Froogloid » G1

How to design your very own android application

Chris Fagan — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:07:18 +0000

Occasionally I receive an email asking if it’s hard to design and build android applications and what’s the best way to get started. So, I figured it made sense to post a quick how-to on our blog on how to make a design. Unfortunately, I’m not a developer so I’ll only be covering the design aspects of the process. With that said, stay tuned for future dev how-to’s from Froogloid’s master android developers.

First, chose an application idea that’s do-able. For example, don’t try to invent a time traveling mobile application your first time out the gate :) Once you have your idea, do some research to see who else is offering a similar product. If someone has already built an application that’s very similar to your idea, don’t be discouraged. The reality is, your idea is probably not an original. Study what other people have built and figure out a way to add additional features and streamline the apps usability. Often times it’s better that someone has already built a product similar to your idea so that you can learn from their design shortcomings.

Now that you have your idea, let’s get started with the design. First, if your not familiar with the Microsoft office application “visio”, I HIGHLY encourage you to learn. It’s a simple application that will allow you to create screenshot designs very easily and fast. If you’re a newbie check out the visio how-to video’s on youtube. Here’s one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmDjmm0btO8 Here’s the best part…. a company by the name or artbitfuls has created a custom visio stencil specifically designed for android UI creation. You can download the stencil here and also see some of the designs they’ve created using visio. Keep in mind that visio is very helpful in regards to designing your layout and picking which android widgets to use. However, visio is not a great tool to design custom buttons and graphics. I would strongly encourage you to use photoshop for this. When designing, don’t try to reinvent the wheel. The android SDK has provided a wealth of existing widgets to use in your design. USE THEM! Trust me, it will make your life so so so much easier! The previously mentioned visio stencil provides graphics of most of the widgets however, go here for a complete list.

When I make design I try to focus on one thing ~ “make the application as user friendly and intuitive as possible”. Here’s a tip: try to find the most non-techie person you know, in my case it’s my girlfriend, and without telling them anything about the application you’ve designed ask them to review the screenshots and provide a play by play on what the application does and how the user will interact with it. If you’ve designed, let’s say, a bowling game and they think you’ve designed a baseball game you’ve got a problem :) It’s best to change your design as early in the process as possible. Otherwise you’ll have a very angry developer :)

Here’s a couple before and after screenshots of a2b. You’ll notice the layouts are very similar but the actual graphics are different.
Visio Designs:

Built Application:

HTC Dream ~ Someone has it…. or do they?

Chris Fagan — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:29:12 +0000

In the latest a2b release, v1.1.0, we included a small bit of code from flurry analytics that allows Froogloid to monitor a2b’s usage etc. Don’t worry, it does not give us access to sensitive user information such as who’s using the app, where they’re using it etc. It mainly provides a way to monitor what devices are using the app, which countries, # of sessions, and # of errors experienced in the app. Think of it like google analytics but not NEARLY as detailed…
Yesterday I was surfing around the analytics report and noticed something interesting…. there’s a new device using a2b :) That’s right, someone who owns an HTC Magic, aka G2, has purchased a2b! First of all, I have to say I’m quite flattered that one of only a few people in the world that owns the HTC Magic has decided to purchase a2b. Almost brings a tear to my eye :) Second, you know what this means right? The launch of the G2/HTC Magic is getting extremely close! Finally, android will become a multi-device operating system. Although, I use that term loosely considering the HTC Dream is bigger brother of the G1. I’ll get really excited once I see an android device released from another manufacturer.
Here’s a screenshot of the analytics report:

Welcome Germany and Austria!

Chris Fagan — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:04:32 +0000

We knew it was coming, we just didn’t know when! Austria and Germany now have access “paid” apps in the adroid market.
How do I know? Well, I just checked Froogloid’s google checkout account for a2b and we have received sales from both Austria and Germany! 3 European countries now have paid apps support ~ UK, Austria, and Germany.

