Database Info

New Market in Android?

Hey everyone,
Have you been annoyed lately with the maket? Like how alot of times when downloading apps just hangs? Or like how it takes down apps that are "against" carriers TOC? And takes 30% of the profits from devs for paid apps?
Well we just had this random idea yesterday and it was to make a new market...
This market will be for the community by the community.
Such as the ability to blacklist apps/devs..
And advanced searching...
etc...
Its called AppWire http://appwire.org (as you see the sites not made yet ;D )
We just had this idea yesterday so its still in its infant stage, so we still need all app dev's and web dev's we can get!
If you can't help with developement then feel free to post feature requests!
If you want help with development email me at aakashbpatel [at] gmail.com or look for us in the #appwire channel on freenode.
Thanks Everyone!

I think there's already something similar to this. Forgot its name though. But I do agree Google's policy of removing apps that violate *one* carrier's TOS is ridiculous.

So, lemme get this right - you complain that apps are being removed because they are against the carrier TOC, but one of the features you want to build into your market is the ability to blacklist apps/devs?
Sorry, but the Android market really isn't THAT bad. Sure, annoying at times, but 99% of the time it works, plus I don't think 30% is that excessive at all.

ScottC said:
So, lemme get this right - you complain that apps are being removed because they are against the carrier TOC, but one of the features you want to build into your market is the ability to blacklist apps/devs?
Sorry, but the Android market really isn't THAT bad. Sure, annoying at times, but 99% of the time it works, plus I don't think 30% is that excessive at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blacklist apps ONLY if people vote to take it off...
Thanks
Aakash

How many Markets do we really need? We already have the official Market, AndAppStore, SlideME, and several other places to purchase apps. The more Markets there are, the more difficult it is to distribute apps. And users simply need to go more places to find the same stuff. Maybe if we make a real effort with Google to get changes implemented everyone will be better off. Just my opinion.

nEx.Software said:
How many Markets do we really need? We already have the official Market, AndAppStore, SlideME, and several other places to purchase apps. The more Markets there are, the more difficult it is to distribute apps. And users simply need to go more places to find the same stuff. Maybe if we make a real effort with Google to get changes implemented everyone will be better off. Just my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you also, and I was looking at slidme's TOC's and it pretty muc said that they own your app if you publish it....and I didn't think it was right that they have the ability to do that.
So I wanted to make a market that everyones opinion matters and one that respects the app developers also.

ScottC said:
So, lemme get this right - you complain that apps are being removed because they are against the carrier TOC, but one of the features you want to build into your market is the ability to blacklist apps/devs?
Sorry, but the Android market really isn't THAT bad. Sure, annoying at times, but 99% of the time it works, plus I don't think 30% is that excessive at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the blacklist would be custom to each person not market wide, like if I didnt want to see apps by "DEV A" ONLY I wouldn't see apps by DEV A, alls "99%" of the time, i think thats pushing it i must not use market often or maybe you are on the lucky side.

Its not that bad of an idea, if anyone has experience with ipod touch or iphone, it could be set up something like cydia. A user customizable market in which apps that the normal market wont allow are easier available and such. Though, the blacklist should be just like on a personal basis or not there at all as it would defeat the purpose of the whole thing for more freedom. I think thats kinda what he was suggesting, if so not to bad.

Great idea, totally support!
More options is better. And right now I don't know any "markets" where I can easily download wifi-tether for example. Plus the original market luck of web-interface and (really) many other features. So, for me an alternative market seems like a good idea. It just doesn't look for me like an easy project

there is another one but that one sucks!
this seems like a cool idea for hardcore root access apps and apps that people dont want googles paws on in general

