[Q] Application advice - General Questions and Answers

Hi all,
My name is shai and I'm new to java and android, this is my first application, most of my experience is in c, c++ , vb, pascal.
My question is, is it common to publish the application before it was debugged?
Just to tell about the features and to read your comments,
tnx
shai

A lot of guys release apps for beta testing on here, to benefit from bug reporting and such like.

I think this is the thing all developers do on this forum...
I can only speak for custom ROMs. They get better after sharing and testing.
Must be the same for your apps.
Please share and I'm sure a lot of people would be glad to test them.

Hi, I'm a new developer to android also. I do most of my debugging before publishing in the market. For beta testing I usually ask in forums and then send a limited version of the app via email. If you are looking for a beta tester I have an HTC Flyer with Honeycomb if you need help. I'm always willing to help out a new person. Just email me at [email protected]

Based on how people review on the Google Market, your best bet is to have a stable version before release on the market.
Also a good description of its features and screenshots make all the difference.

First, it was nice to read your post s, now I know that I have someone to get advice from.
At the beginning my partner idea was just to develop an application to transfer the phone microphone audio to the Bluetooth head set. I took his idea and expend it to more features like:
a. Transmitting audio from the mic to the head set
b. Recording to an audio file
c. Hiding the app window (so no one knows u r spying on them)
d. Transmitting audio from the headset to the phone so the users can have conversation
e. Blocking incoming calls
The app is 80% finished all I miss is
Retrying Bluetooth connection after incoming call (Have no idea how to implement this feature…..if someone have one…..pleaseeeee tell me) and of course debugging ,which haven’t done so far because I don’t know which phone to buy 
Thanks for all your help
shai

Related

[PROJ] Morphing Voice during phone call

Development thread for a software method to morph your voice during a phone call
The idea is to develop a software method which let's you morph your voice during a phone call. There are many ways to achieve this and I am amenable to suggestions.
Since I was not able to find any API which let's you configure the voice or the stream from the microphone or something similar I came up with the idea to write a driver for the microphone, which would give me the ability to change my voice directly within it, but after some research it was clear to me that it can't be that easy.
Updates:
05.05.2010 - Microphone driver solution died. Researching for a new way...
Windows Mobile doesn't seem to have any influence on the microphone during a phone call. Deeper research about the hardware of the phone is necessary (processors, DSP/MDSP,....).
HELP IS APPRECIATED AND ANY SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME
I will update this thread as some news appear.
Please write your suggestions and your ideas directly as post in this thread.
Good idea !
good luck , i'll watch this thread
You'll get a better response in this forum...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=523
You've posted in a HD2 specific forum, but that one is specific to Windows Mobile software development.
Device specific
The reason why I posted it here is that I am going to develop the driver on this device (HD2 Leo) and because the only solution so far i figured out is developing a driver, which is device specific.
good idea, i have been after an app similar to the "i am t-pain" (autotune)app from iphone
please can you use autotune?
God speed to you good sir!
pferdismus said:
The reason why I posted it here is that I am going to develop the driver on this device (HD2 Leo) and because the only solution so far i figured out is developing a driver, which is device specific.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair enough, but surely it wouldn't be a device specific driver to do this? Never mind.
This will be great for extortions. The question is whether we can find a way to disgiuse the phone's ID and location (which can be found using cellular triangulation) otherwise we have achieved nothing here.
lol this would be a fun one... hopefully you can work some magic and create a special treat for us hd2 users
Amirul0608 said:
good idea, i have been after an app similar to the "i am t-pain" (autotune)app from iphone
please can you use autotune?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Autotune is an app for iphone, which obviously can't help us here.
In addition autotune doesn't morph your voice during a phone call.
The main problem here is not the morphing itself (such apps already exist for WinMo), but the fact that it needs to be done while you make an active call.
pferdismus said:
Autotune is an app for iphone, which obviously can't help us here.
In addition autotune doesn't morph your voice during a phone call.
The main problem here is not the morphing itself (such apps already exist for WinMo), but the fact that it needs to be done while you make an active call.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Live morphing during a active phone call would be nice..
There is a software name Voice Twister for Windows mobile which can do live morphing but not during active phone calls..
Noam23 said:
This will be great for extortions. The question is whether we can find a way to disgiuse the phone's ID and location (which can be found using cellular triangulation) otherwise we have achieved nothing here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We have a serious man here.

[ROM] Looking for testers.

