How to link to Android Market app

What's the best way to link to an Android Market app without knowing who will get the link (Android user/non-Android user) and from where (desktop/mobile)?

For iPhone I use the itunes.apple.com app links. They show a complete description of the app, and if you have iTunes installed, either on the desktop or on your mobile, it allows you to download the app directly. Example: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibooks/id364709193?mt=8

For Android I currently use a third-party Android Market web browser (see answer below), but I was wondering if there was a better alternative, and hoping to learn from others who have dealt with this issue.

Edit Report

Here is what I'm using in my web pages. It is based on JavaScript and jQuery. The idea is to search for 'android' sub-string inside browser's UserAgent and if that is the case - replace HTTP URI part with Android Market URI part, inside all links:

<html>

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.6.2/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
$(function() {
  updateAndroidMarketLinks();
  // some more core here ... 

  function updateAndroidMarketLinks()
  {
    var ua = navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase();
    if (0 <= ua.indexOf("android")) {
      // we have android
      $("a[href^='http://market.android.com/']").each(function() {
        this.href = this.href.replace(/^http:\/\/market\.android\.com\//,
          "market://");
      });
    }
  }
});
</script>
</head>

<body>
<a href="http://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.earth" target="_blank">Download for Android</a>
</body>

</html>

answered 2011-08-25T12:12:18.857

How to link to Android Market app

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