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MOOGLY
A simple but powerful to do list widget designed to be customized. Now with auto-hiding buttons!
Features:
★ Multiple independent, scrollable widgets
★ Quick, dialog based entry
★ Tick to delete or mark complete
★ Widgets are optimized for Honeycomb
★ Predefined themes or total customization
★ RTL support
★ Custom image backgrounds
This widget was inspired by To Do List from HTC Sense - for some reason, they were the only ones to get it right.
Lite Market link - restricted to 8 entries and only one widget
https://market.android.com/details?id=fahrbot.apps.moogly.lite&feature=search_result
Screens:
Must have
- More better themes
- Notifications and alarms
- Sorting
Could use
- Image background transparency
- Save custom themes
Would be nice
- Button themes
- Fullscreen note character board
Very cool! I love you guys apps
I knew you would mate Spread the word!
Nothing at all? I was hoping for a little feedback...
Sure... app rocks, looking forward to the image backgrounds!
ftgg99 said:
Nothing at all? I was hoping for a little feedback...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just downloaded and installed the free version and it looks really nice. However, I do feel that there is room for improvement in the functionality.
1. Scrollable please! I want to use the widget in a 2x4 space, but I have lots of things I want to put on it. Making the widget scrollable will allow me to use a smaller widget size instead of putting it in the 4x4 space I use now (I gave it its own screen). Ill pay for the app if you implement this.
2. Mark as done in one click! As of now, you click once to open a menu that shows your tasks, then you click a second time to mark a task done, then you click a third time to close the menu (EDIT This is totally wrong. Its only 2 clicks, but I think the point stands) Placing a check box or some other kind of button next to each task that marks it as done would streamline this process.
3. Option to display "notes" on the widget. Again, something that would remove "clicks" from the process of seeing notes. Maybe make a global default for displaying notes in all tasks, then be able to edit each tasks individual "note display options" independently of the default. Also, if a task has "hidden notes", maybe place an asterisk at the end to denote that is has hidden notes. As for tasks that display their notes on the widget, the notes should have their own font size, style, and color options, and ideally (for me) should be indented.
These are all just suggestions. I hope some of them get you thinking of ways to improve your app. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
Great ideas... but may be difficult to implement. Lets see what ftgg says.
I say I'll look into it when I've had some sleep...
fafrehugen said:
Great ideas... but may be difficult to implement. Lets see what ftgg says.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm probably the farthest thing you can find from an Android Dev, but I am sure that all of those things are common in other apps. There just isnt one with all of those features that I can find with all of the additional features of this app.
ftgg99 said:
I say I'll look into it when I've had some sleep...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool.
The amount of r&d I do depends on the number of people that buy the app. Everyone thinks its the other way round, but for a company time is money, so I have to see an app succeed first, before committing additional resources...
So when people just use lite versions, never leave ratings or comments but still demand features many studios lose interest.
ftgg99 said:
The amount of r&d I do depends on the number of people that buy the app. Everyone thinks its the other way round, but for a company time is money, so I have to see an app succeed first, before committing additional resources...
So when people just use lite versions, never leave ratings or comments but still demand features many studios lose interest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this comment is directed towards me, I certainly wasn't demanding anything. I was just trying to help you improve your product.
If you think people will buy your app before it has the features they are looking for, you might want to reconsider. I rated your app a 3 because it doesn't have what I'm looking for. I'm not going to give you a 5, let alone spend money, on something that isn't what I want. I hope that makes some sense.
Just installed the free version. Looks good, and I will buy if I continue to use it.
EXQEX9 said:
If this comment is directed towards me, I certainly wasn't demanding anything. I was just trying to help you improve your product.
If you think people will buy your app before it has the features they are looking for, you might want to reconsider. I rated your app a 3 because it doesn't have what I'm looking for. I'm not going to give you a 5, let alone spend money, on something that isn't what I want. I hope that makes some sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How nice... however, I am a professional developer with over 20 apps. Im pretty sure i know what im doing in this business.
The 3 star rating is just a sign of ignorance, because two of the three features you want implemented are not possible under android at all. In fact, i know of only one other to do list app anywhere near as good as the current early (0.2) release of Moogly. And its still rubbish.