Looking for possible ROM testers.
I'm currently learning about the all of the potential that the android operating system has and would like to get feedback and reports from other users. I'm looking for one or two testers (if i get quite a few PM's, i will definitely consider changing this, but I want to stick with a captive audience at least in the beginng). The knowledge level can vary, as I'm looking for feedback and checking to see what works/doesn't work. I only have a few specific criteria that I'm looking for in testers which I will note at the bottom.
A little something about my expectations...
I will in no way ever refer to myself as a developer. I'm merely a person that can follow directions, ask the right questions to the right person, and learn along the way. I'm not starting this to make money, to show off any sort of skills that i may posess. I would just like to make this a hobby as other "developers" and users like myself have done. I cannot promise a fast ROM. I cannot promise that it will look the best (at least in the beginning). I can promise I will take in all feedback and suggestions and have some consideration towards them. My biggest reason for testing is to find all the nooks and crannies and make sure they're clean. I do not have 4G here in arizona, so i have no clue if it works or not (It's based off stock so I don't see any reason it shouldn't). Etc etc..
Tester Criteria
I would like at least one user that has not formatted their SD card with ext2/ext3 file system for apps2sd. I will provide help with this if/when needed and I would like to give instructions to verify that it is working.
Someone who has 4G in there area, that also uses social networking.
Some sort of Instant Messanging application, you name it and I'll download it and make a username. It makes it so much easier to talk and get feedback when a conversation can be held. A definite plus is someone that has a headset and knows how to use programs such as Ventrilo or Teamspeak (think xbox live for Windows).
Patience with myself.
PM me and I will get back with you as soon as i can.
I'll help no apps2sd and I have 4g I'm not a dev dev but know a lot of android stuff b

[Q] Noob needs help to create event calendar app

Hi all,
I'm a noob app developer trying to do it for the first time. I'm trying to create an event calendar app for company's internal purposes. So that everyone in the company (which uses a lot of android phones) can be updated on company events that are coming up.
My approach is to create a database with MySQL for events input, and to use PHP to connect the database which is in a server and to push it to the android devices that are used in the office as that's how I found it in a tutorial from HelloAndroid.
My questions are:
1. is this the best approach to create such app?
2. Can I use Android's default calendar to input these events? if not is there some kind of calendar template that I can use to display the information to the users.
Probably will have more questions as I progress, but please help if anyone is more experienced in these matters than I am.
Thank you very much, and really appreciate the inputs that I'm gonna get
A simple solution would be to use Google Calendar.
By using GC you can add/edit events either from a PC (work or home) or your Mobile anywhere in the World.
All that is required is for someone to first set up the calendar on Google and push it out to all those who you want to see it.
This way you are not isolating anyone who does not have an Android Phone.
that's a really good point. Especially in a closed environment like an office. I didn't think of that before. THank you very much.
However, if let's say I want to try to build an app for that for public use, not just confined to limited numbers of people in a company.
Would that be the best approach or if there's any better way to approach it. I may decide to build the app after all just to learn and gain experience in app development.
thanks again for the feedback, really appreciate it.
I can't really give you advice on developing an App sorry.
All I can say is the method I mention is the one which I use to keep all my Operational Team (Surgeons/Doctors/Nurses/Admin/etc) updated and advised.
There's nothing short in you developing your own Calendar App but you would have to ensure it would be available to all and that includes anyone anywhere regardless of the fact they are at work, home, holiday, with Android or not, have a Phone, PC, Mac, etc... etc...
For that there's already a stable tool by the name of Google Calendar.
If you do develop one I'd still be interested in seeing what ideas you could bring into practice that would have a benefit over GC.
I understand your point of view, and actually you got me thinking, maybe if I really want to do the apps, I can create an app that calls the Gcalendar events, and display it from the app. I can find out the API to do that, and that would be much simpler.
Thank you again for your input, really appreciate i
racdyn said:
I understand your point of view, and actually you got me thinking, maybe if I really want to do the apps, I can create an app that calls the Gcalendar events, and display it from the app. I can find out the API to do that, and that would be much simpler.
Thank you again for your input, really appreciate i
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem.... I wish you well on your venture.
Do please let us all know how you get on.. You never know, if it becomes that good I may even use it myself over the stock calendar App or any of the other's that already link to GC.

USB DAC support - Bring it up to a Google Engineer directly (Help needed to vote up!)

