Android Question Piracy & The Licencing Library - Is There Still A Need For It?

[RichardN]

I have an app that has sold well for over 5 years that utilises Google Licence Checker. For this reason only.... the app requires the permissions 1. Full network access and 2. Google Play Licence Checker. Up until now the licence checker has successfully kept the app away from being pirated in dodgy download sites. (Having said that there are a couple of older versions I discovered online that have been bloated with increased payload which is presumably malware).

Now Google makes prospective purchasers aware of special permissions demanded by the app on the Play Store before they purchase.... which might possibly deter some buyers. Now I am asking myself with the other safeguards that Google already has in place, has the Licencing Library now outlived it's usefulness? Should I remove it from older apps and therefore require no permissions that might discourage purchasers? Are the other safeguards provided by Google adequate to prevent piracy?

Discuss....

 

[Erel]

Now Google makes prospective purchasers aware of special permissions demanded by the app on the Play Store before they purchase.

Are you sure? Can you post a screenshot?

These are non-dangerous permissions so the average user should never see them.

 

[RichardN]

Full Network Access (amongst others) may be a non-dangerous permission, but.....

 

[Erel]

This is the desktop view. You will not see it when you install the app from Google Play.

This was one of the main initiatives behind the move to runtime permissions.
The user doesn't need to deal with permissions until a dangerous permission is requested.

I cannot say whether the licensing library is still relevant. In the past there was an encryption feature in Google Play that was supposed to make it obsolete.

 

[RichardN]

You will not see it when you install the app from Google Play.

 

[RichardN]

Perhaps other developers have some opinions on the use of Licencing?