Facebook Home

Lukas Mathis on Facebook Home:

Android’s home screen is largely irrelevant to how Google makes money with Android. Google cares very much if you ship an Android phone with a different default search provider, with a non-Google default browser, without Google Play, or without Google Now. But replacing the home screen? Probably not a big deal.

I tend to disagree.

Facebook Home will reduce the exposure of the Android brand as a whole. Also, Google's own social platform, Google+ which is still pretty much strategic for the company will inevitably be hurt.
And last but not least, chances are good that FB Home users will tend to use Google's native apps and services less. Case in point: just a couple of months ago Facebook announced Graph Search and it is only a matter of time when it will appear in Facebook Home.

Personally I am not a big fan of Facebook. I don't currently use an Android phone (I was a happy HTC user for almost three years and I am still an active Android developer) but even if I did, Facebook Home would be virtually the last thing I would install on my phone.

My personal preferences aside, there are chances that Facebook Home will become a hit (maybe not right now, not this initial version). and if that happens, I doubt Google will be happy.

RoadSituation Stopped Working But Is Now OK

Yesterday evening people started pinging me on Twitter and by email that RoadSituation had stopped working. When I checked, it turned out that the website the app takes the information from -- www.uab.org looked (and it still looks) like this:

This morning, I pushed an update to the app that (hopefully) makes it a little bit more robust -- if its main information source is unavailable, it tries to pull data from other places. This took me ~1.5 hours to develop and yet another 2 hours until the Google Play store pushed the update.

Sorry for the temporary downtime. It's just that s#it happens sometimes.

'Key Lime Pie' is The Next Android Version

Chris Ziegler's post in The Verge revealed what the name of the next Android will likely be.

Key Lime Pie.

Sweet.

I love how fast the Android team is able to iterate. They are doing an amazing job. Technically.

The only little, little problem is that most Android devices are never updated. Ice Cream Sandwich runs on less than 1% of all Android-powered devices. One percent.

Currently if you want a newer Android version you must either:
a) root your device (if you are lucky enough to find a stable rom for it);
b) buy a new device (and you better start praying the manufacturer will actually give a shit and will push any future OTA updates in a timely manner).

So even if Google manages to push ten Android versions per year, it doesn't really matter. You are not buying a phone every month.

The (sometimes) relentless mobile app distribution model

Today I came to this BGR post announcing 'the first real Siri competitor' coming to Android devices.

Naturally, I was interested.

So I watched the entire 90-seconds video (which is indeed impressive but c'mon, what does an animated directed sequence tell about the app real virtues). The video actually did it's job because I took my phone and looked the app in the market. And then I see this (I am posting the web version here, but you get the idea):

Ouch. 2-stars. Bad.
Hundreds of people complaining about... well, just about everything.
Hundreds of people giving it 1 star.
As I said -- bad.

The first thing I thought was 'well, someone screwed the launch up'. Maybe they've put too much marketing effort (and app developers are often desperate for coverage -- I know because I am) into a product that's far from polished yet. They should have spent more time testing or releasing the app quietly to gather some early vital feedback without much noise.

But then, there is something deeper here.
As a mobile developer you build something and then you publish it in the market and you have very little control over the distribution channel from then on. You cannot reply to negative reviews even if many of them will be unfair (put mildly).

Sometimes people are right and there are bugs. It's normal. Shit often happens and (especially if you are a one-person shop or a small indie team) sometimes bugs can slip into published code. But what can you do to make your disappointed users happy?

First you fix the damn bug, right? Still haven't? Go and fix it. Then what?

You cannot reply to user's comments, remember? You cannot send them a message.
The best thing you can do is add something in the 'What's new' section (or paste it on the top of the description because nobody really reads what's new). Something like: 'Fixed the FC issue from the earlier version'. Or 'Sorry, I screwed up, there was a bug but it works now, believe me!'.

Whatever you do it doesn't really matter. Because the first thing people will read is not the 'What's new' section. It's not the description either (well many will start reading it but then will quickly skip to the reviews).

It is the reviews and ratings that matter. When I wonder whether to install an app, I look at the reviews. 2 stars overall rating? No thanks, I'll look elsewhere. And this is true for most of the people.

