Let's not whine. Android is a new platform, manufacturers are trying out business models, they experiment with hardware and software, but I'm sure that the world will converge towards a platform that will allow us to write apps for all phones that run Android, give or take a few phones that are "different" because they run "Android".
I use beta testers. I give them a button in my app that sends me the logcat output. If needed, I call them. They send me email. In most cases, that suffices to solve problems. If one model of phone doesn't run your app, you can add a few lines of code that pops up a window on that particular phone saying that your app doesn't support their phone, but you'd appreciate their help in fixing the problem. This thread would make an interesting subject for a session at GoogleIO. If Google doesn't plan such a session, we could agree to meet in the sidelines of the conference, I'm sure they'll give us a room for that, and we can invite Google staf - and HTC,Samsung,Sony, Motorola staff - to our meeting. Christine On Jan 19, 9:31 pm, TreKing <[email protected]> wrote: > Very interesting thread so far. I completely agree with the sentiment that > continuing to develop and support an app on Android with all the differences > in platforms and versions available is making a developer's life difficult. > Especially with the complete lack of basic but essential functionality in > the Android Market (no way to see comments in the console, no way respond to > comments, STILL stuck with 325 character limit, 2 screenshot limit ... the > list goes on and on). > > Regarding the issue of getting low ratings on the Market because of all > these variations: personally, I've given up on waiting for the Market team > to address these issues and have, instead, used the only means I have to > communicate with users - the app itself. With each update I show users a > series of dialogs that: > > 1 - Provide a detailed account of what's new in each release with clear > instructions on how to use the new features or what bugs were fixed > (something that, as a user, annoys me that more developers don't do). This > also saves me from wasting any of my precious 325 characters on what's new. > > 2 - Lists all negative comments on the market with a response from me for > each so users know I take that feedback seriously and am aware of their > issue. Yeah, you can respond to the the latest comment on the market with > your own, but you can only leave one comment at any given time and that > leaves others unaccounted for. Plus, many people leave comments and never > bother updating or checking in again. This way it's in their face so to > speak when they update and serves as a reminder to update their comments > (assuming they haven't un-installed and moved on). > > 3 - Reminds users that there are so many variations of phones and Android > versions that it's pretty much impossible for me test everything, that I > have no way of responding to these market comments, and if they have any > issues or questions they should email me and give me the chance to fix their > issues before leaving comments. > > I find this to work very well. I don't have a single "Force Closed. > Uninstalled" 1 star comment on my apps. In fact, quite the opposite, I get > quite a few high ratings for providing good support. > > Remember, most users have no idea what we as developers have to deal with. > All they know is whether your app works or not on their particular device > and that the market is the quickest and easiest way to leave you feedback > (especially if they're having issues). Ideally Google would have all these > issues ironed out but that's obviously not realistic so it's up to you to > educate them on the limitations you have to work with. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > TreKing - Chicago transit tracking app for Android-powered > deviceshttp://sites.google.com/site/rezmobileapps/treking
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