Transmission of an application download via an encoded image

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for transmitting an application download to a recipient. The sender defines parameters for transferring the application download. Parameters are encoded in an identifier that may be decoded by the recipient's client device or that may be imaged and sent to a server providing the application download service. The recipient scans or captures an image of the displayed encoded identifier using a client device.

Therefore, the following is claimed: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in at least one computing device, comprising:
 code configured to obtain an image captured by a camera of a client device;   code configured to identify an application based at least in part on the captured image; and   code configured to generate an authorization for the client device to install the application based at least in part on the captured image.   
     
     
         2 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the image further comprises encoded data, wherein the encoded data comprises at least one of:
 an identifier of the application;   a period of time within which the client device is permitted to install the application; or   a threshold number of times the client device is authorized to install the application.   
     
     
         3 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the client device comprises a first client device and the program further comprises code configured to send the image to a second client device for rendering on a display of the second client device. 
     
     
         4 . A system, comprising:
 at least one computing device; and   an application executable in the at least one computing device, the application comprising:
 logic configured to identify a plurality of parameters associated with an installation of an application; 
 logic configured to transmit a first version of an image to a first client device, the first version of the image encoding at least one of the plurality of parameters; 
 logic configured to obtain a second version of the image from a second client device, the second version of the image encoding the at least one of the plurality of parameters; and 
 logic configured to authorize an installation of the application on the second client device based at least in part on a comparison of the first version of the image to the second version of the image. 
   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the application further comprises logic configured to authorize the installation of the application on the second client device based at least in part on the at least one of plurality of parameters encoded in the second version of the image. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the application further comprises logic configured to send a copy of the application to the second client device for installation on the second client device. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of parameters comprises a unique identifier associated with the second client device. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the unique identifier associated with second client device comprises an identifier of a user account associated with the second client device. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein at least one of the plurality of parameters comprises a record of a payment associated with a purchase of the application. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the second version of the image is generated by a camera corresponding to the second client device. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the first version of the image is transmitted to the first client device within an electronic mail (email) message. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the first version of the image is transmitted to the first client device within a multimedia message service (MMS) message. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the image comprises at least one of a barcode, a graphic, or a text string. 
     
     
         14 . A method, comprising:
 obtaining, via a computing device, from a first client device, a condition associated with an application download to a second client device;   obtaining, via the computing device, a request from the second client device to receive the application download;   validating, via the computing device, the request from the second client device based at least in part on whether a characteristic associated with the request from the second client device satisfies the condition; and   initiating, via the computing device, the application download to the second client device in response to validating the request.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising verifying whether the second client device is compatible with the application download. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the validating of the request further comprises sending an error to the second client device when the characteristic associated with the request fails to satisfy the condition. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the condition comprises a timeframe within which the second client device is authorized to initiate the application download. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the condition comprises a predetermined maximum number of occurrences of the application download. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the request comprises a copy of the encoded image captured by a camera of the second client device. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the request comprises a copy of the encoded image captured by an application executing on the second client device.