This is why bad reviews and ratings hurt. No matter if you are Disney or Dimitar, writing apps for fun in his spare time, they hurt. But they hurt worse when you are small. Because Disney says a lot. You will give a try to something built from Disney even if it has big fat 1-star review at the top. But you will hit the 'Back' button without spending another second if the app developer is someone you don't know.

Don't misunderstand me. I am not a baby cry. Fair or not, this is how the system works and honestly, it is better to hurt the developers rather than the users.Because ratings and reviews are meant to bring objectivity to the system. And this is a good thing. It just leaves smaller margin for errors for the developer. And it feels unfair sometimes.

Update: And I am not saying anything bad about Cluzee. They might be the next big thing. I will be glad if they are. I didn't install the app and didn't try it (reasons -- see above). This post is for the mobile market distribution, not to bitch about Cluzee.

New Voice Controls Included in Maia

Yesterday I have published an updated version of Maia Lite in the Android Market. I've submitted the app to be reviewed for update in the Amazon Appstore so this new version will be live there some time the next week (provided everything goes fine with the review).

The new version introduces some very limited, but still quite useful voice recognition functionality.
Of course it is not Siri by any stretch of imagination, but being Siri has never been the purpose. The new controls improve the usability as you can say thisngs like:

What is my horoscope?
What is the weather outside?
Tell me the stock quotes.
Tell me a joke.
...and a few more.

Give it a try, it's fun to use.

Market Link [Web].

Schwarzschild Calculator Updated

I have just updated my app 'Schwarzschild Calculator' in the Android Market. The new version has slightly  better graphics in some of the comparisons.

I had a lot of fun while I was coding this App (the original version was done more than a year ago). Astrophysics, astronomy and science in general have always fascinated me and if you take a look at my Kindle or my bookshelf, you'll find a lot of Brian Greene stuff there.

Of course, the app is not meant to be any sort of a scientific tool, so don't count on it to do the calculations for your PhD thesis (just kidding, obviously).

Still, I hope that you'll have fun messing with the Schwarzschild radius and will enjoy the comparisons with some familiar everyday objects.

I've also submitted this version to Amazon Appstore and I expect to be approved (or oh, no... rejected!) sometime next week. Will keep you updated.

Take it from Android Market:


[Market Web Link]

Nail a Copper Plate to That Wood

As I am almost ready to publish my latest Android creation -- a cooking app called 'Pinch of Salt' (actually it is in Bulgarian and is an Android native frontend of a website called ShtipkaSol.com which means pinch of salt) I felt it has to have an About screen. The screen itself was not difficult to figure out (I men how should it look, what should it say...), but I had interesting time deciding on how this screen should be invoked.

My first thought was of course to have a menu -- this is how I did it in all of my previous apps. The problem with the menu was that it would contain only a single 'About' item with nothing else on it. So introducing an entire new interface component only to host an About icon seemed a bit too heavy for me. Plus, the menu wouldn't really be quite in harmony with the rest of the interface.

So I pondered a bit, looking for alternatives. And I have came up with this:

Now, it will likely go through several more refinements, but this beautiful copper plate nailed in the wood makes much more sense than a menu. The plate is 'engraved' with the app name (pinch of salt in Bulgarian) and has just the right amount of imperfections.

I love it.

Using RelativeLayout instead of the deprecated AbsoluteLayout

Yesterday, I had to rework the Android app I am currently working on to show a glassy overlay image in front of some background elements.

What I needed to achieve is something like the UI pictured above (if you have problems reading the Bulgarian labels on the screenshot, it is a cooking app and they read things like 'Salad', 'Soup', 'Chicken' etc.).

My first thought was to use the deprecated AbsoluteLayout to position precisely the glass mark where I wanted it. Still the 'deprecated' word sent shivers down my spine and I didn't go that way.

Then I briefly considered the FrameLayout, but as it turns out, RelativeLayout can do such job perfectly and elegantly.