Latest a2b Updates

Chris Fagan — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:49:19 +0000

Hey everyone, I’ve been meaning to post about this for some time now but Chris P, Simmone, and I have been heads down lately with Key Ring and some other stuff. The good news is Key Ring is moving right along :) For those of you that downloaded a2b via the android market, you likely saw an email I sent last week explaining some of the new features. This post will expound upon on that email and will include screenshots. Enjoy :)

On a related note, thanks to everyone who provided positive feedback on the android market regarding the latest update. Your feedback is VERY APPRECIATED! THANK YOU!

Manually enter location. Select “save location” => “map” tab => menu => “manually enter location”.

GPS Settings. You can now configure GPS to automatically turn off when you exit the application. Go to the home screen => menu => “settings”

New Home Screen Background Graphic. We wanted more contrast between the save and find buttons and the background. Hopefully this new background will do the trick :)

Turn by Turn / Driving Directions. You’ll now have the option to navigate to your saved location using turn by directions. Unfortunately it’s against google’s terms of service to integrate turn by turn directly within a 3rd party application otherwise we would have a built a custom view. Nonetheless, google maps seamlessly integrate with a2b. Select “find location” => select the location you’d like to navigate to via the list => find “map” tab => menu => “Driving Directions”

Email Saved Location. Once you’ve saved a location you can share it with anyone you’d like via email. If you’ve taken a picture and/or created a free text note this will also be sent when emailing the location. Select “find location” => select the location you’d like to share via the list => find “map” tab = menu => “email saved location”

Update Menu. When you download an updated version of a2b you’ll now be able to reference what updates were made. Go to the home screen => menu => “updates”

Several UI Enhancements. Progress circles between screen transitions, pop up toast for playing audio, background color for find map tab distance, manage application description, and various other tweaks.

Android Development Challenge II

Chris Fagan — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:34:14 +0000

Until now it’s been radio silence from out friends at google regarding the 2nd android development challenge. I ran across an interesting blog today at phandroid.com where they were able to dig up some news regarding the next android developer challenge. Google was origianlly slated to communicate time-lines, rules etc for this contest by the end of December 08. The good news is that the 2nd development challenge has not been canceled, only delayed. Here’s what google said:

“Regarding the second Developer Challenge, it definitely isn’t canceled but we haven’t announced plans for it yet. We said we would by last year (sorry about that), but we’re still working on how to structure it. The world is quite a bit different now than it was when we ran the first ADC, so we want to make sure the new rules/structure make sense, and we are of course taking into consideration everyone’s experiences with the first ADC. The second ADC will definitely not be a clone of the first ADC. We expect to have all this finalized and announce rules within a couple months. The event itself will likely run in the second half of the year.” – Dan Morrill

If you’re not familiar with the android development challenge here’s a summary of the first challenge:

+1788 developers submitted applications
+open handset alliance partners picked 50 finalists and each received 25,000 to either pocket or reinvest in their app
+top 50 finalists were given an opportunity to make a another round of edits and then submitted apps as final
+open handset alliance partners selected 20 winners! 10 received $100,000 and 10 received $275,000
+total prize money awarded was $5,000,000

If you look at the number of submissions v. the number of winners you’d have roughly a 3% chance of walking away with any money. The odds weren’t exactly in your favor! Keep in mind 1788 people submitted applications for an operating system that wasn’t even available for sale on a device! And, 100% of development and testing had to be done via your PC! Now that we have more than a million android devices out there and MANY more on there way who knows how many people will submit applications for the 2nd development challenge! Nonetheless, Froogloid isn’t discouraged and we’re always up for a challenge!

Howdy U.K. ~ You can now purchase a2b!

Chris Fagan — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:59:59 +0000

I’m happy to announce that our friends over in the U.K. can now purchase a2b! woot woot! Hopefully this means other countries in Europe will have access to paid apps very soon as well.

