Samsung App Store - Application submission policy changes

Solar2D Monetization (in-app purchases, ads, etc.)
#1

I just received the following email from the Samsung Seller Office.  I’m assuming that Corona uses the Samsung SDK in the requisite manner…?

[Seller Office] Application submission policy changes

Dear Sellers,

Thank you for using Samsung Apps Seller Office.

This is to inform you that Seller Office’s app submission policy will be changed from July 1, 2014. the changes are listed below.

  1. When submitting new app in Seller Office, you are required to submit app that was developed using Samsung SDK.

※ Samsung SDKs are the tools that help sellers to make apps using Samsung device-specialized functions such as S Pen, Finger Print, Gesture, Motion and more. Please visit SAMSUNG DEVELOPERS (http://developer.samsung.com/) to download Samsung SDKs and obtain additional information.

※ In case of existing apps registered in Seller Office, the apps can be updated without using Samsung SDK.

  1. Samsung Seller membership will be terminated for those who registered before February 20, 2014 (GMT +09:00), but have not submitted any apps to Samsung Apps Seller Office. (Membership termination date : June 30, 2014)

Please refer to the below Q&A for more information or contact our Customer Support team (http://help.content.samsung.com/csseller/).

Q 1 : If I submit app before July 1, 2014, should my app use Samsung SDK?
A 1 : No, the new policy will be effective from July 1, 2014.

Q 2 : Is it impossible to submit apps without using Samsung SDK from July 1?
A 2 : No, but you must use Samsung SDK to submit apps. however, Sellers who have separate contract or partnership with Samsung can submit apps without using Samsung SDK. if you have any question on contract or partnership, please contact our Customer Support team (http://help.content.samsung.com/csseller/).

Q 3 : If my membership is terminated, how can I obtain membership again?
A 3 : You can re-register and obtain a new membership after 72 hours from the most recent membership termination.

We appreciate your understanding and our Customer Support team will be available to assist you with any questions or concerns. (http://help.content.samsung.com/csseller/)

#2

I would really like to know the answer to this question too. Most of my android income comes from the samsung app store and I would really like to know if corona meets their new requirements.

#3

Engineering is trying to figure out what all this means for Corona SDK.  Corona Enterprise subscribers should be able to implement the Samsung SDK’s and not have to worry about this.

Rob

#4

Just to clarify something.  Samsung devices (Phones and Tablets) can get apps from both the Google Play store and the Amazon store (and a bunch of smaller stores).  Samsung devices can also get apps from the Samsung store.  Other Android devices probably cannot use the Samsung store. 

So what this means is that as of now, you can submit your Corona built apps to any of the other Android stores.  The only customers you cannot reach are Samsung device owners accessing the Samsung store, which is a minority of your possible audience.  You may still be able to submit apps that don’t use Google Play features that Samsung has equivalents for, like Google Play Game Services. 

#5

Thanks Rob.

He’s absolutely right.

I work the night shift…I did some research into this on the internet…I hope I can clarify even more – even though I’m a Newbie… because It really bothered me when I heard this – I thought this meant that our games wouldn’t be on the Google “Playstore” but I was wrong to be worried. It might be Samsung making a big mistake…Samsung is attempting to break away from Google play (the company that help build them) … They want to have their own operating system and app store… like Apple and Google. Other companies that attempted this have failed…

BUT There’s a little app on all your Samsung phones called “Samsung Apps” Ever heard of it?? Lol several people I talked to didn’t even know it was on their phone (including me lolz) or they don’t use it… BECAUSE EVERYBODY USES GOOGLE PLAY.  

It’s actually smart for Samsung to reject Apps that are not created with their SDK . Why??? Because they’re making their own operating system for Samsung devices… that means current android apps (including the apps Samsung created for  Android) WON’T even work on the future upcoming Samsung phones and devices.

I asked a few hardcore Samsung Galaxy uses “What would you do if the next Samsung Galaxy smartphone didn’t have the android OS and you couldn’t access Google playstore , would you still buy it?” They actually told me they would seriously think about switching to another phone …

I hope this post helps curve people’s worries…ugh

Anyways, good luck Samsung. You’ll need it.