Here's the relevant code:

RelativeLayout rl = (RelativeLayout)findViewById(R.id.outerRelative);

ImageView iv = new ImageView(this);

iv.setImageDrawable(getResources().getDrawable(R.drawable.glass_mark));

RelativeLayout.LayoutParams params = new RelativeLayout.LayoutParams(LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT, LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT);

params.leftMargin = 53;

params.topMargin = metrics.heightPixels / 2;

rl.addView(iv, params);

The idea for the solution was courtesy of StackOverflow (you know SO rocks, don't you?) -- so thanks.

A Fresh New Update to Maia Published

I have just published a new version of Maia Lite. The update is live in the Android market now (QR code below).

While this update doesn't bring any new functionality, it improves stability and fixes some annoying bugs.

I'll push the new version through the Amazon Appstore review process later today.

Market Link [Web].

Why removing 'Just In' from Android Market is a bad thing

Android Market has long been criticized for lagging behind iOS's AppStore in almost any comparison imaginable. Google, of course, has done quite a bit of work to improve it throughout the years. Introducing the Web front-end and a few redesigns have generally ironed out most of the glitches.

So at first I was quite excited when the fresh new update arrived and I saw the beautiful (no irony here) new 3D market icon on my screen. I tapped to see the praised new Android Market UI and my excitement turned into disappointment.

I am not going to discuss the design here. It's a whole new post. OK, OK, if you really ask, the short version is that I think it sucks.

Leaving the UI aside, what I really really hate about the new Android Market is the removal of the 'Just In' list. Of course, I have to disclose a massive conflict of interests here:

As a (mostly spare-time) mobile developer, I loved how this list provided a free limited spot for people to notice my apps.

What I mean is best visualized by a graph, so I quickly built one (amazing Paint skills, I know, thanks):

You see, the 'Just In' list served a dual purpose. Not only it showed the fresh newcomers, but more importantly it showed the apps that have just been updated. I guess the reasoning behind this was to highlight the active apps -- those which are supported and still in development. And also maybe to encourage the developers to update their apps. Whatever the reason, I have seen quite a bit of a spike in the downloads every time I published an update to some of my apps.

OK, I know what are you thinking right now -- it could be an easy way to game the system. Many agreed.

What you had to do was simply to introduce small changes (or even no visible changes at all), publish a new version and boom -- you're in the spotlight all over again.

While I generally agree with these comments, I would (quite understandably) stick to the point of view that this mechanism was critically important for small developers. It was an easy, automatic and free way to get some eyeballs.

Besides, the Market had a built-in mechanism to prevent you from cheating: your app wouldn't appear in the 'Just In' list if it was updated less than two weeks (or so -- I believe this term was never officially documented) since the last release. So it was not possible to spam the list by introducing hollow updates twice a day for example.

If you are a big guy that has raised $40M, if TechCrunch follows your every move or Robert Scoble interviews you twice a month, you would obviously don't care much.

But if you just don't have the connections, voice and money to effectively market your app, the 'Just In' list provided a priceless spot. A spot that some might have tried to abuse (again -- very limited due to the 2-weeks time-frame), but otherwise -- totally legitimate.

Pity it's gone now.

Update: Some argued that the new sections introduced -- Top New Paid & Top New Free are a good replacement for the Just In list. While it is true that the apps in these new lists are newly introduced (less than 30 days I believe), the word Top says it all. These are apps that are already gaining popularity either because they are from a well-known, usually big developer, or because they are being aggressively pushed via costly marketing campaigns.

So to me it all seems quite a bit of unfair game from Google's part. At the beginning, when Android was all new and was lagging behind iOS in terms of number of apps, Google wanted as many developers as possible. So they played uber-developer-friendly, up to a point of being ridiculous.

Now, when Android is effectively headed to dominate the smartphone market, they decided that they have enough muscles to stop caring about small independent developers. And it's all masqueraded as an effort to improve end-user experience by putting more top content in front of user's eyes.

It is true that Google controls the Market platform and they never promised to keep the Just In list forever. I just have the feeling that they just got too cocky and stopped caring about some things that they used to care about before. Android is already too big to be hurt by such a minor change. But small, independent developers will be hurt.

Damn, they are hurt already.