Shell APK

The Shell APK provides a return path to your Instant Plays game for users who launch your Instant Plays game from an ad in Instant Plays. With the user's consent, an icon for your game is added to the user's smartphone app tray. The Shell APK is simply a deeplink to your Instant Plays game.

When a user launches your Instant Plays game for the first time from an ad in Instant Plays, an installation pop-up window displays. When the user clicks to install the Shell APK, your Instant Plays game is launched and the Shell APK is installed on the user's Galaxy smartphone app tray. If the user wants to play your game again, your game can be launched from the app icon installed on the smartphone.

Requirements

  • The Shell APK must have the same package name (App ID) and signing key as your Android (downloadable) APK.

  • The Shell APK version code must be lower than that of your Android (downloadable) APK so that it can be updated to the Android APK version.

  • The AndroidManifest.xml file must include the following:

<meta-data android:name="com.samsung.android.IP20shell" android:value="true"/>
<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="23" />
  • Your Instant Plays game is registered in Seller Portal. The content ID of the registered game is used to create the deeplink for your game.

Sample Shell APK

For your convenience, a sample Shell APK project file is provided.

Shell APK Sample
(229KB) Jul 21, 2023

Make the following updates to the sample Shell APK project file:

  1. Package name: Update applicationId, located in the shell_apk/build.gradle file. The package name of the Shell APK must be the same as your Android (downloadable) APK.

  2. App name: Update app_name, located in the shell_apk/src/main/res/values/strings.xml file.

  3. App icon: Replace the ic_launcher.png files in all of the shell_apk/src/main/res/mipmap-* directories.

  4. CloudGame deeplink URL: Update cloudGameDeeplink, located in the shell_apk\src\main\java\com\example\shellapk\MainActivity.kt file. The deeplink uses the following format:

    https://apps.samsung.com/a/cloudgame/play?content_id={Instant Play 2.0 CID}&orientation={01 or 02}&company={Company Name}&ua=01&utm_url=utm_source%3DAppIcon

    where

    • {Instant Play 2.0 CID} is the content ID assigned to your game by Seller Portal when you registered your Instant Plays game.
    • {01 or 02} is the game play orientation where 01 is portrait and 02 is landscape. For example, if your game runs in landscape mode, include "orientation=02" in your deeplink URL.
    • {Company Name} is your company name. If there is a space in your company name, use "%20" to represent the space. For example, "Samsung Electronics" would be "company=Samsung%20Electronics"

  5. Signing key: Sign the Shell APK using the same signing key as your Android (downloadable) APK.