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Frequently Asked Questions

The following is a list of the most popular questions. Please find answer for your questions in the following list, otherwise you can explore our discussion site where you can search for other questions or post new ones.

  1. What platforms can I use the services on?
  2. How do I integrate cloud4apps services into my app?
  3. How solid and reliable are the services that cloud4apps provide?
  4. What type of security does cloud4apps services incorporate?
  5. Where do I find sample code to consume cloud4apps services?
  6. What happens is my app can't reach cloud4apps services for any reason?
  7. Does the licensing & payment service from cloud4apps infringe the app stores policies?
  8. What are the advantages on using the the licensing & payment services from cloud4apps?
  9. How does OpenPayments work?
  10. How do I integrate cloud4apps into my App?
  11. How do I get started with cloud4apps services?
  12. Where do I find sample code to consume cloud4apps services?
  13. What do users see when purchasing apps through cloud4apps?
  14. What data formats does cloud4apps services support?
  15. How do I integrate the cloud4apps services into my app?

  1. What platforms can I use the services on?

    cloud4apps services are RESTful web services that expose data as JSON or JSONP and therefore can be consumed from any device or platform. In fact, you can find sample code in the download section that shows how to consume our services from different programming languages and platforms.

  2. How do I integrate cloud4apps services into my app?

    The easiest thing to do to integrate cloud4apps services into your app or website is to check the sample apps and SDKs that we have put together that show different ways to integrate them into an app or website. The sample apps and SDKs can be accessed from the downloads section.

  3. How solid and reliable are the services that cloud4apps provide?

    cloud4apps services run on Microsoft Azure, which is a very robust and scalable enterprise level cloud solution. This platform allows us to dynamically grow based on demand and maintain a very high SLA for availability of about 99.9%.

  4. What type of security does cloud4apps services incorporate?

    We incorporate Transport-layer Security (TLS) with 128-bit encryption in all our web site and web services transmissions making it virtually impossible for a thrid-party to listen to any communications between your apps and our services; Additionally, we control access to our website using the latest specification of OAuth (Open Authentication), which is an popular open standard for authorization used by companies like Google, Twitter, Facebook, etc. By using OAuth we rely the sensitive data such usernames and password to be managed by the third-party authentication provider that our users prefer and rely the most.

  5. Where do I find sample code to consume cloud4apps services?

    You can find sample code along with the software development kits (SDK) from the download section in this site.

  6. What happens is my app can't reach cloud4apps services for any reason?

    The Software Development Kits (SDKs) we provide include mechanisms for locally caching data so that in the case our services can't be reached cached data is used; once services are reached the cached data is automatically updated in the background. The fequency of updates of cached data is fully configurable and the source code is open source making this process as customizable and transparent as possible for you.

  7. Does the licensing & payment service from cloud4apps infringe the app stores policies?

    App stores such as Android Market, Apple iTunes, and Windows Phone Marketplace have specific policies regarding the sales of apps that are distributed through them; in particular the prohibit the sale of the app outside their authorized payment providers. However, once the app is purchased or acquired by the end consumer they do not impose any particular policy for enhancements, such as add-ins, additional content, or subscription services for the app. That's how we encourage the use of the Payment and Licensing system from cloud4apps in your app.

  8. What are the advantages on using the the licensing & payment services from cloud4apps?

    In addition to being decoupled from a specific payment system, you allow your customers to choose from a wider variety of payment processors. As our services grow we will be adding more payment processing systems without you having to do additional code changes, thus allowing your users to select the payment method that better suits their needs.

  9. How does OpenPayments work?

    The following picture shows the normal flow of events of how an app checks for its license and is activated by the user purchasing it.



  10. How do I integrate cloud4apps into my App?

    The following video shows a step bt step example of how to integrate an Android app with the cloud4apps services.



