromo already does use one of the Samsung SDK's - the Samsung ImageFilter SDK (there are many of them, and most are simply not viable for use in Andromo apps).

Quote:
If you build the app with the target set to Samsung App Store, the app will include and make use of the Samsung ImageFilter SDK, and it will include the com.samsung.android.providers.context.permission.WRITE_USE_APP_FEATURE_SURVEY permission in the manifest, which is all the Samsung SDK documentation says is needed in order to be recognized.

Please contact Samsung and inform them:

- your app is using the Samsung ImageFilter SDK
- your app is declaring the com.samsung.android.providers.context.permission.WRITE_USE_APP_FEATURE_SURVEY permission in the manifest

...and ask them exactly what else they require your app to do in order to pass.

****

Unfortunately, Samsung has changed the rules. They do not seem to want 'Android' apps anymore, but rather 'Samsung' apps that only work on specific Samsung phones at the exclusion of all others. In effect, they are saying they want a smaller app store with only hand selected apps in it.

To be 100% clear, their explanation about the SDK is not correct and to be blunt, rather odd. Andromo apps already do use one of the Samsung SDK's if you target the Samsung app store. So, something else is happening over at the Samsung app store that is not just an issue for Andromo created apps, but all Android apps in general.

We'll do what we can, but in the end, it's Samsung's store, Samsung's strategy and Samsung's rules...

Insplisity

Thanks for the detailed explanation, Colin. I didn't have any problems with them yet.

lorne

We looked at all the Samsung SDKs and decided to use the ImageFilter SDK because it seemed that it would have the least impact on the number of compatible devices, and on the size of the APK file. It was also relatively easy to implement, which meant we could release something sooner than if we had tried to implement one of the other Samsung SDKs. It also seemed to be one of the few options that we could use without placing additional restrictions on your ability to market your apps.

After testing the ImageFilter SDK it turned out to be of little more than token use, but we do make use of it from the About dialog. This ensures that the SDK is included in the APK no matter what activities you choose to use, and can be detected by Samsung if they inspect the Andromo java classes for SDK calls.

At the time we repeatedly asked Samsung for clarification on the exact requirements and submission procedures for their app store but kept getting the same canned responses. After phrasing the question dozens of different ways, we finally got a response that, while not the clearest communication ever recorded, effectively confirmed what we were doing was correct.

At this point we don't know if Samsung have changed their procedures, changed their policies, made a mistake, or even if they were testing the same APK files that our users believe they sent.

But stay tuned as we continue our investigation.

AppsDevelopment

"while not the clearest communication ever recorded"
Since I know what you are talking about, I love you choice of words :-) LOL!

I neither had any problems with samsung submissions yet.

wealthyson

@lorne... Samsung guys contacted me and asked me to upload all the apks to them on some online drive and also to inform them about the SDK used... so i just did that and also informed them that i have used ImageFilter SDK... now waiting for their response.. Thanks!

Insplisity

@lorne: You guys are the coolest. Thanks for all the help.

wealthyson

@hendrixs i would like to second that!!! @lorne Thanks a lot!

lorne

Thanks for the kind words guys!

As an update I have successfully submitted an app to Samsung and got it approved. The app was built using the current public version of Andromo, nothing special about it other than setting the target to Samsung.

So it appears that we don't need to make any further changes to Andromo for apps to be approved in the Samsung app store.

In my submission I selected "Galaxy Specials" and "Other" for the Category setting.

Under "Please enter comments to the Certification Team" I wrote "App makes use of Samsung ImageFilter SDK." (I don't know if this made any difference, but it seemed like a prudent thing to do.)

It will be interesting to see how Samsung responds to the cases where they rejected the apps mentioned in this thread.

wealthyson

@lorne.. Thats a great news for now!!! Still awaiting reply from Samsung guys.. lets c ... Thanks a lot!!!

wallpaperhd

@lorne thanks for all your help and information....but the result are the same...Samsung rejected my app again...and the reason is same"There’s no Samsung SDK used in the Manifest file."...when u said "Samsung had accepted your app" after that i tried submitting my app on Samsung...my app was newly made app by selecting target market as Samsung apps store...and as u suggested i enter comments to the Certification Team "App makes use of Samsung ImageFilter SDK." but the result is same...don't know what is their exact problem...u peoples trying really hard to help us but i thing Samsung don't need more app developers...But the main thing is that they are creating this problem only for IMAGES APPS...other types of apps such as video, rss, ringtone etc are accepted very easily...even though same steps are followed to make those apps, they are accepted... they are having problem only with IMAGES APPS...

if possible u open a chat with samsung peoples communicate with them to solve this problem...that might be helpful...

lorne

@sspawar91, would you be able to open a private support ticket and share the name of your Andromo project,and the resulting apk file? I would like to rule out the (extremely slim) chance that this has anything to do with the activity settings you used.

I would also suggest you point out to Samsung that your manifest file contains the com.samsung.android.providers.context.permission.WRITE_USE_APP_FEATURE_SURVEY permission as per their documentation and ask them what, exactly, they think is missing from the manifest.

micahelcarric

Thanks for the post really helpfull for me

wealthyson

@lorne... hey guys some good news.. the files were not rejected because of not using samsung sdk, they were rejected cause they were uploaded in bulk and were wallpaper apps with pics and images taken from internet.... The following is the reply mail i received yesterday from samsung ....

"Dear Customer,

Thank you for contacting us. We appreciate the opportunity to assist you.

Regarding your inquiry, we would like to inform you that the reason why the applications were rejected is that all the registered applications were used with the images of the popular sports teams or celebrities without permission, even though the applications registered with Image Filter SDK.



It is not recommended to register the Wallpaper applications in bulk because the store is operated as 'Curated App Store', which means that we select the some applications to give our store benefit in particular."


Thanks a lot for all your efforts and support!

lorne

@archdemonn thanks for posting their response. So much for it being about the manifest. :O

I guess the answer has finally...

B-)

...manifested.

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

Insplisity

@archdemonn: Thanks so much!

@lorne: LOL!

wallpaperhd

@lorne Thanks for your guidance.After very long chat with samsung they finally started accepting my apps...

lorne

@sspawar91 That's good news, thanks for letting us all know.