I gave myself a personal goal around mid to late November; to finish an STO Android app with the dataset that Phil Casgrain had given me access to. The app is now available on the Android market as STO on the Go though it’s almost impossible to find using the search.
I’m selling the app for $1.00 though there is a good chance it will be getting an increase in the next version, which will have at least maps and favourites features.
I’m a pretty decent fan of the Android platform. It’s fun to develop on, has an excellent community filled with tons of knowledge. Unfortunately, several items peripheral to Android such as the market are horrid and I despise being stuck with these. Sure, I can put my apps on the alternative markets, but I will still have my apps on the Android Market since this is the most likely place for people to go to get their apps.
This is probably the number one place I am having issues with. I now have to choose between informing my users about new features, how to fix problems or describe what the fuck the application actually does to get the interest of prospective users.
Now I have nothing wrong with limiting the walls of text you often see on other platforms, but I should be able to have enough room to write what it is my application does as well as provide a brief about what users can expect in the new version. It would also be nice since then I can inform users how to resolve issues they may be running in to; which takes me to my next point.
This is both awesome and a piece of crap at the same time.
I love it because now instead of having users bitch about the app and give it 1 star on the market, they can send me a stacktrace along with a brief description of what they were doing to cause the issue to happen. This is great for the easier bugs that you may run in to and helps you deal with them much more promptly.
Now for the hate
Where do I begin? I guess we can start off with the fact that it’s a unidirectional pipe and I cannot query users about what they were doing in more detail, or tell them to try something that may resolve the problem in the meantime. Sure there are suggestions such as using forums or google groups or some other kind of bullshit, but as far as I’m concerned that’s away from when the problem occurred. Hell, I’d prefer to see something like having the users send me a goddamn email as well so I can actually contact them.
Another issue I have is with the shall we call it… issue tracker? The tool is alright, I guess though I cannot flag items as completed or resolved, only as old. So, these issues stay in the tracker under the old section, and if you get new reports they don’t get re-bumped back up to new. I’d rather have a new or open section and a closed or resolved section for my bugs on this console. Now let’s say I’ve flagged an issue as closed but then another user brings the bug up again? Hmm… reopen the damn thing so that I notice I have new data and then clearly the problem hasn’t been solved.
Why only two? Why only the two specific resolutions? Why not the resolutions supported by the Android developer devices? At least then I could use my Nexus One for my screenshots instead of my HTC Magic which is typically turned off and in my messenger bag.
Unfortunately my application (and most likely several others) have more than 2 screens of interest in them. It would be nice to be able to give people more of a sneak peak into what is in the application before they download it or buy it.
I figure I should vent these problems both as a form of stress relief and to hopefully get a hold of those responsible for this aspect of the Android platform inside of Google. I’ve found this tool feels very much like a half-baked 20% time project, and isn’t taken seriously at all.
I hope that these issues can get resolved so that the users of the Android platform can have a better experience with us; the developers and for this to happen we need to be happy as well.