For those in U.K. we’d love to hear your feedback! Likes/Dislikes etc :) Obviously the queen digs a2b :)

How to create a 2D Barcode

Chris Fagan — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 02:57:03 +0000

It’s come to my attention that very few android/G1 phone owners know about one of my favorite features, reading and creating 2D barcodes! First, if you haven’t already done so, download the free application “barcode scanner” from the android market. Now that you have the app, select “menu” => “share” and you can create a 2D barcode of any of your contacts as well as bookmarks. If one of your buddies has a 2D barcode reader on his or her phone they can simply scan the code you just created! Once they’ve scanned the 2D barcode they will be prompted to launch their browser and/or save the contact info. If you want to create a 2D barcode and share it via your website like we’ve done here and here there are several free and easy sites you can use. Here are couple of my favorites: zxing and nokia barcode generator FYI, there are several types of 2D barcodes but the G1/barcode scanner only supports “QR”.

Android Market Statistics

Chris Fagan — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 05:31:10 +0000

For those wondering how well paid applications are doing, here’s a few stats that I manually pulled from the android market this evening. By manual I mean counted on my fingers and toes :) Nonetheless, this should at least give you “some” perspective….

>Paid apps have been available for 17 days (2/20-3/9)
>There are 415 paid apps
>a2b is # 38 in popularity out of 415
>Top 40 stats:
- - 6 apps have between 1,000 – 5,000 downloads
- - 10 apps have between 500 – 1,000 downloads
- - 24 apps have between 100 – 500 downloads
- - Prices vary between $.99 - $9.99

iPhone v. Android/Google Phone

Chris Fagan — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:02:58 +0000

If I had a dollar for every time I was asked if a2b could be purchased on the iPhone I’d be able to retire :) So why doesn’t Froogloid build software for the Iphone? There are several reasons; not enough hours in the day, not enough capital to pay 3rd parties to port a2b, saturated Iphone app market, but the main and most compelling reason is we feel there is a tremendous amount of opportunity with the android/google platform. I recently touched upon this in my “Calm Before the Storm Blog” but here’s a few more points/things to consider.

In the mobile app world you have 4 main players; 1) the network carriers (T-Mobile, Verizon etc…) 2) the mobile phone manufacturers (motorola, LG, HTC etc…) 3) consumers who buy the phones/apps 4) and last but not least, mobile application developers (Froogloid). What if you had an operating system that was good for all players? Well, that’s exactly what android OS does! It makes everyone happy.

Let me tell you why…. First, the device manufacturers, they love android because the OS is 100% free! That’s right, no more paying symbian and other OS’s millions to license their operating systems. This equates to lower handset prices which ultimately means more handset sales. Network carriers are excited about android for 3 reasons; 1) innovative products equate to more subscribers 2) Android phones use data which equates to more value added services = more $$$. 3) Network carriers get 30% of all fee based application downloads! If I sell an app for $1, T-Mobile gets 30 cent and I get 70 cents…. google gets nothing (sort of). Guess how much of the fee based revenue apple shares with network carriers? 0%! Mobile application developers love android because it’s extremely easy to get your products to market unlike apple’s 6 month application process! Not to mention, once more android devices are released, your app will/can be distributed to almost any carrier in the world! More eyeballs on your apps = more revenue, it’s as simple as that. Consumers love android because they’ll have plethora of android devices to chose from unlike the Iphone. Also, android phones are/will be economically priced. Remember, no more OS licensing costs = lower handset prices! Don’t forget, consumers love applications! With android they’ll have an unlimited supply to innovative apps! So, what does google get out of this? Two words: “Mobile Search”!

If you don’t believe me, fine, but I’m not the only one that sees the opportunity. Android will overtake Iphone by 2012. http://androidcommunity.com/android-os-to-trump-os-x-touch-20090306

What are your thoughts? Technorati Profile

Get an android phone for less than 100 bucks!

Chris Fagan — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 17:45:45 +0000

If you’re dying to get your hands on a Google phone but you don’t want to spend $175! You’re in luck! www.letstalk.com is offering a great deal right now. You can purchase a T-Mobile G1 for $97.77 AND it comes with a free car charger and a 4gb micro SD card. The only catch is that you have to sign up for a 2 yr contract. To put this in perspective, I bought my G1 in Oct 08 for $175 with a 2 yr contract. Then I upgraded to 4gb card for another 30 bucks. So, 4 months later you can pay $100 less than I did and get a free car charger . Pretty good deal.