Giving the app a low rating despite it performing exactly as described will only lead to generally lower ratings and less time spent on development. But thats our lot - getting flamed by noobs with $500 phones who shy away from spending $1.48 on something they will use on a daily basis.
Haha, i know exactly how you feel mate - people just dont understand
You are one of the few devs that actually engages with the users, and some are always just ungrateful. I have been trying to do some modifications to it, but as you told me before its not possible!
He gave it 3 star because it didnt have what he wanted, but the app never claimed to have more than what is in the description. The only good reviews are the ones that give 5 stars and say "Works as advertised".
@ftgg99 - Just out of interest which of those suggestions are not possible in Android? Just asking as I'm still getting to grips with what you can and can't do in apps and widgets on Android. Is it possible to mark as done directly in the widget? Also, I have been using GTasks and integrating it into Pure Grid Calendar so all my stuff is in one place, however I fancied a change so am trying out beOrganized at present (but getting really pissed off having realised that the Voice entry function only works when you have wifi/data available - wtf!). Anyway, I'd like to give your app a try so will feed back. Tasks is a big thing for me on my phone and something I use equally as much as my calendar, and having tried most things out there I have to agree that none of them are a perfect solution. So good luck with your app, if I like the lite version I will happily pay your humble price
BTW, would you consider adding in alarm/notification reminder for tasks like in GTasks - find that very handy...
Dunc001 said:
@ftgg99 - Just out of interest which of those suggestions are not possible in Android? Just asking as I'm still getting to grips with what you can and can't do in apps and widgets on Android. Is it possible to mark as done directly in the widget? Also, I have been using GTasks and integrating it into Pure Grid Calendar so all my stuff is in one place, however I fancied a change so am trying out beOrganized at present (but getting really pissed off having realised that the Voice entry function only works when you have wifi/data available - wtf!). Anyway, I'd like to give your app a try so will feed back. Tasks is a big thing for me on my phone and something I use equally as much as my calendar, and having tried most things out there I have to agree that none of them are a perfect solution. So good luck with your app, if I like the lite version I will happily pay your humble price
BTW, would you consider adding in alarm/notification reminder for tasks like in GTasks - find that very handy...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding the not possible thing - i was pretty red-eye after coding all night and after a second thought i must admit that i was wrong. All of them are possible. Im a noob.
Originally i just made this for myself after finding nothing adequate on the market, and i never use any other features - why bother with notifications for example when the widget is one one of only three screens i stare at all day anyway?
Now of course ill have to take people's suggestions into account so the minimalism i enjoy will have to take a backseat
The alarm, notification thing is on the todo list already. Will be implemented next week for sure.
You see, that's what happens. You make something perfect and everyone wants to change it
If you need a crash dummy just PM me, I don't break easily
ftgg99 said:
How nice... however, I am a professional developer with over 20 apps. Im pretty sure i know what im doing in this business.
The 3 star rating is just a sign of ignorance, because two of the three features you want implemented are not possible under android at all. In fact, i know of only one other to do list app anywhere near as good as the current early (0.2) release of Moogly. And its still rubbish.
Giving the app a low rating despite it performing exactly as described will only lead to generally lower ratings and less time spent on development. But thats our lot - getting flamed by noobs with $500 phones who shy away from spending $1.48 on something they will use on a daily basis.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off I want to say that the only reason I'm still in this thread is because I think there has been some kind of misunderstanding. I'm not one to argue online, but on the other hand, I don't like people thinking I'm flaming them when I'm trying to praise them.
I respect you're time spent as a dev, but I've been a consumer for longer than you've been a dev and I know that I will not buy a product based on future potential. Yes, even if it's $1.48. As a dev, you should know how those small sums can add up to be quite a bit over time.
Your app is the closest thing I have found to date to what I'm looking for in a todo widget. That having been said, I can't use it because it is missing some, of what are to me, key features. That having been said, I can't rate this app perfectly. The rating system, to me, does not reflect how well an app does what it advertises, but how useful/fun the app is overall and compared to other apps.
In my comment (EDIT: the one i made in the market), I did say that the app had serious potential. That's the highest praise I can give at the moment, but I think it's great praise.