#6

I would really like to know the answer to this question too. Most of my android income comes from the samsung app store and I would really like to know if corona meets their new requirements.

#7

Engineering is trying to figure out what all this means for Corona SDK.  Corona Enterprise subscribers should be able to implement the Samsung SDK’s and not have to worry about this.

Rob

#8

Just to clarify something.  Samsung devices (Phones and Tablets) can get apps from both the Google Play store and the Amazon store (and a bunch of smaller stores).  Samsung devices can also get apps from the Samsung store.  Other Android devices probably cannot use the Samsung store. 

So what this means is that as of now, you can submit your Corona built apps to any of the other Android stores.  The only customers you cannot reach are Samsung device owners accessing the Samsung store, which is a minority of your possible audience.  You may still be able to submit apps that don’t use Google Play features that Samsung has equivalents for, like Google Play Game Services. 

#9

Thanks Rob.

He’s absolutely right.

I work the night shift…I did some research into this on the internet…I hope I can clarify even more – even though I’m a Newbie… because It really bothered me when I heard this – I thought this meant that our games wouldn’t be on the Google “Playstore” but I was wrong to be worried. It might be Samsung making a big mistake…Samsung is attempting to break away from Google play (the company that help build them) … They want to have their own operating system and app store… like Apple and Google. Other companies that attempted this have failed…

BUT There’s a little app on all your Samsung phones called “Samsung Apps” Ever heard of it?? Lol several people I talked to didn’t even know it was on their phone (including me lolz) or they don’t use it… BECAUSE EVERYBODY USES GOOGLE PLAY.  

It’s actually smart for Samsung to reject Apps that are not created with their SDK . Why??? Because they’re making their own operating system for Samsung devices… that means current android apps (including the apps Samsung created for  Android) WON’T even work on the future upcoming Samsung phones and devices.

I asked a few hardcore Samsung Galaxy uses “What would you do if the next Samsung Galaxy smartphone didn’t have the android OS and you couldn’t access Google playstore , would you still buy it?” They actually told me they would seriously think about switching to another phone …

I hope this post helps curve people’s worries…ugh

Anyways, good luck Samsung. You’ll need it.

#10

Hang on a second.

Samsung is a big store, with lots of users, in particular outside the US. For many developers in my network (kids apps) it provides a significant proportion of their overall revenue. They offer great dev support, they’ve refreshed their dev portal so it’s super easy to add apps, and they have the financial muscle (and control over the entire vertical) to push their store heavily.

Rob and burnsj002, casual statements like “…which is a minority of your possible audience” and “Lol several people I talked to didn’t even know it was on their phone” are not accurate.

I’d  like to know when you will restore Samsung as a target app store for Pro users.

#11

Let me clarify a few things.

  1. The support we had for Samsung was limited to allowing native.showPopup() bring up an app’s page in their app store app and rate an app.  That’s it.  We we removed it, that’s the only thing you got.

2.  No one is sure, but straight up Android apps may still be submittable to Samsung even though we don’t have a “Samsung” option in the build list.  Just pick a generic Android build.  Their new rules require use of Samsung API’s.  But not all apps need to use the Samsung features, so we are suspecting that if you don’t use In App Purchases, advertising, GPGS or anything that touches Google Play API’s they might pass it.

  1. We have no immediate plans to compile in Samsung’s libraries.  If this market place is important to you, we offer Corona Enterprise and Corona Cards, both allow you to link in native libraries, which could satisfy Samsung’s requirements.  Now at some point in the future, if Samsung relaxes their requirements we may change our mind.  You could also convince Gremlin Interactive to add the Samsung libraries as Plugins too.

But I want to re-iterate.  The only thing that building for a target app store does is directs native.showPopup(“appStore”) on where to go.  It might have impact on IAP for Google and Amazon, but I’m doubt it.  In other words you’re not missing much by us taking out Samsung as a target store from what was there. 

Rob

#12

Thanks for your reply Rob.

  1. I believe you forgot about system.getInfo( “targetAppStore” ). I use this to execute market-specific code without having to change any code in my code before building it. Otherwise I must set a variable to define which market I am building for, and remember to change that before building.