Hi everyone,
As many of you would have known, despite USB Host functionality being present in ICS, USB DACs have yet to be supported on our devices. This issue has also been starred by more than a thousand people on Google's site but still has not been noticed. (Link here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=24614&sort=-stars&colspec=ID%20Type%20Status%20Owner%20Summary%20Stars)
Quoting a fellow XDA member: If Google did their work then we could use relatively cheap USB DACs with our Android phones and enjoy great music sound quality, no matter which cheap DAC/DSP the manufacturer has seen fit to include. Now with ICS this is a simple software fix, which makes it all the more irritating (someone has managed to add support for these in a Nook Colour kernel that works with CM9).
Right now, we can bring it up to a real Google Engineer while they visit my school (I have no idea how my school manages to be on such good terms with Google). All you need to do is help to vote this issue up so it gets the first pirioty to be asked. Perhaps then, we will get a chance to put the spotlight on our issue.
Vote the issue up here: http://www.google.com/moderator/#15/e=1fc068&t=1fc068.40&f=1fc068.665f43&q=1fc068.665f43
Please vote this up and share this out to your social networks. Lets make Android a even better operating system for all!
Quick update: Since this was posted it has risen in priority!
Please continue to give your support so our issue will be answered! (And remember to tell your friends to help too!)
Bumping this thread up!
Please continue to give your support on this issue! (And of course, remember to tell your friends to help too!)
Can I give it more than one vote? haha ):
It would be nice to have DAC/AMP support on Android by default.
Hi buddy,
thank you for the information and discussion! I'm more of a business head than engineering but I am a lossless guy who loves his media players. Can you tell us more about what kind of things would be possible if Google enables this support?

