marketplace - 3/3 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jul

Android Market And Google Checkout Problem – Buy Your Apps/Games But Receive Nothing, Sorry!

Posted by Andrew Huff in Applications, Apps/Games, Games, News

Recently it has been reported that Google plans to add carrier billing options to the Android Market. This is great news for developers, but it may be moot, as we’re getting reports that a lot of users are having issues downloading apps that they have purchased. When a user tries to purchase an app, it seems that the market is hanging while authorizing their payment, regardless of their checkout method (credit card or carrier billing).

This isn’t the first time that users have had issues with the market – just recently Google had to address the issue of applications mysteriously disappearing.

Jul

Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement Updated To Allow Carrier Billing. Paid Apps In More International Markets Soon?

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, News

In a short post on the Android developers blog, Googler Tim Bray let word out that the Android Market’s Developer Distribution Agreement had been updated in a significant way:

Posted by Tim Bray on 23 July 2010 at 5:24 PM

Please note that we have updated the Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement (DDA). This is in preparation for some work we’re doing on introducing new payment options, which we think developers will like.

In the spirit of transparency, we wanted to highlight the changes:

In Section 13.1, “authorized carriers” have been added as an indemnified party.

Section 13.2 is new in its entirety, covering indemnity for payment processors for claims related to tax accrual.

Jul

[App Of The Week] Craigsnotifica by Widget, A Powerful And Customizable Tool For Navigating Craigslist

Posted by David Ruddock in App Reviews, Applications, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Introduction

We here at Android Police know how important apps are as a part of the overall Android experience. We also know how notoriously difficult the Android Market is to navigate. With these two things in mind, we decided to introduce the Android Police App Of The Week.

Every week, we'll take one app that we think is a cut above the rest, and give you an in-depth look at what we think makes it exemplary.

Like the idea of Craigslist? Don’t like actually using the website (especially on your phone)? Or like the idea of having a more powerful Craigslist with features such as notifications, favorites, and saved lists of searches?

Jul

Follow-Up: Astro File Manager Goes Pro, Removes Ads

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Yesterday we published a piece regarding Astro File Manager’s now-mandatory ads. Earlier today, the developer of Astro (Metago) released Astro File Manager Pro. It comes in at $2.99, and its only “Pro” feature at the moment is that it removes ads from the application.

Some users may feel this is a cheap-shot. I disagree. Metago has taken the high ground in regard to the paid apps philosophy, here’s how. The ad-supported version of Astro has all the features of Astro Pro, and is in no way limited in its functionality. To say that the developer deserves no income from their application (which is far and away the best file explorer on Android) is rather ludicrous, given the readily apparent effort put into Astro File Manager.

Jun

Exclusive: Eric Schmidt (Google CEO) Invests In 3rd Party App Distribution Company PocketGear

Posted by David Ruddock in Apps/Games, Exclusives, News, Tips & Tutorials

Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

In an AndroidPolice exclusive, a tipster has provided us reliable information that Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google (GOOG), has recently become an investor in the 3rd party mobile app distributor PocketGear. What does this mean? It seems most likely that Schmidt, and perhaps Google itself, are looking to see if PocketGear can provide a suitable distribution platform for Android apps. It looks to be classic Google strategy; invest early, foster growth, and if all goes well, acquire. While Schmidt and Google itself are not entities of completely parallel financial interests, Schmidt is the man in charge, and it is his own intuition that helps to guide Google as a company.

May

Exclusive: Could These Features Be Coming To The Next-Next Generation Of Android Market? [Leaked Rumors]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Exclusives, News

Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

We get a lot of tips and leaks in our tips@androidpolice.com email (which I encourage you to use if you want to alert us of any unreleased news). Some of these leaks are pure conjectures, some make sense but have no foundation or proof, and some… some sound pretty credible.

Today, we have one of those leaks, and even though there is no proof that this information is true, I have reasons to believe that what the source is saying is not a lie.

The Leak

In 2 days, on May 19th-20th, the long-awaited Google I/O conference is going to be commencing in San Francisco, with all kinds of announcements about the future of Android expected, such as the details of Android 2.2 FroYo, Flash 10.1 on Android, FroYo speed improvements, wireless tethering, and Android Market updates.

May

Roundup Of The Top 7 Android Market Exploration And Review Sites - Where Will You Look For Your Next App?

Posted by Sarah Morrow in Applications, Apps/Games, Games, News

Last Updated: November 27th, 2012

With over 50,000 applications in the Android Market, and that number increasing very rapidly, finding a legitimate and detailed review of an application is difficult.

If you’ve tried using the official Android Market website, you’ve probably noticed that the experience is…well, less than ideal.

Enter app review websites. Many app review sites are supported by an open-source API (Application Programming Interface) that allows these sites to provide information that is congruent with the Android Market to its visitors. Some app review sites go so far as to allow visitors to contribute their own two cents to each application's individual review, such as user ratings and user generated comments.

Apr

Android Market Hits A New Milestone - Now Serving 50,000 Applications

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Apps/Games, News

Today Android celebrates another milestone - all Android Markets combined count over 50,000 applications and games, according to the Android Market tracker AndroLib. AndroLib is one of the biggest market trackers out there and monitors over 10 separate marketplaces in addition to the main one.

10,000 apps were cranked out in less than a month, as exactly 4 weeks ago we celebrated the 40,000 mark, and, as you can see, the progress has been excellent.

This number is not inflated in any way by counting application updates - AndroLib includes only separate programs in the total.

AndroLib is often accused of having higher numbers than other sites.

Mar

Android Market Hits Another Milestone - Now Serving 40,000 Applications

Posted by Android Police Team in Apps/Games, News

The Android Marketplace counts over 40,000 applications and games as of today, at least according to the online Android Market tracker AndroLib.

This number is not inflated in any way by counting application updates - AndroLib includes only separate programs in the total.

A useful statistics page provides some insight into the daily growth for the curious.

At the pace the Marketplace is growing at the moment, it will reach 100,000 applications by sometime in September, as our math geek Artem reported yesterday.

Congratulations to Android on this important milestone.

Mar

Projection: Android Marketplace To Hit 100,000 Applications Sometime In September 2010

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Apps/Games, News

Last Updated: March 9th, 2011

Today I put on my wizard Darth Vader math hat and decided to figure out when the Android market is going to finally reach the 100,000 mark.

"Why 100,000?" you may ask.

Apple

Well, it seemed like a nice round number, and it also happens to be the same number a small company called Apple was obsessing over in November 2009:

CUPERTINO, California—November 4, 2009—Apple® today announced that developers have created over 100,000 apps for the revolutionary App Store, the largest applications store in the world.

The iPhone App Store launched on July 11th, 2008, so putting it all together, it took Apple 481 days or about 16 months to conquer 100k.