  11. How do I get started with cloud4apps services?

    First you need to open a developer account from the cloud4apps portal; here's how:

    1. Navigate to https://www.cloud4apps.com
    2. Click on Log On on the upper right corner
    3. Click on your authentication provider
      Important: Make sure you turn off your pop-up blocker as it will open up a new window where you authenticate with your provider
    4. Once you log in it will take you the the user profile page.
    5. Please fill out your profile information and your timezone so that all reports show up with the proper time
    6. Then scroll to the bottom of the screen and click Save
    7. From the user profile page scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on the link that says:
      Note: If you are an app developer [Click Here] to register your first app
    8. Read the Terms of Service, scroll to the bottom and click on [I Accept]
    9. Once you click on [I Accept] you will be taken to the [Apps] section
    10. In [Apps] you will see a list of merchant accounts currently supported.
    11. For each merchant account click on [Edit Account] and follow the instructions on the page
    12. Then go back to [Apps] and add your first app by clicking on [New App]
    13. Enter the information of the App and click [Add]
    14. Choose the payment options you want to offer to purchase the App and click [Save]
    15. From [Apps] Click on your new App, scroll to the bottom and click on [Add Version]
      Note: An App version represents a variation of your app that you want to offer to your customers, it's like an upgrade path or flavor. For instance, for the app "Call Blocker" we offer three different versions as follows: "Call Blocker Gold" and "Call Blocker Silver"
    16. Then, fill out the form with the version you want to associate to the new app and click [Add]
    17. Repeat previous two steps to add any number of versions to your app
    18. Then test the purchase by clicking [Test Purchase]. It will help you visualize what your customers will see when they choose to upgrade or purchase your app.

  12. Where do I find sample code to consume cloud4apps services?

    You can download an open source sample project that consumes the cloud4apps services from the following link:
    https://sourceforge.net/projects/cloud4apps/files/
    The project includes a set of libraries you can incorporate into your apps that facilitate the consumption of the cloud4apps API Services


  13. What do users see when purchasing apps through cloud4apps?

    cloud4apps works by facilitating app consumers to buy or upgrade apps they have installed in their mobile devices from a simple user interface that guide them through the purchase process. The following shows the flow of actions that a user goes through to buy or upgrade an app.

    1. User finds and downloads your app through any of the app stores that you listed it.
    2. User launches the app, and the app offers an option to purchase it or upgrade it.
    3. User chooses the option to purchase the app and a browser window is opened displaying the different upgrade options based on how you setup your app.
    4. User verifies his email address then he chooses the upgrade option he wants
    5. User chooses the payment method he desires to use clicks on continue
    6. User is taken to the payment option he chose and completes the payment
    7. Once payment is confirmed app license is activated

  14. What data formats does cloud4apps services support?

    cloud4apps services are exposed through REST and responses are sent back to clients in JSON format. You can see a detailed list of API services that are exposed through cloud4apps from the API section.


  15. How do I integrate the cloud4apps services into my app?

    Instructions for Android:

    1. Download the cloud4apps library from the following link:
      https://sourceforge.net/projects/cloud4apps/files/
    2. Extract the zip file to your working directory
    3. Import the cloud4apps library and sample app from Eclipse
    4. Create a new Android project or open your existing project
    5. In the Package Explorer, right-click your project and select Properties.
    6. In the Properties window, select the "Android" properties group at left and locate the Library properties at right.
    7. Click Add to open the Project Selection dialog.
    8. From the list of available library projects, select cloud4apps.Licensing and click OK.
    9. Go to https://www.cloud4apps.comand log on to your account
    10. Click on [Apps], and click on your app to obtain the [App Key]
    11. Add the following line to the Purchase or Upgrade OnClickListener function:

      private OnClickListener buttonBuy = new OnClickListener() {
         public void onClick(View v) {
            String appKey= "[Enter Here the App Key from previous step]";
            String clientId = Utils.GetClientId(context);
            String email = Utils.GetEmail(context);
            LicenseServices.Purchase(Main.this, appKey, clientId, email, false);
         }
      }

    12. Go to https://www.cloud4apps.com  and log on to your account
    13. Click on [Apps], and click on your app then scroll to the bottom to obtain [Version Key] for each version of your app
    14. Add the following code to check if a particular license is active

      LicenseInfo lic = LicenseInfo.GetActiveLicense(context, appKey, clientId);
      String versionKeyPremium = "";
      String versionKeyBasic = "";
      if (lic.VersionKey.contentEquals(versionKeyPremium)) {
         // Activate app's premium features
      } else if (lic.VersionKey.contentEquals(versionKeyBasic )) {
         // Activate app's basic features
      }

    15. Include the following permissions in your AndroidManifest.xml file:

      <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
      <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.GET_ACCOUNTS" />