For most, the switch from Google’s Android Market to Google Play mostly meant the minor inconvenience of another user agreement. Users also found their “Market” shortcut missing from their home screen (if they had it there), and they need to replace it with the “Play Store”.
What does this mean to Android developers, though? Continue reading
You might actually want to jump on BlackBerry Appworld. Quickly in fact – if you submit your Android app before February 13 2012, you’ll get a free BlackBerry playbook. Since it takes a day or two to get your account set up (and a bit more to get your app released), you really don’t have much time to lose.
Update April 2012 – Looks like BlackBerry is at it again – submit an app by April 26 and you have a pretty good chance of getting a free ticket to BlackBerry Jam 10 (with spending money): [link expired, the promotion is over]
Update October 2012 – current promotion is the $10k Commitment, where they’ll pay the difference between $1k and $10k if you earn at least that first $1k in the first year. They’re pushing hard to promote their new BlackBerry 10 platform. I haven’t verified that Android apps are eligible for this promotion, so be sure to read the terms and conditions. You have until January 2013 to submit for this challenge.
Update February 2016 – the $10k commitment page is still up, I’m not sure if they’re still running the promotion. Investigate further if you’re interested.
OK, let’s take a step back, and get to the actual review before I send you off to register. If you’re new here you may also be interested in my other Android app market reviews.
Every Android developer should be paying attention to Ice Cream Sandwich, or ICS (a.k.a. Android 4.0). Unlike Honeycomb (Android 3.x), which was doomed to only run on tablets, you’ll be seeing ICS on all manner of devices on the near future.
In the not-so-distant past developers could relegate the new features and design principles to future “tablet” development, as the Honeycomb OS was strictly for tablets. However, ICS brings Android back to a single “latest version”, Continue reading
The Nook Store for Android Apps is a very promising app market. Surprisingly, though, it isn’t very well known among Android developers.
UPDATE The Nook store closed to 3rd party developers in April 2016
Welcome back for the second part of the review of the Nook Store for Android apps. Be sure to check out the Nook Store Review Part One.
This article is part of a series of reviews of Android app stores, so be sure to check out some of the other articles.
Also, some of information is for the Nook Color and Nook Tablet – I had to make a few changes to support the new Nook HD and Nook HD+ devices.
While ‘metadata’ is certainly the correct term for this information, you may not have seen it used in other app stores. The metadata for your app is all of the information that the app market needs to know to sell your app. Everything (text, images, etc.) about your app that isn’t in the .apk is metadata.
So, what data is needed in the Nook Store? Continue reading
When I finally reviewed the Nook Store for my Android apps, I was greatly surprised. The Nook universe is an island unto itself, so I wasn’t sure there would be a lot of value in porting my Android apps. Just a few days after my first app going live, I changed my mind.
Update April 2016 – The Nook Store has closed access for developers, and all 3rd party apps have been removed. Sad to see them go, although maybe my slump in sales after the first year or two wasn’t unique to me.
The popular Nook Color and Nook Tablet devices (and now Nook HD and HD+ tablets) are in the hands of millions. Barnes and Noble is embracing the digital age, and so are their customers. This is one Android tablet that you want your apps to be available for.
These consumers are interested in buying apps and books too – but not from the Android Market. Or from the Amazon Appstore or any other app market out there. They get all of their apps and books from the Nook Store. Continue reading