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Mar

Google Rolls Out Automated Translation Of User Reviews In The Play Store Developer Console

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Google, News

Recently, Google quietly began to test auto translation for app reviews in the developer console. Today, the company publicly announced that same feature and began rolling it out to all devs. Now, when they log in to their control panel, they can see the reviews in their preferred language, along with the original text. Neat.

Of course, this still isn't a replacement for native fluency, but it should aid developers in troubleshooting problems that users on the other side of the language barrier discover. This, coupled with replies to reviews, enables a high degree of communication between devs and users, which can only be a great thing.

Mar

Amazon, Not Content With Duplicating Everything Else Google Does, Releases A Mobile Ad API

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Amazon, News

When Android first came out, there were a lot of concerns about an open source OS. One of the biggest ones was, what if a company takes Android, strips everything Google out of it, and builds an entirely new platform on top of it? Well, Amazon seems dead set on making sure we know what that's like. The company has already built its own Appstore, content delivery services, and closed hardware on top of Google's baby. Now it's taking aim at Mountain View's money maker: ads.

The new mobile ads API will allow developers to easily embed advertisements in their apps.

Feb

Google Shifts Developer Payments To The 15th Of Every Month, Provides A Transition Schedule To Help Devs Pay Rent

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Google, News

If you make money on the Play Store, you should probably check your email. Google is sending out a notification to developers to let them know that in the future, payments will be sent out on a 15 day delay instead of the one or two days the company has been using for a while. What does this mean for you? Well, if selling apps is a primary source of income for you, then you'll want to do some planning. Before you panic, though, Google is implementing an intermediary schedule to make the transition a little easier.

Here's how it works.

Jan

OUYA Controllers Get Some Tweaks For The Better, Thanks To Developer Input

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News

Remember when developers got their pre-release Ouya kits and started showing them off? In those videos, the controllers looked kinda crummy. Thankfully, the company said those were absolutely not indicative of the final design that will go out to consumers. Turns out, they really weren't! The company has detailed some changes and they sound pretty good.

For starters, the D-pad design has changed from a disconnected disc to the typical cross style that we've all gotten used to since the NES. The control sticks are more grippy as well. Also, the universally panned trigger buttons have been improved to have better mechanics and be more flush with the controller.

Dec

XDA University Is Live, With Guides For Developers And End Users Alike

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in News

Most college kids are at home this time of the year, celebrating the end of finals and/or nursing hangovers. But the ROM's scene's number one destination is hosting classes all year round at the the new XDA University site. XDA-Developers has been working on the extension of the main site as a destination for newcomers to the world of root, custom ROMs, and other Android modifications, as well as a place to learn about more serious Android development. The site is live now at XDA-University.com.

What is XDA University? Well, it's somewhere between a textbook (the introductory page even describes itself as "this book") and a limited wiki.

Dec

Google: Developers Can Now Localize Promotional Graphics In The Play Store

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

As Google continues the work of expanding its Play Store services across the globe, it only makes sense that the giant is also working to provide a cohesive, pleasant experience for users in the 130+ countries that now support paid apps. To that end, Google has announced in a post to the Android Developers blog that developers can now include localized promotional graphics and video in their Play Store listings.

Basically, what this means is that developers can upload separate assets to ensure that users in, for example, the United States will see English-language graphics and video, while others around the world see materials in their own language.

Oct

Here's What's New In Android 4.1.2 At The Low Level [Developer Commit Logs]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, Jelly Bean 4.1, News

As a developer, I absolutely love days like today. If the high-level "improves performance and stability and fixes bugs" changelog of Android 4.1.2 isn't good enough for you, how about we dive into the actual low-level source code commit logs Android engineers made into AOSP since 4.1.1_r1.1 (JRO03D) all the way through today's release 4.1.2_r1 (JZO54K). These commit logs are spread over probably 100+ repositories, so hunting for all of them manually would probably take you days. However, thanks to Al Sutton, you can check them out all in one place.

Be prepared for lots of code jargon and incomplete git commit messages, which probably won't mean much to most of you.

Oct

Amazon Appstore Headed For Japan 'Later This Year'

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Amazon, Android OS, Applications, News

Amazon, in an effort to continue expanding its services globally, announced today that its Android app distribution service, the Amazon Appstore, is heading for Japan.

The shopping and media giant is now inviting developers to submit their apps and games for distribution in Japan, giving them the chance to participate in a new market with Amazon and "expand their business." Jim Adkins, VP of the Appstore, explained:

Opening our portal to app and game developers looking to reach Japanese customers is an important milestone as we strive to serve consumers and developers globally. Many of our existing developers are anxious to localize their apps and games for Japanese consumers, and we look forward to working with new developers that have been waiting for a chance to bring their Japanese content to the Amazon platform.

Sep

Julie Uhrman Issues Official OUYA Status Report: 'We've Been Heads-Down Cranking'

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Games, News

We've been covering the OUYA since its original debut as an ambitious idea on Kickstarter in July. Within a month, the campaign had raised an astounding $8.6 million. We've also heard that OUYA is partnering with Square Enix, will include OnLive support, and a whole lot more (thanks to Founder Julie Uhrman's AMA on Reddit).

After a brief pause in OUYA news, Uhrman recently published a post to the official OUYA blog, giving readers a "full update" on the project. The post, titled "the train keeps on rolling," explains just about everything from details surrounding the status of manufacturing, to developer relations, to plans for the fit and finish of the final product.

Aug

Jelly Bean App Encryption Breaks Thousands Of Apps In The Play Store - Google Disables DRM For Now

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, Jelly Bean 4.1, News

Piracy is a major issue for Android, and even more so for Android developers, which is why Jelly Bean introduced App Encryption. But this may be a case of the cure being worse than the disease: hundreds of developers of paid apps have chimed in on a Google Code thread, claiming that the encryption (or more accurately, the location of installed and encrypted apps from the Google Play Store) makes their apps entirely unusable, as account information and other stored data is removed after a device reboot. As a result, Google has apparently disabled the security feature for the Play Store on Jelly Bean devices.