Android Market is Kind of Dumb

Friday, July 3, 2009

Well, I just published Rune Stone Reader on Android. Of course, I can't give you a link because there is no web version of Android Market. You would think considering Google's dominance in search they would have a way to search Android Market on the web. But no--you can only view Market on your Android phone. Although it is possible to provide a link to an Android Market item, it can only be opened on an Android handset.

And so begins my litany of complaints about Android.

The Android Market has many flaws--but I suppose they are just a bunch of small issues compared to Android's problems as a whole. So, let's just rant about a few of them.

* No web catalog. We just talked about it, but still...what's the deal Google? There needs to be a web version of the catalog that allows you to buy apps with your Google Checkout account and then an email reminder with a link to the app so you can grab it next time you pick up your handset. Keeping the Android Market sequestered on the handset itself makes marketing Android apps very difficult.

* No screenshots. This is basic stuff, people. Why can't users see screenshots of the apps in action? Hell, Google owns YouTube, why not have video previews? The only marketing you can do is an icon graphic, title, and a 325 character description.

* Only one category. Apple's AppStore allows you to tag your app with multiple genres (such as Lifestyle and Entertainment). Android only allows one.

* Reviews without purchasing the app. Much like the first iteration of Apple's AppStore, Android Market allows users to rate and review apps they have never downloaded. If anyone bothered to browse Android Market, I'm sure this would lead to spurious reviews (as was a big problem early on in the AppStore).

* A RETURN BUTTON! For developers, this is the most ill-conceived feature in the history of mobile applications. You can return any app within 24 hours of a purchase for a full reimbursement.

Back in ye olden days of carrier gated mobile, a fellow developer ran some metrics on his popular game. He found that most users played his very popular game for a grand total of 30 minutes after purchasing. Most users can get their fill of any mobile app in 24 hours.

I've heard rumblings from developers at Google I/O that the return rate on most Android apps is about %75. This is killing the Android economy before it even begins.

Anyway--I'm not thrilled with Android. I tried to live a day as an Android user with my HTC Magic and just couldn't pull it off. But I still like Android much better than Windows Mobile. Google's GMail and Google Calendar client on Android make me insanely jealous as an iPhone user.

In general, Android still attempts to replicate the desktop experience on a handset too much for my liking. And I'm not quite sure Google's philosophy of releasing something half-baked and iterating over time quite works with a phone or any consumer electronics device for that matter.

Top 5 Most Unnecessary Hip-Hop Breakups

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

In hip-hop, breakups can be a good thing. Just look at N.W.A.--both Ice Cube and Dr. Dre went on to stellar career heights. Sometimes, a breakup is necessary for the good of the planet. The Fat Boys are legendary, but I don't think Mother Earth could have taken another "Mack Daddy." But that's not what I'm talking about in this blog entry. We'll focus on those breakups that really didn't do anyone any good.

#5 - Eric B. and Rakim

Yeah, Rakim is "The God MC" and nothing can take that away from him. To this day he does a great live show and is one of the most influential MCs of all time. However, ever since breaking from his alleged DJ, Eric B., he hasn't really done much. So what if Large Professor actually did all the work--at least Eric B. kept a schedule. The end result was a few unremarkable albums from Rakim and the hilariously awful Eric B. solo shot. (The title of said album is a killing word around here)

#4 - Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth

Pete Rock still does production, but now usually for people I don't want to listen to. Maybe Nas blackballed him from doing any major label hits. C.L. Smooth was perfect wallpaper for Pete Rock's production--but not a guy interesting enough to carry a solo album with budget beats. The awesome reunion track they did on Pete Rock's "Soul Survivor II" shows how unnecessary this separation is!

#3 - 3rd Bass

I was never a huge 3rd Bass fan in their prime, but in my sunset years I have grown to appreciate their dense wordsmithing and goofy stagecraft. Pete Nice went on to get fat and start a baseball museum. Serch put out a great solo album but shelved his follow up. On second thought, the atrocious 3rd Bass reunion tracks that were revealed on Serch's last compilation may have proven this break up was for the best.

#2 - The Pharcyde

I mean really. What is up with these guys? So Fatlip got a little nutty. That's what happens when you get a big enough label advance to buy all the drugs you want. Since the departure of Fatlip and the Machiavellian maneuverings of Tre, the remaining two members turned The Pharcyde into a druggie novelty act. While Fatlip did put out a decent solo album, it took nearly a decade. Can't you guys bury the hatchet after nearly 15 years?

