15
May
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[I/O 2013] Google Gives Developers A 'Better Distribution Experience' In Revised Play Store Console Coming 'This Summer'

Posted by in Applications, Development, News

Between Hangouts, the gorgeous new Maps, Play Music All Access, and everything else discussed in I/O's opening keynote this morning, several revisions to the Play Store developer's console were announced.

Perhaps the most interesting addition to the console will be an organized method for alpha and beta testing, and staged rollouts.  Basically, developers can select alpha and beta testers, receiving all feedback directly (instead of through reviews) and, when the time comes, roll out the app to certain percentages of the user base.

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The changes also include a major help in ensuring your apps make sense to international users – a full translation service by which developers can order specific translations, come back a week or so later, and download the translations directly from the console.

09
May
image

TestFlight Offers Beta Android App Deployment To All After Serving 4,500 Apps In Private Beta

Posted by in Applications, News

Back in February, TestFlight announced that it would be bringing its services to Android in the form of a private beta, having already served over 300,000 apps on iOS. Today, though, TestFlight has announced that it is ready to lift the private beta, opening beta Android compatibility to all users. TestFlight says that during its 45-day beta period, 5000 developers uploaded over 4500 apps. 

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The service, for those unfamiliar, is a widely popular beta testing platform, allowing developers to quickly and smoothly deploy beta apps to select users. Though, as we mentioned in our previous coverage, other options do exist for Android developers (like the Play Store’s private app deployment), TestFlight does offer considerable value in terms of security, helpful tracking and analytics, and - perhaps best of all - centralized feedback.

24
Apr
doa

Dead On Arrival 2 Coming Soon To Android, Private Beta Registration Now Open

Posted by in Games, News

If you're a fan of the top-down zombie carnage free-for-all that is Dead on Arrival, good news: N3V Games just opened registration for the private beta of the game's sequel – the appropriately named Dead on Arrival 2. image

There are a few requisites, of course – namely in device specification. For starters, you must have a device with at least a Tegra 2 (or equivalent), though a Tegra 3 (or equivalent) is recommended. Aside from that, you'll need a minimum of Android 3.0 (though 4.0 is suggested). Past that, the additional recommendations are the best part:

Have a stomach for wave after wave of bloodshed and mayhem!

25
Mar
dashclock

Coming Soon Soon To DashClock: DayDream Support, More Translations, Improved Weather Extension, And More [Updated]

Posted by in Applications, News
Last Updated: March 26th, 2013

When Roman Nurik's DashClock Widget hit the scene right at six-weeks ago, it became a favorite widget for anyone on Android 4.2+ almost instantly. For good reason – it's one of the most powerful, customizable, and best-looking widgets we've seen in quite a long while. Adding to its already-impressive functionality, there have also been a slew of extensions show up, making it even more powerful.

If you've been curious what's in store for DashClock on an official level, though, Nurik recently took to Google+ to talk about fixes and new features, as well as show off Daydream support for an upcoming build.

23
Mar
500px

500px Beta Hits The Play Store, Lets You Test The Latest Features Before They're Ready For Prime Time

Posted by in Applications, News

If you're a fan of the photography-aggregating service 500px, then you may be interested in seeing what the company is brewing for upcoming versions of the app. Thanks to the new beta version of 500px, which hit the Play Store this morning, now you can.

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All the latest beta features, and the silhouette of a moose. What more could you want?

The 500px beta app brings the latest features the company is working on before they're ready for prime time in order to let users not only check them out, but also report any issues they're having. So, basically it's just an open beta.

20
Mar
google_play_thumb

Hands-On With The Google Play Store 4.0 Leak - A Google Now-Inspired Design With A Horrible Looking Action Bar

Posted by in Applications, Google, News

The Google Play redesign is very real.

We've managed to secure a copy and we're going to extract every possible ounce of info out of it.

Sadly, we aren't allowed to distribute it - we have to honor the request of the person who scored us a copy. Sorry! We will tell you everything we can about it, though.

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The main screen is, well, broken. That makes navigating the app a little difficult. However with liberal use of the search button and a few tricks it's possible to find your way around. (And yes, the search still blows.)

Browsing For Apps

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Ugh.

19
Mar
swypetiny

Swype Beta Updated To v1.4.9.13905, Adds Advanced Language Models For Hindi, Belgian Dutch, Tons Of Bug Fixes

Posted by in Applications, News

Another day, another beta update from Swype. Today, the company announced a new version that brings a enhances a few features including adding Advanced Language Models for Hindi and Belgian Dutch. The overall tap responsiveness has been improved. The Smart Editor and Word Choice List (in Polaris Office) behaviors have also been refined.

Here's the full change log:

Swype Beta v1.4.9.13905

  • Advanced Language Models added for Hindi and Belgian Dutch
  • Responsiveness for tap input improved for all languages
  • Improved overall Smart Editor behavior and implemented some bug fixes
  • Fixed a Gingerbread crash that occurred when rotating device into landscape mode
  • Fixed miscellaneous crashes reported by the Beta community
  • Fixed an issue where default Android voice input ('mic'/'microphone') icon displayed instead of Dragon logo
  • Changed subtype text in notification drawer to be more accurate
  • Word Choice List behavior improved in Polaris Office
  • And many more bug fixes and improvements!

19
Mar
neatlytiny

Neatly Releases A 'Final Beta' To The Play Store, Provides A Smarter Twitter Feed

Posted by in Applications, News

Last month, we talked about a new Twitter client called Neatly that promised to do what the social network won't do itself: provide a more intelligent and less thorough approach to your feed. Twitter opts to list every tweet for people you follow in chronological order, which has helped with the up-to-the-minute identity the company builds for itself. Neatly chooses, instead, to filter by the most important updates, and allows you to filter by topics.

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The beta was cool and now it's available on the Play Store for everyone. The extra information you get is copious and very helpful.

07
Mar
unnamed

Chameleon Launcher 2.0 Brings Phone Optimization, Multiple Home Screens, Widget Enhancements To Kickstarter Backers

Posted by in Applications, News

In a post to its official blog today, the team behind Chameleon Launcher announced version 2.0, which simultaneously hit the Play Store. The update, which is – for now – only available to Kickstarter backers and pre-order customers, brings a handful of popularly requested features. Perhaps the biggest of these is optimization for the small screen. Yes, Chameleon is now specifically optimized to work on your smartphone as well as it does on your tablet.

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As part of the optimization (which supports screen resolutions of 720x1280 and up), Chameleon has gained the ability to hold multiple home screens in each context.

04
Mar
unnamed

[New App] Opera Browser Beta, With Ground-Up Redesign And Webkit Rendering Engine, Is Live In The Play Store

Posted by in Applications, News

Get those fingers ready, Opera fans: the biggest thing to happen to your favorite mobile browser in years has arrived. Opera Software announced a new and retooled version of their browser in February, and demonstrated it during Mobile World Congress. The Opera browser beta (no Mini or Mobile here, it's the "full" version a la Chrome) is live in the Play Store. It's a free download for just about any Android device, so get to it.

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The biggest draw in this new release is the WebKit rendering engine, the same one used by both Chrome and the AOSP Android browser.

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