ScottC said:
So, lemme get this right - you complain that apps are being removed because they are against the carrier TOC, but one of the features you want to build into your market is the ability to blacklist apps/devs?
Sorry, but the Android market really isn't THAT bad. Sure, annoying at times, but 99% of the time it works, plus I don't think 30% is that excessive at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im kinda on the fence on the "blacklist" issue. On one hand, it is the right of the developer to develop applications for this platform, and to release his/her work on the market to be used/previewed/rated/commented/purchased by other users. It is also their right to be paid for their efforts. On the other hand, I certainly agree that assaulting the market with 10 different $5 slideshows a day, is verging on MALICIOUS. Seriously, ive never even DOWNLOADED anything put out by Khalid Shaik, yet im sure that none of these slideshows take more than 15 or 20 minutes to produce, i bet not even that long. And $4.99?!?!?!?!?!?!?! SINCE WHEN is a slideshow about Swine Flu worth $5 bucks?! This guy just wants to take advantage of people who havent caught onto him yet. His apps arent worth FREE, much less actual money...you couldnt pay me enough to download anything from him. It IS NOT the right of ANY developer to flood the market with apps of this nature. If you wanna make a slideshow and put it out on the market thats fine...if you worked harder on it than most, then charge a dollar for it...thats fine, too... But dont put out the same damn app 16 times, only with the sounds and images changed, and expect that you have the right to charge $5 bucks apiece again and again and again for the same lame crap.

i like this idea, possible features:
o a root/dev component where devs can post beta releases of apps for root phones to be tested and used by advanced g1 users without it being buried, which tends to happen in the android market.
o a tagging feature for apps in addition to categories for easier searching.
o maybe in addition to apps, this can be a place to download roms and stuff.
o a separate widget category or maybe have a section for categorized apps and a section for categorized widgets.
as far as actual implementation you can do it a couple of ways:
1)an actual market app, like the android market
2)maybe easier to pull off initially, a well organized, mobile ready website
3)i personally think a widget component would be cool, paired with either one of the earlier options. the widget could give people recently added apps, updates on existing apps or in preferred categories/tags, and people can use the widget to navigate to a website or a corresponding app.
i think this would be a good opportunity for a community of experienced users like xda to pool a lot of knowledge and resources together in one place.
anyways, i'm looking forward to what you guys come up with.

I have no need for a new market, per se.
what I'd love to see is the ability for anyone and everyone to host their own apk repository and a more robust package management system on the device
apt, yum, emerge, port, w/e
anyone working on something like that? can I help?

i like the idea there are a few devs that i would like to the ability to block seeing apps from, Khalid Shaik, and RSD themes, to name two. both "Developers" are just using the market as a money making scheme, and it's rdiculous to put out ten apps a day to try and milk money from unsespecting souls. i spoke to RSD personally about slowing down his output of "apps"(mostly ahome and openhome themes) and he said that he would do no such thing because he makes $1500 a month. he then offered to make me a theme and i was downright insulted. i like the idea the android market has of being able to email the devs whenever we look at the app, it makes asking question a whole lot easier.
and possibly a way to mark certain apps as spam if the dev is posting ten soundboard/fart apps a day and with enough users posting the dev/apps as spam the dev can recieve one warning to slow down on releasing his/her apps or be taken off the market