I would appreciate you retracting the ignorant/noob comment, as you realized that the features are implementable.
Thank you if you've read this and thought about it objectively. Good luck with the app. I hope it's a success.
Great app, it would be perfect with Google Tasks sync
Guys,
I'm looking for a good 'Word' game for the TF.
Not one like Scrabble or where you have to re-arrange a group of letters to form as many words as you can.
No, what I'm trying to find is one where you are first presented with a collection of letters in a large block and you then have to tap on each letter to form a word. You are then given a score for either the length of the word or the type of letters used.
As you tap away and a word is formed, the remaining letters above drop down the screen to replace the ones you have used and are then replaced with new ones from the top... if you get my drift.
I don't like timer's as I like to take my time, pause if I want or come back to a previously saved game.
It's a bit of an ask but can anyone recommend such a game?
You're describing the Dropwords game almost exactly (it does have a timer).
There are free and paid versions on the Android market:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.eekgames.worddrop&hl=en
Regards,
Eric
Perfect Eric... Nice one.
When you said it had a timer I very nearly gave up on it as I don't like timers, I like to take my time and save so I can come back later.
However, because you took the effort to post I should take the effort in trying it out.
I'm very pleased I did because on loading I immediately noticed you can select a variety of speeds for the timer..... including a 'non-timer'.
Also, you can save the game and return later.
Perfect Eric..... perfect.
Good suggestion....it's a lot of fun...but it's not optimized for tablets...it would be even better then.
@Beards,
You're welcome. It's one of my favorites.
You actually helped me out - I never bothered to check out the timer options.
Thanks!
@rpavich,
It may not be optimized for tablets, but it works great full-screen on my Transformer.
Some time ago, I was also looking for a similar game (on a different OS). So much so that I made my own, which seems to fit your criteria. The name is Wordsler and is available in the Android Market (I don't have 8 posts here, and apparently not allowed to place a direct link yet).
It's got a non-timer mode, a 2 minute timer mode, and an online mode (where everyone gets the same sets of letters within a 24 hour period).
This is just a spare-time hobby, and I'm not great with graphics, so it's nothing fancy or shiny, but I think the gameplay works quite well.
Silkswift said:
Some time ago, I was also looking for a similar game (on a different OS). So much so that I made my own, which seems to fit your criteria. The name is Wordsler and is available in the Android Market (I don't have 8 posts here, and apparently not allowed to place a direct link yet).
It's got a non-timer mode, a 2 minute timer mode, and an online mode (where everyone gets the same sets of letters within a 24 hour period).
This is just a spare-time hobby, and I'm not great with graphics, so it's nothing fancy or shiny, but I think the gameplay works quite well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For anyone else, here's a direct link to the game Silkswift mentions.
I had a quick look at the two pictures shown of the game on The Market. It wasn't much to go on but I downloaded and installed.
Unfortunately as soon as I went to run Wordsler it then asked me to download two sets of libraries.
Nothing is mentioned on either The Market or your developers Web Site of these libraries being required so to anyone not knowing what these are or what they do, I think most people will then do as I did which was to close the App down and uninstall.
If Wordsler is going to need additional files to run you do need to let the downloader know in advance and explain why they are needed and what happens when they are run.
HI Beards,thanks for checking it out. My apologies for not mentioning the additional libraries here. The description in the market does mention them at the beginning (with a few stars for emphasis), but it probably could use a better explanation. The extra libraries are part of the android-qt project (port of Qt apps to android).
Silkswift said:
HI Beards,thanks for checking it out. My apologies for not mentioning the additional libraries here. The description in the market does mention them at the beginning (with a few stars for emphasis), but it probably could use a better explanation. The extra libraries are part of the android-qt project (port of Qt apps to android).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, going back to The Market I see you have now added the information on the libraries required. You also now mention it may be better to install over Wifi.
This is a good call and another reason why you needed to mention the additional libraries in The Market link.
It would also be good if you stated the actual size of the additional download. That way the installer knows full well what to expect, which in turn makes for a happier user of the software.
Although I don't think it is what I am looking for (I prefer a much larger rectangular block of letters with actions similar to that of Dropwords).
