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Is it possible to purchase (buy) an Android app from the Google Play store web site without causing that app to be automatically installed on a device?

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As far as I know there is no way to buy an app without selecting a device and triggering automatic installation on that device. If the device is offline as far as I know the installation will be performed the next time it comes online.

The only workaround would be to add the Google account on a device, enable Airplane mode, remove the account and reboot the device. Then the device is still listed in Google Play Store for a few months and can be used to buy apps but they will never be installed as the devices comes never online again.

A similar option are "virtual devices" devices that do not exist in reality (or as emulator) but are registered in PlayStore. App download tools like Raccoon are capable of creating such virtual devices. But if those devices are not used for a time they also loose functionality.

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  • I'm glad you knew exactly what I am talking about. Your trick is very clever, and might come in handy. Any idea what triggers Google to eventually de-list the device from the Google account?
    – Amazon Dies In Darkness
    Commented Nov 11, 2020 at 18:44
  • @RockPaperLz-MaskitorCasket Basically I assume that there are commands in the PlayStore app communication with Google that "refresh" a device registration at Google. But I am not sure which exact command(s) are responsible for the refresh, as it takes months before you get the result this is pretty difficult to test.
    – Robert
    Commented Nov 11, 2020 at 18:51
  • Thanks Robert. I also appreciate your "virtual devices" tip. I'm going to look into that, because I also could use something like that for another project.
    – Amazon Dies In Darkness
    Commented Nov 11, 2020 at 23:19
  • Do you know the cost of Raccoon and DummyDroid (which seems to be required to create a virtual device)? According to an issue report on the Raccoon GitHub repo link you provided, there is a hidden cost that is not appropriately disclosed: github.com/onyxbits/Raccoon/issues/57
    – Amazon Dies In Darkness
    Commented Nov 23, 2021 at 7:46
  • In light of the above, do you know any other projects besides Raccoon/DummyDroid that can create virtual devices?
    – Amazon Dies In Darkness
    Commented Nov 23, 2021 at 7:47

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