Distributing service-based application on android market

We going to develop commercial application that will run on Android platform and开发者_开发问答 now I'm thinking about distribution model.

Application itself will be of no use to regular Android user and will be installed only by people who know why they need it. Application will authenticate with server prior to launch.

We as a company will charge application users monthly fee and will track usage, etc via our servers.

So, I was wondering if there "locked" portion of market for this kind of stuff? Or, do I release app as a free one and if random people download it - they just won't be able to use it?

What is the best way to do that? Can I install application by giving users our URL?

I'm trying to make it as easy as possible.

Thanks!

Another way to look at this, you could use the presence in the market to encourage people take on the service. i.e. they install the app, and they aren't a subscriber, it leads them through to information about the service so they can sign up

Spotify, LastPass and Dropbox are examples of apps where there's a paid service behind them (the first two require a subscription to function).

Unless you have a very good reason to keep the app/service secret, I'd just add it to the Market anyway, and use it as part of your marketing strategy.

You can bypass the android market and install from a url on an ordinary server if you get the mime type right (or email the apk as an attachment), however

1) Users will have to enable non-market application sources in their settings

2) Users on current AT&T phones don't have this option and would have to use the android sdk or the "sideload wonder machine" to install over the usb cable after enabling "usb debugging" in settings, which also means they need the right usb drivers for their phone. (This also works for other phones if the users don't want to enable non-market apps in settings)

You could presumably put the application on the market and start the description with a statement that it is for use with your service only. You'll probably get a few random low ratings from users who ignore that, but whatever. Arguably this is little different (except perhaps in size of customer base and brand familiarity) than a bank offering an online bank application that only works with their servers, or whatever.

Though I haven't tested this personally, it's also rumored that if you upload an app to the market but don't "publish" it, and distribute the direct market url to your customers, anyone who has that url can install it. Even if this works, I'm not sure if it should be seen as reliable.