However, I'll give it a try for you. Will report back later... have a very busy day ahead.
Silkswift said:
HI Beards,thanks for checking it out. My apologies for not mentioning the additional libraries here. The description in the market does mention them at the beginning (with a few stars for emphasis), but it probably could use a better explanation. The extra libraries are part of the android-qt project (port of Qt apps to android).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good game dude, i'll rate it on my computer since we can yet on market. Like said previous, you have a lot of extra sceen, so bigger blocks would be great. It would also be nice to have "Validate" button up with the words, and maybe a "Clear all" for quickly deselecting all, but that doesn't really matter. Thanks for the free DL!
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium
Hi guys,
Just released my app called The Typist: Quick Typing Tests! It's fairly straightforward, it measures how fast you can type on a phone or tablet and can chart your typing speed results over time. Also supports Google Play leaderboards. I couldn't find a good typing test app so I ended up just making my own.
Features:
Test your typing speed with different speed tests based on popular books
1, 2, and 3 minute tests for the ultimate in typing test flexibility
Detailed results page: see your words per minute score, total number of errors, and most frequently mistyped letters
Track your progress with a chart of your past typing test results
Compete against your friends with a local high score list and Google Play Game Services leaderboards support
Compatible with different keyboard layouts - try them out with The Typist and see which ones actually help you type faster
Works well on both phones and tablets
Free updates and support for life
Straightforward permissions: The Typist requires internet, network state, and Google Play billing to serve ads and the ability to purchase the ad-free version. We don't need access to your contacts, location, or your Facebook account! (but if you want to upload your score, you will need to use your Google Plus account)
Want to support The Typist's development? Please rate it and/or unlock the full version of The Typist (removes ads) within the app. Thank you!
Available on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thetypist.typingtests
Compatible with 4.0+/ICS and above. Free/ad-supported and in-app billing for the paid version (removes ads).
Please check it out and let me know what you think. Thanks!
Nice little app, needs some ironing out to do
Hey bloggert,
Frist of all, it's a sweet app and since there seems to be a famine of good typing test app on touch screen devices, it's a really good one.
I came upon this thread because I was going to embark on the same road to develop myself a typing speed tester.
The UI of your app is "A" grade and I just loved it.
That said, there are also a few shortcomings of your app. You seem to have designed a typing speed analyser for a full machine at it's core, just like the others. Your app tries to keep track of each character the user types, and that actually defeats the purpose of the app on a touch screen device. Also your app seems to disable the predictive auto-completion of many of the keyboards which actually is the biggest selling point of such ones like "swype", afterall typing in a touch screen device is completely different from the keyboard, so why apply the same methodologies?
What I think the app must do?
1. Let the user type-in a whole text and provied a button that says "submit" and the app should just time it all. This is essentially to let the user correct all the words which went wrong with the auto-correct and auto-complete and all other shinanigins. Maybe your app can also keep track of the time taken by the user to enter the last word and hit the submit button, may be help user to clock the time it takes to fix the stupideties( I am not sure though if this is such a great idea) and provide feedback of somekind on the same.
2. Once the user has submitted the text, now your app does what it already does, check for the characters, are all good, what was the accuracy (most probably it would be hundred, if the user is not dumb), and now you can give the speed.
How will this help?
I think this will help user do justice on the various keyboards out there who rely on various methodologies to input text and probably help the creators of various kinds of input methods to judge the usefulness of there methods when speed is the question.
Am I stupid?
Maybe....:silly:
Hope to hear your comments on it all.
flide
Not stupid at all. This is good stuff and I appreciate the feedback.
You are correct in that The Typist tracks every character. However, the app actually only cares about certain characters (namely spaces, since these determine where words start and end, and I need these to know where to highlight the current word and the last incorrect word). So it's okay if a keyboard uses auto-completion (or any other feature that inserts words), as long as it or the user inserts a space to indicate that the word has ended.
With that said, I'm not actually sure why auto-completion doesn't work. It's definitely not disabled on purpose, and I never noticed this before. I've tried a number of keyboards and typing in partial words and then selecting it from a list above the keyboard works fine, as well as swyping methods, but auto-correct never seems to kick in. I'm going to look into this later today but it should be fixable.