bmfc187 said:
Im kinda on the fence on the "blacklist" issue. On one hand, it is the right of the developer to develop applications for this platform, and to release his/her work on the market to be used/previewed/rated/commented/purchased by other users. It is also their right to be paid for their efforts. On the other hand, I certainly agree that assaulting the market with 10 different $5 slideshows a day, is verging on MALICIOUS. Seriously, ive never even DOWNLOADED anything put out by Khalid Shaik, yet im sure that none of these slideshows take more than 15 or 20 minutes to produce, i bet not even that long. And $4.99?!?!?!?!?!?!?! SINCE WHEN is a slideshow about Swine Flu worth $5 bucks?! This guy just wants to take advantage of people who havent caught onto him yet. His apps arent worth FREE, much less actual money...you couldnt pay me enough to download anything from him. It IS NOT the right of ANY developer to flood the market with apps of this nature. If you wanna make a slideshow and put it out on the market thats fine...if you worked harder on it than most, then charge a dollar for it...thats fine, too... But dont put out the same damn app 16 times, only with the sounds and images changed, and expect that you have the right to charge $5 bucks apiece again and again and again for the same lame crap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TruLuvNvrDies said:
i like this idea, possible features:
o a root/dev component where devs can post beta releases of apps for root phones to be tested and used by advanced g1 users without it being buried, which tends to happen in the android market.
o a tagging feature for apps in addition to categories for easier searching.
o maybe in addition to apps, this can be a place to download roms and stuff.
o a separate widget category or maybe have a section for categorized apps and a section for categorized widgets.
as far as actual implementation you can do it a couple of ways:
1)an actual market app, like the android market
2)maybe easier to pull off initially, a well organized, mobile ready website
3)i personally think a widget component would be cool, paired with either one of the earlier options. the widget could give people recently added apps, updates on existing apps or in preferred categories/tags, and people can use the widget to navigate to a website or a corresponding app.
i think this would be a good opportunity for a community of experienced users like xda to pool a lot of knowledge and resources together in one place.
anyways, i'm looking forward to what you guys come up with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tubaking182 said:
i like the idea there are a few devs that i would like to the ability to block seeing apps from, Khalid Shaik, and RSD themes, to name two. both "Developers" are just using the market as a money making scheme, and it's rdiculous to put out ten apps a day to try and milk money from unsespecting souls. i spoke to RSD personally about slowing down his output of "apps"(mostly ahome and openhome themes) and he said that he would do no such thing because he makes $1500 a month. he then offered to make me a theme and i was downright insulted. i like the idea the android market has of being able to email the devs whenever we look at the app, it makes asking question a whole lot easier.
and possibly a way to mark certain apps as spam if the dev is posting ten soundboard/fart apps a day and with enough users posting the dev/apps as spam the dev can recieve one warning to slow down on releasing his/her apps or be taken off the market
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree with you guys.

i like the idea there are a few devs that i would like to the ability to block seeing apps from, Khalid Shaik, and RSD themes, to name two. both "Developers" are just using the market as a money making scheme, and it's rdiculous to put out ten apps a day to try and milk money from unsespecting souls. i spoke to RSD personally about slowing down his output of "apps"(mostly ahome and openhome themes) and he said that he would do no such thing because he makes $1500 a month. he then offered to make me a theme and i was downright insulted. i like the idea the android market has of being able to email the devs whenever we look at the app, it makes asking question a whole lot easier.
and possibly a way to mark certain apps as spam if the dev is posting ten soundboard/fart apps a day and with enough users posting the dev/apps as spam the dev can recieve one warning to slow down on releasing his/her apps or be taken off the market
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1,500 bucks? I don't know why someone like these sound boards ? It's really suck. 1 buck for some sounds which I can get free from internet.

I agree. I would like to see Cydia ported to G1. I have been working on getting Apt running. The part I am not sure of is building a UI for it. This was easier on the iPhone because the apps like cydia were native and not in a vm like on Android.

Thanks for all the support guys....now all we need are some more developers...anyone wanna help us?

possibly available as web developer
I'm not sure where you need more help, phone vs. web development. I may be able to help out in either case though. you can contact me at [my.xda-devs.username]@gmail.com on google talk or by email.
As far as features/requests:
This should be 100% for non paid applications, IMO. I agree with other posters that it only hurts application distribution by adding a new paid app store. Especially because I think t-mobile's 30% is quite reasonable as a distribution cost.
Instead, this app should focus on delivering the type of software that people develop here on xda-devs.
I don't think you need to black list any developers. By only offering free applications through this market, you automatically get rid of most of that spam, and instead promote more sharing. Developers already have a good place to spam crappy applications for money. The purpose here should be for homebrew/expirimental applications and to promote more community hacking.
Keeping this application open source would definitely help with the "for the community by the community" mantra.
Just my two cents..
Best Regards,
Nick

I totally agree with the idea. But I think it would be difficult to implement paid apps because they are updated through the market.

[ANNOUNCEMENT] I wanna change VPlayer to a PAID app.

