tauri-plugin-android-update

A Tauri plugin that surfaces new GitHub releases for manual download on platforms where tauri-plugin-updater cannot be used.

tauri-plugin-updater does not support Android, where apps must not self-install (Google Play Store regulations). This plugin fills that gap with its own check / download_and_install commands, modeled on the tauri-plugin-updater command names, backed by the latest.json update manifest that the release workflow publishes: the Tauri bundler generates it via createUpdaterArtifacts, and tauri-apps/tauri-action attaches it (signed with the updater signing key configured in the workflow) to each GitHub release. Instead of downloading and installing, download_and_install opens the release page in the default browser so the user can install manually.

Quick Start

Add the plugin to your src-tauri/Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
tauri-plugin-android-update = "0.2"
tauri-plugin-opener = "2"

Register it where you do not use tauri-plugin-updater, e.g. on mobile, and grant the plugin's default permission in your app's capabilities so the frontend can invoke its commands:

#[cfg(mobile)]
.plugin(
    tauri_plugin_android_update::Builder::new()
        .owner("owner")
        .repo("repo")
        .build()
)

{
    "permissions": [
        "android-update:default"
    ]
}

The URLs are derived from the owner/repo pair. To point the update check at a custom latest.json manifest (or to open a different release page), provide the URLs explicitly instead:

tauri_plugin_android_update::Builder::new()
    .latest_json_url("https://example.com/app/latest.json")
    .releases_url("https://example.com/app/download")
    .build()

Commands

The plugin registers its commands under the plugin:android-update| namespace, so the frontend invokes them as plugin:android-update|check and plugin:android-update|download_and_install. The command names mirror the tauri-plugin-updater plugin's, but the payloads are this plugin's own.

JavaScript API

The tauri-plugin-android-update-api package wraps these commands for JavaScript frontends:

npm add tauri-plugin-android-update-api

import { check, downloadAndInstall } from 'tauri-plugin-android-update-api';

const update = await check();
if (update) {
  console.log(`update ${update.version} available (installed: ${update.currentVersion})`);
  await downloadAndInstall();
}

Frontends without a JavaScript runtime invoke the commands directly instead:

• check — fetches the latest.json update manifest from the latest release, compares its version against the installed one, and resolves to the update metadata ({ version, currentVersion }) when a newer release exists, or null when the app is up to date. A newer release is also stored as the pending update for download_and_install.
• download_and_install — opens the release page for the pending update in the default browser, where the user can download the new version manually. Errors when no update is pending (i.e. check found nothing or has not run).

How it works

The plugin manages its own pending-update state, so no additional .manage() is required.

License

MIT-0