As for the going back and correcting words - I'm a little hesitant about this, and the app does prevent the user from going back or selecting old text (beyond using backspace) on purpose, mostly because in testing the potential to mess up the word tracking and cause errors was too great. In the end I figured that possibility of things screwing up was more important than the need to go back and change a word, and so the cursor selection block was put into place. I don't know if this is the right decision, as I still don't have enough feedback really to really judge. This is why I didn't originally go with the option 1 suggestion.
For option 2, The Typist actually does do this already - the real error checking is done after the test has completed (checking all of the words constantly during the test is pretty time-consuming, and so the app only shows you the last mistyped word) as well as the speed counts.
flide said:
Hey bloggert,
Frist of all, it's a sweet app and since there seems to be a famine of good typing test app on touch screen devices, it's a really good one.
I came upon this thread because I was going to embark on the same road to develop myself a typing speed tester.
The UI of your app is "A" grade and I just loved it.
That said, there are also a few shortcomings of your app. You seem to have designed a typing speed analyser for a full machine at it's core, just like the others. Your app tries to keep track of each character the user types, and that actually defeats the purpose of the app on a touch screen device. Also your app seems to disable the predictive auto-completion of many of the keyboards which actually is the biggest selling point of such ones like "swype", afterall typing in a touch screen device is completely different from the keyboard, so why apply the same methodologies?
What I think the app must do?
1. Let the user type-in a whole text and provied a button that says "submit" and the app should just time it all. This is essentially to let the user correct all the words which went wrong with the auto-correct and auto-complete and all other shinanigins. Maybe your app can also keep track of the time taken by the user to enter the last word and hit the submit button, may be help user to clock the time it takes to fix the stupideties( I am not sure though if this is such a great idea) and provide feedback of somekind on the same.
2. Once the user has submitted the text, now your app does what it already does, check for the characters, are all good, what was the accuracy (most probably it would be hundred, if the user is not dumb), and now you can give the speed.
How will this help?
I think this will help user do justice on the various keyboards out there who rely on various methodologies to input text and probably help the creators of various kinds of input methods to judge the usefulness of there methods when speed is the question.
Am I stupid?
Maybe....:silly:
Hope to hear your comments on it all.
flide
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More thoughts
well thinking about it again, I will say that the idea of allowing the user to correct all the text after it's done is... well not so brilliant, and I will let it go at that.
And about the predictive text feature, for my keyboard the top bar which is suppose to show the possible pridicted words is not visible, so I am not able to use them... don't know if that is a problem with your app or it is a problem with my keyboard (8pen) because it does not show up also when i am trying to use VIM. May be you can check on that if something in particular triggers that kind of behaviour.
Also, you should look up for klavaro. It has 3 criterions for typing : Accuracy, velocity and fluideness, and to tell you the truth I like the concept very much, specially fluidity. Here's the link : "klavaro[dot]sourceforge[dot]net[slash]en[slash]manual-en[dot]pdf"
Will be appriciated if you can think of something to accomodate the fluidity angle, might be difficult but let's try. If something comes to my mind compatible with the touch input, I will share.
Let me know your thoughts.
flide
---------- Post added at 11:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:16 PM ----------
I more request.
Can you include a few texts in plain english, I mean all small case, minimal punctuation, no symbols or numbers... something message like. just to test how good you can hold for every day tasks.
Just a thought.
flide
Ergonomics
One more quick idea.
It's a pain to keep looking at three different places while typing using most keyboards (not 8pen though ), namely :
1. What is supposed to be typed
2. The Keyboard
3. What am I typing
I think the 3rd point can be eliminated if app is somewhat modified. Rather than a text box to enter the displayed text, the user can actually override the displayed text... let me try and explain a bit more clearly.
The text, that needs to be typed, is initially displayed in BLACK. Now, rather than highlighting the next word to be typed, the already typed characters should be in BLUE, and all the wrong ones in RED. This mechanism essentially solves the 3rd problem, the user has just 2 places on the screen to strain his/her/it's neck, there is an inherent highlighting as to what needs to be typed (the first BLACK character), what has been typed correctly previously, in BLUE, and what was typed wrong, in RED.