At first, let me thanks for your supporting to VPlayer.
I want VPlayer to be free at first, because I think the users will help me if I give out a better app. Now I wanna change my mind.
Considering the situation:
Gingerbread, Tegra 2, HTC hero, Droid X, EVO...
Hundreds of devices and feature requests are coming to me every day. And I want to accomplish these requests as soon as possible.
However, I cannot make it. 'Cause I can't afford these devices and don't have enough time to programm for a free software.
Although I've recieved many donations, but the amount can't even afford a nexus S. So many people are using VPlayer and request more features everyday. But they won't help me at all.
They didn't send me $1, They didn't send me a crash log. They just gave me 1 star, "fc on droid 2 / Nexus S", "If you support HDMI for EVO, will 5 star".
How come they want more and more but won't help any more ?
At last, I think I should make VPlayer a paid app to make it better.

Well, I don't use VPlayer but I totally agree.... If you are putting in that much effort and require funds to continue then yes a paid version would be a good step forward.
I would recommend though you try to keep some form of 'Ad-Support' version. After all, you need new numbers to test and report back.... Plus what with Google's new 15min rule a lot of users are thinking twice now before parting with their cash.
Having said that, VPlayer is easily tested within 15mins.... Providing it does not lock out/FC/Time Slip/etc at 16 mins onwards.

I'd have to agree that a lot of commenters in Market are plain brain-dead and they really discourage developers who put a lot of effort to bring quality software for free.

I will gladly pay for your app, its one of my favs!

Go ahead and make it a paid app, it deserves to be (and its your choice). Also consider an ad supported (in the settings/menu) version for us xda folks
Thanks.

I found RockPlayer to be the only player that would play an avi on my Nexus S, so I looked into buying their product. Then I realise it is done off market and tied to you IMEI number. I e-mailed asking them about this, saying I change device every 2 or 3 months and they said they would move a license twice. For this they want $10?!?!?! (On sale at $5 now I think)
I am thinking of e-mailing them back just to let them know they have put me off buying. If it was tied to the market I would probably have paid $5 already.
Anyway, to bring it back to relevance to this thread, if you charged $1 or $2 I would probably pay for it, if I knew it would play all the video types I needed.
I have to be honest though, I think your logic and reasoning is wrong though. You surely wont make enough money from this to buy every device that someone says it doesn't work on. I would prefer you were honest and just said, this app is taking a lot of time and you'd like some pay back from it. I don't think anyone would deny you that. (That sounds harsh, I don't mean to imply your not being honest now...)
Thanks.

Abitno,
Go ahead and make it a paid app. Time is money. If nobody else is providing what you have to offer I believe you should be entitled to be compensated to support development for such great work. If people don't like it, they will then have to go without an app that supports all the formats VPlayer can handle. I for sure will be willing to pay for such great work. Just make sure you strike a midpoint price. I would suggest a price range between $2.99 -$4.99.
Thanks for the great work and count on me on making a purchase although I already have the latest free version.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Be careful, I would suggest anything over $1.99 will put a lot of people off and you would end up with less...
You might find $0.99 would actually be the most profitable price point. I buy quite a few apps at that price without caring too much if they're useful or not!

Yup! I'd pay a dollar, hey if you did that you might make a killing.
I was using you app last week to watch the Cleaveland Show, really pleased so far. Personally I would prefer if it was a smaller file as have limited space on my N1.
Keep up the good work!

I've tried Vplayer on my Evo and I liked it a lot! I'd be willing to pay for it. Great software.

Agree on everything, make it a paid app!

yea, make it a paid app. But please give us a ad-version too!
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

best video app on the market i would go 3 on it no prob

ok, i hope you read this,
as you can see, i am living in egypt where not even Google Checkout is supported, i mean i can't even buy an app off the market even if i wanted to,
i developed a couple of apps, so i'll try to open some ideas for you,
Android Market have countries who can see paid apps, and most can't
making your application paid only leaves me no options to get it.
however making it ad-supported ( in a non spam-ing way ) makes it a good option,
you can also play with the filtering options as much as i can hear in the market to offer both versions in country specific way.
hope i made you see things more clear ...

mezo9090 said:
you can also play with the filtering options as much as i can hear in the market to offer both versions in country specific way.
hope i made you see things more clear ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you

mezo9090 said:
making your application paid only leaves me no options to get it.
however making it ad-supported ( in a non spam-ing way ) makes it a good option,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would suggest releasing two versions: Full/Paid, and a Free ad-supported one.
I've heard some people complaining that ads don't get you very much money, especially if no one clicks on them. I don't have firsthand experience with that, though. But even if the paid version doesn't add any extra features, label it a "donate/ad-free" version and some people would buy it just to get rid of the ads. Extra features in the full one just add more incentive, and the ad-supported one can still be used by those who can't buy it, like mezo9090.