Tips about a good customer support

No matter if the app is free or paid, as a developer you want to offer a good support to the end users. Why? Because as long as they are happy they will continue to use your app and they will recommend it to others. So it is in your best interest to do your best and resolve issues that customers are reporting, implement requested features and solve as many bugs as possible.
To that end, you must ensure you provide easy to access means of communication between you as a developer and the end users. There are many ways you can achieve that and I will list a few I am using and the more you can provide the better so we can put together a list:
Create an email address or use one you already have (I prefer the former) and provide links on Google Play and inside the app. It is nice if you add an accessible menu item that says (Suggestions/Bug report/Support/Etc) that will start an intent chooser for sending emails to this email address
Use forums (XDA ) and post your app and frequently visit and answer suggestions/questions. There are a lot of helpful users there that will test the app and discover bugs, suggest new features and it is very good if you can keep the thread hot so you keep the interest up. Users like feedback and makes them feel important (which they are) so try to answer as many posts as possible even though you don't have a solution to the problem yet
Get social! Social networking is very helpful these days both for spreading the word about your app but also for customer support. Create profiles for the app on all major social networks (Facebook, Google +, Twitter, etc) and try to get as many users as possible. Post as many updates as possible and keep the users informed about changes to the app, answer to their comments and implement suggestions
Prioritization - build yourself a TODO list with priorities: for each update try to solve major bugs first that are heavily reported or that are causing big problems. Always find some room for improvements and user suggestions. Then fix small bugs and try to improve UI.
Localization is an important part of today's apps. Try to support as many languages as possible making easy for the users to understand the app and to better communicate their findings
Use the publish console to check for crash reports. Many users use this feature and send crash reports along with the stack trace and it is very helpful to keep track of major crashes and identify the root cause
Please reply with more tips so we can create a big list for everyone
Email is the number 1 way people ( from my experience ) contact the developer to ask questions, recommendations, etc. What I did in addition to all the things in the op was create a cheap 5 page website with Godaddy website tonight its like $100 bucks a year or something. They also auto optimize your site for mobile viewing!Then made a contact us page, were users can choose a reason for contacting us. This works really well and you can set up an auto responder to send them a message letting them know you got the email.
I always try to answer emails immediately (during business hours) but always within 24 hours. Having a great customer service program even if your a solo dev like I am will translate into 5 star ratings based solely on customer service!
Have a lax customer service program and you will see the negative 1 or 2 star ratings pop up again based solely on customer service. It shouldn't take anyone more than say 48 hours to re connect with someone and at least start the process of answering their concern.
You can see the contact us page here
Good policy will turn into good reviews and good downloads!
:good:
I've put a feedback page in all my apps.
You don't even need to create a new email address. Just use your personal email address and create an alias. That way it looks formal on the outside but messages go to same inbox as your personal one, only have to check one inbox everyday.
HMMMMMM!
FIRST OF ALLL EMAIL AND AFTER THAT XDA POSTS.........:victory:
email or the message box is very important. But it's also important to reply to their questions promptly.
Free Customer Service SDK
Replying promptly to customers is essentially the first step towards good customer service. If you are an iOS app developer, looking to impress your customers with excellent customer support, try out Freshdesk's Mobihelp SDK ( [freshdesk.com/mobihelp) you can snap-in to your app and start communicating with your customers from right within your app. I'm sure it will be of great help in your customer service efforts!
Thanks for the tips! Just a question: I have got one Crash report in google play console very early, but since then nothing. I have put email in the game and on the play store. But nobody used it. I do not have many installs, but I wonder what is the usual percentage of people who actually report bugs?
kulisgames said:
Thanks for the tips! Just a question: I have got one Crash report in google play console very early, but since then nothing. I have put email in the game and on the play store. But nobody used it. I do not have many installs, but I wonder what is the usual percentage of people who actually report bugs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my experience, if the app is something people desperately need (e.g. utility) or want (e.g. game) but it isn't working quite as they expected, they will be vocal. Not hearing anything from users is usually a warning sign that nobody was too excited about the app in the first place, or that not that many people downloaded the app in the first place.
If I see a crash on Google Play I assume that the same crash occured for 10 others who didn't bother reporting it. So I try to fix it ASAP.
You could use Google Analytics to report crashes without user prompt.
Regardless of the above, it sounds like you have a general marketing challange which is much more critical than that crash report, so you should investigate marketing and promotions in general.
kulisgames said:
Thanks for the tips! Just a question: I have got one Crash report in google play console very early, but since then nothing. I have put email in the game and on the play store. But nobody used it. I do not have many installs, but I wonder what is the usual percentage of people who actually report bugs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bad reviews on google play
slackydroid said:
No matter if the app is free or paid, as a developer you want to offer a good support to the end users. Why? Because as long as they are happy they will continue to use your app and they will recommend it to others. So it is in your best interest to do your best and resolve issues that customers are reporting, implement requested features and solve as many bugs as possible.
To that end, you must ensure you provide easy to access means of communication between you as a developer and the end users. There are many ways you can achieve that and I will list a few I am using and the more you can provide the better so we can put together a list:
Create an email address or use one you already have (I prefer the former) and provide links on Google Play and inside the app. It is nice if you add an accessible menu item that says (Suggestions/Bug report/Support/Etc) that will start an intent chooser for sending emails to this email address
Use forums (XDA ) and post your app and frequently visit and answer suggestions/questions. There are a lot of helpful users there that will test the app and discover bugs, suggest new features and it is very good if you can keep the thread hot so you keep the interest up. Users like feedback and makes them feel important (which they are) so try to answer as many posts as possible even though you don't have a solution to the problem yet
Get social! Social networking is very helpful these days both for spreading the word about your app but also for customer support. Create profiles for the app on all major social networks (Facebook, Google +, Twitter, etc) and try to get as many users as possible. Post as many updates as possible and keep the users informed about changes to the app, answer to their comments and implement suggestions
Prioritization - build yourself a TODO list with priorities: for each update try to solve major bugs first that are heavily reported or that are causing big problems. Always find some room for improvements and user suggestions. Then fix small bugs and try to improve UI.
Localization is an important part of today's apps. Try to support as many languages as possible making easy for the users to understand the app and to better communicate their findings
Use the publish console to check for crash reports. Many users use this feature and send crash reports along with the stack trace and it is very helpful to keep track of major crashes and identify the root cause
Please reply with more tips so we can create a big list for everyone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
how can we deal with bad reviews on google play, reviews that comes from pepole that didn't understand the meaning of the app?
Thanks.
If you're looking for app support best practices, contact a big startup like Buffer or Squarespace and see how they respond to your question. Notice the friendly tone of voice, the detailed answers they try to give you, and the call for action at the end of every support ticket - whether it's to try and recreate the event that caused the bug or read a FAQ section. Do that a dozen times and you'll learn more about 'proper' support than any how-to article can teach you.
dimnikolov said:
If you're looking for app support best practices, contact a big startup like Buffer or Squarespace and see how they respond to your question. Notice the friendly tone of voice, the detailed answers they try to give you, and the call for action at the end of every support ticket - whether it's to try and recreate the event that caused the bug or read a FAQ section. Do that a dozen times and you'll learn more about 'proper' support than any how-to article can teach you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep makes sense in my experience - personalise as much as possible and reflect the tone of voice of your app. Users will really appreciate it. Stay social.
Why not have some kind of in-app help?
Having a suggestions/feedback menu item seems to be the common thread here to provide good customer support.
But wondering - why not some kind of in app help itself? Sort of a Whatsapp inside the app? I feel email being a separate channel breaks the context - help within the app itself and in context would be so much easier for the end user.
Thoughts?
I know it is an old thread but there are SDKs that help you integrate a support chat right within the app. I have seen zomato use one of these.
Thank you for a list!

Categories

Resources