In my Android application, I am using a couple of open source libraries. The only requirement these libraries have is that I must show their respective copyright notices in my application. I am trying to understand where would one typically display third-party copyrights. I could probably create a menu item “About” and display an about dialog box that has all the copyrights listed. However, I would appreciate your feedback on what the standard practice is.
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The most common locations are:
- In Settings/Preferences, you can include an “Open Source Licenses” entry and the user can see this
- On an About page, you can include an Open Source Licenses link, either on the page or in the Action Bar
- If you have neither of these two options available to you, then an entry in the overflow menu is appropriate
A good place to look for examples is the Google applications. Gmail has Settings -> About, and then an Open Source Licenses link. Play Music has Settings -> Open Source Licenses in a “Developer” section (this also includes the build number).
If you’re looking for an easy way to show the messages, I’ve got some sample code that reproduces the Gmail/Play Music experience of a dialog box and loads the licenses from an HTML file. All you have to do is include 3 files – the DialogFragment, the licenses_fragment.xml layout file and licenses.html.
Android shows copyright in Settings -> About device -> Legal Information.
I think it is good practice.
If you have settings in your app – put copyright there, otherwise use just menu item.