What I suggest is that instead of making it paid, you should make it... open source. Yeah, open source. If such a great app becomes open, more developers will certainly join in (count me in once I finish that C++ course), which means more devices for testing and faster development in general. So, what do you think?

IMHO (as a non-developer) I would suggest you market it carefully. Id guess that your main competition is RockPlayer. I use both VPlayer and RockPlayer as I find some formats work better on one than the other.
I agree with a poster above that you would get a lot more response by pricing it low - I tend to be happy to throw a $ or two on a whim but anything more i tend to want to see a demo first ....

This is my favourite app - without it there would still be one area where Windows Mobile outperforms Android (well, there's RockPlayer, which was okay, but less developed, and with that annoying banner).
Add a price, and I'll pay it. My suggested price-point is £2 to £3. Congratulations on a fantastic App.
By the sounds of it, the Angry Bird developers have found it profitable to have an ad-supported version (although I know they have critical mass on their side). I's suggest a paid and an ad-free version if it's simple to put together.
All the best, very proud to have you on this board

I understand your case but if your app is to be on XDA it has to be free, or free with an optional paid version. Ads are reccomended in your case. PM me if you wish to carry on this application development, best wishes.

N64 Emulator gone from market?

It appears the n64 Emulator was pulled from the market. Anybody know why? flashed cm7 n26 last night and cant restore. market says requested item not found.

yup i flashed a new rom and tried to redownload it and couldnt find it. there goes 6 bucks.

xRepinsSporx said:
yup i flashed a new rom and tried to redownload it and couldnt find it. there goes 6 bucks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it's too bad that the Market is the only place to get apps, huh...

You can find the emulator on 4shared.com, who pays for apps anymore? Lol
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I emailed the dev and this was his response
A great number of users are complaining about the compatibility and running performance. Considering the bad ratings, I temporarily unpublished it. I am doing a rewrite of some of the core modules. Don't worry, N64oid will be back much better in 1-2 months.
Thanks for the understanding! I won't let people down

Ya people are retarded. Brand new app and they expect it to be flawless. Hate complainers. I actually did download I from a sharing site first but was impressed and decided to buy it. Plus 15 min refund window basicly makes it impossible to try it out. I never had problems with the app on my xoom of evo. I play it whenever I can at work
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App

wow dose that mean the people that bought it will receive the new version free? just sayin...

2nd that
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App

Ryjabo said:
Yeah it's too bad that the Market is the only place to get apps, huh...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you tried amazonappstore... there should be a app in the market place for that. if not try amazon.com

jonlee83 said:
have you tried amazonappstore... there should be a app in the market place for that. if not try amazon.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think he was serious but the amazon app store is nice.

I don't blame him for doing this. People were all bent out of shape that it was $6 and he didn't have every rom working flawlessly. They rate bombed his app in the market.
The truth is that even if you only had 3 games working well, that should be worth your $6.
Oh well, now because everyone cried we can sit here with the app in it's current version, and wait 2 months for him to release a finished product instead of having something useable with updates all along the way.

Unrelated, but I just got a notice from google saying that one of my apps (a space invaders emulator) has been removed due to copyright infringement, even though it includes no roms.

