It seems the Market would benefit greatly and would be much easier to navigate if it was aware of theme/plugin applications in a hierarchical manner. For example: suppose I wanted to install ADW.Launcher. Doing a search in market, it is unclear which is the ADW.Launcher app, and which are simply themes for the app. Locale is another example where it is not immediately obvious which is the app and which are plugins. Additionally, searching specifically for plugins for Locale can be difficult (partly because the word 'locale' has its own meaning).
My proposed solution is that the Market implement a hierarchical labeling system. An app would default to having the "standalone" label, but the developer would be able to label his/her app with other apps, as well as remove the "standalone" label. In this system, only standalone apps would show up in general searches, and plugins for a particular app could be seen by accessing that app's market page. E.g., a theme for ADW.Launcher would be labeled by the developer as a plugin for ADW.Launcher and not as a standalone app. This theme would not be shown in general searches, but would be seen by tapping the "view available plugins" link on ADW.Launcher's page. An app that has its own functionality, e.g. Widgetsoid, but also has plugins for Locale and Tasker would keep the "standalone" label, but also label itself with Locale and Tasker. An effort should be made to prevent gaming the system by labeling your app with a competitor's app. Developers should be required to opt-in to allow themselves to be a label, and should be able to unlink themselves from apps that have used their label semi-permanently. This way, e.g., if LauncherPro were to use ADW.Launcher's label, ADW.Launcher's developer would be able to remove that label and LauncherPro's developer would not be able to reapply it without ADW.Launcher's permission. This system would greatly improve the cohesiveness and community aspects of the Android ecosystem, and would allow for better navigation and discovery for users and developers. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Discuss" 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-discuss?hl=en.
