How can you make a review copy of an Android app?

Question

I've been asked for some review copies of an Android app I've written, which is great, but I'm not willing to give out the full app to just anyone. I want to make a time-limited version (which works for about two weeks, then gives up the ghost).

What is the easiest way to do this? I haven't tested this myself, but I think that in theory if one built the app using a keystore which expires in two weeks might work. Is that correct, or do I have to put a line of code in the app which shuts it down if you attempt to boot it after a set date?

Answer 1

The keystore is not checked after the application is installed; only at installation time is the date verified.

You would have to put in your own time limit code, I imagine. Though if you want to be really paranoid, you could consider that the user could alter their device's clock.

Alternatively, you could do an online check (against time on your server), or make each APK that you hand out have an individual token embedded which gets validated against your server.