I wonder why people complain about it about its sluggishness.
I mean, its not the developers fault that the people don't buy high-end phones.
They expect a 3D emulator to work on a 600mhz proccessor?
I mean, too many apps on ur phone also makes it slow.
Why bother leaving a low rating when its not the developers fault. The emulator runs flawlessly on the Evo, nexus s... (1 ghz+)
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

jonlee83 said:
have you tried amazonappstore... there should be a app in the market place for that. if not try amazon.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was being sarcastic.

koshinobi said:
You can find the emulator on 4shared.com, who pays for apps anymore? Lol
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude are you seriously that cheap! Android apps are most of the time a dollar maybe two. The ones that are more are usually well worth it. Six dollars for something that lets you play N64 games anywhere you go is cheap, and you know you didn't pay for any of the 1000 games you have to play for it. Plus With the huge number of free apps, paying a dollar for the one out of every twenty apps is crazy cheap.
Sorry for the rant, but stealing a android app is like stealing from a guy with a morgage and a family vs a movie is coming out of a mega corporations pocket. Most of the Developers in the market and on here make all this awesome stuff because they like too, with the added side effect of making money. Support the developers so they will keep make cool stuff!

Drewmungus said:
Dude are you seriously that cheap! Android apps are most of the time a dollar maybe two. The ones that are more are usually well worth it. Six dollars for something that lets you play N64 games anywhere you go is cheap, and you know you didn't pay for any of the 1000 games you have to play for it. Plus With the huge number of free apps, paying a dollar for the one out of every twenty apps is crazy cheap.
Sorry for the rant, but stealing a android app is like stealing from a guy with a morgage and a family vs a movie is coming out of a mega corporations pocket. Most of the Developers in the market and on here make all this awesome stuff because they like too, with the added side effect of making money. Support the developers so they will keep make cool stuff!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't even worry about that guy. He'll probably need the Android Market Security Tool eventually with that kind of attitude.

Please don't pirate these apps...it only demoralizes the devs that work hard to make profit from it. Stolen copies = less updates.

Overstew said:
Please don't pirate these apps...it only demoralizes the devs that work hard to make profit from it. Stolen copies = less updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If they enter into the app development world, they've got to know/expect that people will pirate their apps. It's inevitable. If they get butthurt about it and stop updating their apps because of that, then they probably don't have what it takes to compete in this arena.
Having said that... I've paid for the apps that are on my phone.

[Q] Free Apps, Games, Tools etc.

Hi guys do you know any site or application(like installous in jailbroken apple devices) that offer free apps, games, tools etc once our TF is rooted. I'm not talking about Amazon App because they still offering paid items.

There are plenty of free apps, games, tools, etc on the Android Market. What's wrong with those?
And with the average cost of an Android app being somewhere in the region of £1, what's wrong with buying those that you find fun/useful ? You'd pay more for a coffee in Starbucks.

The apps in marketplace are very limited and some are offering trial version only.As I posted I'm talking about the ones that we can download totally free like Dolphin HD, Plants and zombies etc.

Nope, should have bought an Ipad. *sad face*

Basically asking how you can 'steal' apps?
While I'm not saying anything against that (piracy is something I do a lot of media wise) it's a very grey area to ask about it plus as stated above most apps are either Free, ad based or only about £1 - which is why I'm happy to pay if the app does its job.
Be noted something I only recently found out... you can get a refund on any app you don't like if you go back into the market and 'uninstall' within 15minutes.

kalel2901 said:
Hi guys do you know any site or application(like installous in jailbroken apple devices) that offer free apps, games, tools etc once our TF is rooted. I'm not talking about Amazon App because they still offering paid items.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are asking for under the table free paid software, it's warez and you must now leave. Forever.

[Poll] Ads on Apk's

Do you find adverts in applications troublesome or not? Or do you think it depends on the application, and how big, and where the advert is placed?

The ad-issue hardly depends on placing. But as an android developer myself i see ads as a good thing. This way i can provide free-users a full and unrestricted app and can still drive income.
For example check out my Darts app, do you think the ads are too obstrusive? Atleast i havent had a single user complain. Also barely anyone buys the ad-free version.
market.android.com/details?id=com.cdroid.darts

Getting a free app with an ad instead of paying is fine with me, unless it gets in the way, which it rarely does.

I don't mind ads as long as they don't get day way. Like if I was playing words wit that friends nd the he she said any. And the ad gits in they way. Like no Mr. No no no no no.
Not proud to say it but....I use ad block >_<
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

I guess if they are out of the way, then it's ok. But I would much rather pay for an app straight up and be done with it