Do I need to protect my Android app from being copied?

Question

Do I need to protect my Android app (downloaded from Google Play Store) from being copied? I'm following links to documents which say conflicting things.

If I search "app encryption" using Google Play Developer Console help, it shows me the 'Google Play Licensing Service' web page which ends:

Please note that starting with JellyBean release of Android OS, all apps, paid as well as free, are encrypted by default and, therefore, do not require any additional protection against unauthorised copying such as Google Licensing Server.

'Filters on Google Play' says:

Google Play no longer supports the Copy Protection feature in the Developer Console ...

and provides a link to 'Replacement for Copy Protection'. This links to 'Setting Up for Licensing', which links to 'Adding Licensing to Your App', which links to 'Market Licensing Support FAQ', which displays the 'Google Play Licensing Service' web page (with the above text which indicates that post-Jellybean apps are encrypted). So, unless I am misunderstanding it, this appears to contradict itself.

Judging by dates of other posts on this topic, I'm guessing that I do have to do my own app protection using the Google Market Licensing LVL (Licence Verification Library). However, there are signs that this is not the current best solution (e.g., Market Licensing sample app appears out-of-date, few recent forum posts on using it, no udacity.com classes I could find on using it). So I thought it would help to get a definitive answer first.

Answer 1

First it is not possible to protect your code 100%. But you can make the job of the hacker tough enough. There are some techniques for protecting your code protect android app. I recommend to you to see the proguard tool.

ProGuard is a free Java class file shrinker, optimizer, obfuscator, and preverifier. It detects and removes unused classes, fields, methods, and attributes. It optimizes bytecode and removes unused instructions. It renames the remaining classes, fields, and methods using short meaningless names. The resulting applications and libraries are smaller, faster, and a bit better hardened against reverse engineering.