Can an app installer depend on the presence of another app?

[DEMETRIOS J TSILLAS]

Hi Folks,

new to the forum.

I would like to develop an app which would be distributed through the Playstore. However, this app needs to interact with another app. Is it possible to package an app such that it depends on another app? So that if the user installs one app, it will also try to install a different app?

Basically I have an installable web app which needs a specific browser to run. I can't be sure the device has the browser already installed.

Any advice on this is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!!
-Jim.

 

[codesplice]

Hi Jim,

No, I don't think that's possible. It would be a pretty big security issue if Play Store-vetted apps could arbitrarily install other apps.

What you can do is check for the presence of that other app when your app is launched, and direct the user to the Play Store to install it. Something like this code fragment should work: https://medium.com/@imstudio/android-check-if-application-is-installed-3f39560efca3

(I think. I'm not actually a developer. )