  2. My interpretation of Samsung’s mail was that you will be able to update   existing apps that you have in the store prior to their policy change, but you will not be able to submit new apps without using their SDK. I will test this, and provide the results, but it sure sounds like Corona won’t work for Samsung

  3. I don’t require any immediate fix, but I strongly encourage you to look into what would be required to address it in Starter and Pro at some point this year. It is not clear to me what is so difficult with including their libraries in your build process, and to be honest your reply makes it sound like you have not looked into it properly.

I do not consider Plugins an appropriate solution.

#13

I had a chat with Danny at Gremlin Interactive - if enough people request it he’ll be happy to look into a plugin solution.

Here’s a plugin-request page, post a comment there if you want a plugin for Samsung-compatibility: 

http://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/46962-plugin-requests-request-yours-here/page-3

#14

Is there any way to include the Samsung Developer SDK in a Corona build that doesn’t use any special plugins/etc so it can be used on Samsung? Without using Corona Enterprise.

#15

No you can only do this with Enterprise (well technically you can use Corona Cards too).  Corona SDK has no way to access 3rd party native libraries.

Rob

#16

Any news about this?

Anyone tried to submit a Corona app to the new Samsung Galaxy store?

Regards,
Damir.

#17

Hang on a second.

Samsung is a big store, with lots of users, in particular outside the US. For many developers in my network (kids apps) it provides a significant proportion of their overall revenue. They offer great dev support, they’ve refreshed their dev portal so it’s super easy to add apps, and they have the financial muscle (and control over the entire vertical) to push their store heavily.

Rob and burnsj002, casual statements like “…which is a minority of your possible audience” and “Lol several people I talked to didn’t even know it was on their phone” are not accurate.

I’d  like to know when you will restore Samsung as a target app store for Pro users.

#18

Let me clarify a few things.

  1. The support we had for Samsung was limited to allowing native.showPopup() bring up an app’s page in their app store app and rate an app.  That’s it.  We we removed it, that’s the only thing you got.

2.  No one is sure, but straight up Android apps may still be submittable to Samsung even though we don’t have a “Samsung” option in the build list.  Just pick a generic Android build.  Their new rules require use of Samsung API’s.  But not all apps need to use the Samsung features, so we are suspecting that if you don’t use In App Purchases, advertising, GPGS or anything that touches Google Play API’s they might pass it.

  1. We have no immediate plans to compile in Samsung’s libraries.  If this market place is important to you, we offer Corona Enterprise and Corona Cards, both allow you to link in native libraries, which could satisfy Samsung’s requirements.  Now at some point in the future, if Samsung relaxes their requirements we may change our mind.  You could also convince Gremlin Interactive to add the Samsung libraries as Plugins too.

But I want to re-iterate.  The only thing that building for a target app store does is directs native.showPopup(“appStore”) on where to go.  It might have impact on IAP for Google and Amazon, but I’m doubt it.  In other words you’re not missing much by us taking out Samsung as a target store from what was there. 

Rob

#19

Thanks for your reply Rob.

  1. I believe you forgot about system.getInfo( “targetAppStore” ). I use this to execute market-specific code without having to change any code in my code before building it. Otherwise I must set a variable to define which market I am building for, and remember to change that before building.

  2. My interpretation of Samsung’s mail was that you will be able to update   existing apps that you have in the store prior to their policy change, but you will not be able to submit new apps without using their SDK. I will test this, and provide the results, but it sure sounds like Corona won’t work for Samsung

  3. I don’t require any immediate fix, but I strongly encourage you to look into what would be required to address it in Starter and Pro at some point this year. It is not clear to me what is so difficult with including their libraries in your build process, and to be honest your reply makes it sound like you have not looked into it properly.

I do not consider Plugins an appropriate solution.

#20

I had a chat with Danny at Gremlin Interactive - if enough people request it he’ll be happy to look into a plugin solution.

Here’s a plugin-request page, post a comment there if you want a plugin for Samsung-compatibility: 

http://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/46962-plugin-requests-request-yours-here/page-3