On Jul 12, 9:26 am, Federico Paolinelli <[email protected]> wrote: > I know that I can do that but: > - in this phase I wanted to focus on the app, so using an external app was > faster (and now I am wondering is it's ok to leave it this way) > - it's the approach suggested by zxyng, otherwise I think they would have > released a library > - I don't really like to copy / paste pieces of code around > > On the other hand, as a user I wouldn't really like to be asked to install > something more than the app I chose, so I think I'll move to that other > approach (maybe after some iteration).
I am not too experienced Android coder yet and I have no applications in Market, but I'll still have a shot at this. :) For me the core idea of Android is the ability to use functionality from other software and do it in as seamless way as possible. Thus, making an application that requires some other software to be installed is a proper way to do things. The question is how to bring this up to the user. I would perhaps: a) mention in the application home page (in Market or otherwise) that this software requires some other software providing a certain functionality and perhaps give a list of most well known compatible applications and b) I am not sure if one can affect the install process, but if it would be possible, I would do some kind of dependency scan upon application install and c1) for example when starting the application the first time, seek automatically for the application providing certain service and prompt the user if no such applications exist or c2) when starting the application display a message to the user much like in case a). I think the key is to try to prevent the user to use the software without the required 3rd party component: it is a massive "turn-off" to use an application for a while and then find out that you need some other component to complete your task. The problem is (IMO) to gain the user's trust so that she'll install the other software and uses your application. Many users may think that this is some sort of scam/virus. In the end you perhaps cannot satisfy all the potential users. Some will install the required components and are happy with it, some will move on (perhaps the application did not have much use for them anyway). > > Intents are extremely powerful but, if G wants to promote this cross app > collaboration, they should offer a list of options directly in the download > phase from the market, maybe relying on what openintents are doing. I think this is very good idea. Because of the problem of trust it would be perfect to be able to seek Market for software providing certain services etc. > > I think a user (or at least me) would trust the market more than a random > app.... I agree 100%. Rami -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
