"Don't you have an app?"
Soon after a shop, coaching centre or restaurant site goes live, this question comes. Many customers do not remember a link, but they do remember a phone icon. Until now the answer was either "no app", or finding a developer to build a separate app.
That is no longer needed. If your site is live, BanglaCodes builds a real, signed Android app from that same site. The first app is free, and you never have to look at code.
Who it helps
Shops. If regular customers have your shop's icon on their phone, the next order comes in one tap. When a customer takes an order home, send them the app on WhatsApp with one line: "Order from here next time."
Coaching centres. If the class routine, notices and exam results are on the site, students and parents get everything in one tap once the app is on their phone. At admission time, put the .apk file in the parents' WhatsApp group.
Restaurants. The menu and prices, the home delivery number, today's offer. Alongside the QR code on the table, an icon on regular customers' phones makes it easier to order delivery.
In all three cases your site does the real work. The app just makes that same site open in one tap on the phone.
The steps, one by one
- Make the site live. The app opens your live site, so it must be live first. A free address (your-name.banglacodes.app) works, and so does your own verified domain.
- Tap the "Android app" button. It is in the tools row in the builder. If the site is not live, it goes live first, and then the app card opens. You get the same card in the sheet of the "Live" button at the top, and on the site manager page too; tap "Make the app" there.
- Check the name and icon. The name is filled in from the site name, and you can change it. The icon shows the site's own logo first. If you prefer, use an icon made from the first letter of the name, or pick any image you made or uploaded. The letter icon and the colour of the bar at the top of the app come from your site's colours.
- Tap "Start making the app". It usually takes 5 to 12 minutes. Go and have a cup of tea. The build keeps going even if you close the page. The files wait on the same card, and you are told by email when it is done.
- Download the files. You get two files, and what each one is for is explained below.
There are two conditions: your account must be verified, and one person can build up to 2 apps a day.
Starting completely fresh? Tap the "Android app" button in chat, and the builder starts an app designed for phones. Make that live, then follow the steps above. The steps are also written up in the guide: Phone app guide.
.apk and .aab, which is which
.apk is the file you install straight onto a phone. You can send it on WhatsApp or Messenger, and whoever receives it taps the file and the app installs. No Play Store needed.
.aab is the file Google Play Console asks for. It does not install anything on a phone. It is only for putting the app on the Play Store.
Simple rule: .apk to send to customers, .aab for the Play Store.
What happens when you send the .apk on WhatsApp
When the customer taps the file, the phone asks one question the first time: whether to allow installing apps from this source. There is nothing to fear. Android asks this for every app from outside the Play Store. Tapping "Allow" starts the install.
There is one rule for sending: send the file on WhatsApp as a "Document", not as a photo or video. Tap the attachment icon, choose Document, and pick the .apk file. On Messenger, send it as a file.
Two things done in advance keep the customer at ease:
- Send the file from your shop's own number, so the customer knows it is your app
- Add one line: if the phone asks for permission, tap "Allow"
It is a good habit not to install an .apk sent by a stranger, and your customers know that too. So sending from a number they know and telling them in advance are the two things that really matter.
If you want to put it on the Play Store
If the app is on the Play Store, people can find it by typing the shop name, and for many that is more trustworthy. But you have to do this from your own account. BanglaCodes does not upload to the Play Store for you.
What you need:
- Your own Google Play developer account. Google charges a registration fee once to open it.
- The .aab file we build, which you upload to Play Console.
- A little patience. Google reviews the app before releasing it, and for a new personal account it often asks you to run a small closed test with a few testers first.
So our advice: first run it among your customers with the .apk. Once you see people really using the app, then take on the Play Store work.
What happens when you change the site later
This is the best part. The app opens your live site full screen (the technical name is Trusted Web Activity). So when you change a price, add a new menu, or put up an offer, and make it live again, the customer's app shows the new version at once. No new build, nobody has to be sent a new file, and no Play Store review.
You only need to build again if you want to change the app's name or icon. Then tap "Make a new version" on the same card. A new version is also a build, so it costs 10,000 Token. It becomes a new version of the same app, because we keep the app's signing key (keystore). So the old app does not have to be deleted and installed again; it installs as an update.
There is a way to change the site's text, prices and photos yourself without AI, in Changing your site yourself.
What about iPhone
There is no separate app file for iPhone. On an iPhone, the customer opens your site in Safari and taps "Add to Home Screen" from the share button at the bottom, and the icon appears on the home screen, as before.
This home screen route works on Android too. The Android app is an extra step for those who want a real app file or the Play Store. The full method for adding to the home screen is in Putting it on the phone's home screen.
Cost and limits
- The first Android app is free
- Every build after that, whether a new app or a new version of the same app, costs 10,000 Token, taken from your premium Token: the free AI tokens cannot pay for an Android app. The card tells you how much this build needs before you tap
- If a build does not finish, the Token are refunded automatically, and show on the Token history page as "Android build refund"
- When you update the site, it shows in the app by itself, with no build needed
- If the site moves to your own domain after you verify it, the new version of the app for that address is free
- Your account must be verified
- One person can build up to 2 apps a day
- An app usually takes 5 to 12 minutes to build
- The Play Store developer account fee is Google's, and we do not charge it
The Token packs are on the pricing page. The full cost of running a site, and where each part goes, is in one place in What a website costs.
To see the whole path in one place, open the Android app builder page.
Questions and answers
Does building an app cost money or Token? The first Android app is free and no Token are taken. Every build after that, whether a new app or a new version of the same app, costs 10,000 Token, and it comes from your premium Token; the free AI tokens do not count here. Your account must be verified, and you can build up to 2 a day.
If the build does not finish, do I get my Token back? Yes, automatically. It shows on the Token history page as "Android build refund". If the first app's build does not finish, it stays free, and the next try is free too.
Can I get an app without my own domain? Yes. An app can be made from a site live on the free address (your-name.banglacodes.app). If you have your own domain, it works from there too once it is verified.
Which should I give a customer, .apk or .aab? Give the customer the .apk, which installs straight onto the phone. The .aab is only for the Play Store, and it installs nothing on a phone.
The phone is asking for permission during install. Is that okay? It is okay. Android asks for permission like this before installing any app from outside the Play Store. If you sent the file, tapping "Allow" will install it.
Do I have to build the app again when I update the site? No. The app opens your live site, so making it live again shows the new version in the app. You only build again to change the app's name or icon, and since that is a new build, it costs 10,000 Token.
Will BanglaCodes put it on the Play Store for me? No. It has to be uploaded from your own Google Play developer account. We build the .aab file, and you upload it to Play Console. Google charges a registration fee once and reviews the app before releasing it.
Can I get an app for iPhone? There is no separate app file for iPhone. On an iPhone, open the site in Safari and use "Add to Home Screen", and the icon appears on the home screen, as before.
If I start building and close the page, is it lost? No. The build keeps going. It usually takes 5 to 12 minutes, and you are told by email when it is done. Come back to the same card later and you will find the files.
In short
- A signed Android app from any live site: the first app is free, and every build after that costs 10,000 Token
- Send the .apk to customers on WhatsApp as a "Document", and use the .aab for the Play Store
- If the phone asks for permission, tell them to tap "Allow"
- It goes on the Play Store from your own Google Play developer account
- Make the site live again and the change shows in the app too, with no new build
- On iPhone, "Add to Home Screen" from Safari, as before