How to link to your Android app in the Marketplace

I found that creating a link to share an Android app is not straightforward. But with the help of a QRcode, it can be made a little easier! Tony Hillerson, the instructor for our upcoming online course, Developing Android Applications with Java: Building a Twitter App, helped me figure it out.

Try this:
* get the package name for the Android application, for example, com.oreilly.android.otweet
* create the URL for the QRCode using this package name, for example, http://market.androi....android.otweet
* generate your QRCode using this URL. For example, you can use http://qrcode.kaywa.com/. We generated this QRcode for O'Tweet
* share your QRCode

Your friends will then use their Android phones and an app like Barcode Scanner to scan the QRCode; this will give them a choice to go to the app in the marketplace, where they can install it.

I've attached the QRcode below if you want to try it right now. If you don't have Barcode Scanner installed, install that first, then point your phone's camera at the QRcode and it should take you to O'Tweet in the Marketplace.