#1 - Gang Starr

Premo seems to be open to a reunion, but Guru says he's happy in the post-Gang Starr world. Unfortunately, nobody else is. We're still waiting for Premo to focus and put out a full length worthy of his mid '90s peak. And Guru, well, we're just hoping he comes to his senses one day.

Go get Rune Stone Reader for iPhone!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

I got bored with whatever it is I was doing last year and took a detour into iPhone land.  The end result is a conversion of my BREW app, Rune Stone Reader, to iPhone. 

Buy it on iTunes!

Going through a complete iPhone dev cycle has taught me the following things:

1) I hate Objective-C

2) I love Apple

I'm sure Objective-C was really cool in the pre C++ '80s, but it really is a relic that should be put to death.  Half of the iPhone SDK (OpenGL ES, Quartz) and various standard frameworks aren't even in Objective-C anyway.  

It's too late now, Objective-C is too entrenched in the Apple Way.  We will live with it forever.  Luckily, you can still write the majority of your app in C/C++ with Objective-C reserved for the API calls.   

In all honesty, it's a breeze to make GUI-based Cocoa Touch apps with Objective-C once you figure out how to structure everything.  But I can't imagine doing any heavy lifting in a game with Objective-C.

Anyway--publishing an iPhone app to the AppStore after nearly a decade of BREW/J2ME development and distribution is a truly enlightening experience.  The iTunes Connect portal is light years ahead of any developer extranet I've used in mobile.  The publishing process is shockingly open and simple.

For the new generation where iPhone is the first mobile platform they're publishing on, they really don't know what it was like in the dark ages.  Just the ability to edit the catalog description text of your app and have it show up in the AppStore is nothing short of a revolution.  I'm serious.

Apple has done the impossible--pushed the carrier out of the equation and unleashed developer innovation on mobile.  I never thought it would happen--which is why I'm so late to the party on iPhone (as were many of my fellow mobile old timers!).  This opens up not only many software engineering possibilities, but also business development opportunities.

In ye olden days of carrier decks, it was impossible to predict whether your application would be approved for distribution.  In many cases you had to blindly sink tens of thousands of dollars in development and QA to make an application that you thought might somehow randomly tickle the fancy of a catalog manager.  But if you got approval (which was never concrete), you never knew when your app would launch.  

This made it impossible to time an application launch with any kind of media buy or time-critical IP license (a movie launch, for instance).  Plus, who would finance a project that could be prevented from distribution at any time due to the whim of a single person at a carrier for no particular reason?  

With that said--there's still great money on carrier decks.  If you can get on, it's still worth pursuing the opportunity.  But the tide is turning--a lot of folks are doing the math and the overhead of QA, porting, and business development with carriers makes them suddenly unattractive when compared to competing in the free for all that is the AppStore.   You might  make less revenue lost in a sea of content, but there's also less overhead.

Adobe needs to stop adding stupid features and actually fix bugs in Flash CS4

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Uh, hi...Adobe? FIX THIS FLASH BUG:

http://www.adobe.com/go/kb405257

It's in your knowledgebase...and you're aware of it. And it's a MAJOR BUG now that people are developing some large applications in Flash. At the very least, bump up the amount of memory the JVM uses. What's the big deal? We're big boys--we've got plenty of RAM.

In Flash CS3 on XP my project compiles fine, but on my MacbookPro with CS4 I get the dreaded message:

"5005: Unknown error optimizing byte code."

Seemingly randomly. Apparently you can fix this if you compile on the command line and specify more RAM usage to the compiler....so why can't the IDE do this? Other common fixes such as turning off optimization or deleting ASO files does nothing for me.

FIX IT!!!!

People read this?!

Monday, October 20, 2008

I'm amazed I actually have two comments. It definitely does not bode well for the future of civilization.

XYLITOL GUM!

Friday, August 8, 2008

Why do I have to blow $11 a can for imported Japanese Xylitol gum. Trident's gum has Xylitol in it...but it's still mixed with Nutrasweet. *BLECH*

It's impossible to find a good template

Saturday, August 2, 2008

I'm in the process of moving Flarb's corporate site to a Blog format and it's impossible to find a good template. I want to get a custom one made for the company--but in the meantime I need a good temporary solution.

I experimented with WordPress today but somehow blew up my entire account in the process. Anyway--soon there will be a new flarb.com site. Until then, it's kind of a mess.