THINK ERGONOMICS!! :cyclops:
Thanks for the updates
Since you never replied again, I thought you forgot all about your app... But you were hard at work and YES, now my predictive options are visible again. :victory:
+1 for the update and you should not bother to appologise for adding a ad in the app. It's your hard work and you have the right to earn over it.
flide
Hi, I was wondering how about like Antutu you could add a leader board to this which mentioned a username(like it already does) and his device and the scores.
I think it'll make the app much more popular and probably turn it into a benchmarking app for one handed usability of Android cell phones. While individuals will battle it out for the top spot, the addition of their device in the table will show which device feels best for typing.
TLDR; Add a 4 column leaderboard
Position -> Name -> Device -> Score
its multilanguage?
I thought the auto complete was disabled on purpose because then it would not be accurate on how we are typing, because technically we would be letting the device type for us. I rather like the fact we have to actually type every letter ourselves, because then I think its more challenging and more honest. So I would actually be bummed if you did allow auto correct or auto complete to work in this app.
I found nothing wrong with it aside from the fact you have to manually allow your score to be added to the leader board. The first time I did it, I got my best score since trying it a few more times but cannot add it to the leader board because I did not press the "add to leader board" on the top left, I had not even noticed it, until the 2nd go around.
Possible addition
KyleSforza said:
TLDR; Add a 4 column leaderboard
Position -> Name -> Device -> Score
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the leaderboard should also have the "input method" column stating the keyboard used for the test.
BUG Found!!
Hi bloggert,
I think the a bug/error has been introduced with the update 1.2. I have attached a screen shot for reference.
As you explained in one of your post that "spaces" are monitored to highlight the current word.
You are correct in that The Typist tracks every character. However, the app actually only cares about certain characters (namely spaces, since these determine where words start and end, and I need these to know where to highlight the current word and the last incorrect word). So it's okay if a keyboard uses auto-completion (or any other feature that inserts words), as long as it or the user inserts a space to indicate that the word has ended.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the input method I am using, there are 3 predictive options available to type when I am not in the middle of typing a word namely : , . ?
After I type a word a space is automatically inserted as soon as my finger up, but if i select any one of these then that automatic space is removed the character is inserted and space is set again in the wait of the next word.
What your app seems to be doing is, whenever i utilize any of the three the current word shifts one step ahead and there is a mismatch between the "actual" correct word and the one being highlighted in BLUE.
Please look into the issue. It's very distracting.
flide
Hey!
This is a cool app; I've been missing a typing test for some time. Some additional feature requests:
Dark theme (for amoled users)
Practice mode: an additional untimed mode where we can import our own texts
The latter, in particular, could be very nice in training for the usual tests!
Thanks again for the app!
Hi,
I'm using a Samsung tablet with a floating thumb keyboard.
The Text does not recognise that and still says in the middle of the screen, behind the keyboard. (See added Screenshot)
Also would it be possible to highlight the wrong words red in the existing text and not in the written text?
IMHO that would be better....
Your app got hacked
A good app
Hello everybody,
I just wanted to present my new app "Robioactive", I have programmed in the last month. First I go to the story and following the app itself, then I'll talk about the development.
At the end, I present you a few general questions about your apps, applying your development and feedback
First the link to the app:
play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brandy_games.robioactive
If you want, you can skip the story:
<--App-History-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
- The small and sweet robot named "Robi", was sentenced to arrange objects from a conveyor belt properly completely alone and without any help in the factory Robioactive.
- Unfortunately, the small Robi is not very fast, as it has so short and tiny ants-legs.
- Our robot is totally overworked, stressed and need your help.
- Can you help the sweet Robi to assign the Robioactive products off the conveyor belt to the product boxes?
<- End: App-History-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
App, Robioactive:
In this app you must prevent that the objects on the conveyor belt achieve the left end of the tape. This can you do by pressing the product boxes, which are arranged on the top and bottom. For each product correctly assigned a point is awarded. There is at the beginning a small intro with 4 images which explain the game. After that we go directly to the game. There are in total 4 levels. Only the first level is unlocked in the beginning. To unlock the next level you have to reach a certain number of points in the active level. Alternatively you can buy levels with coins, which you get in the game when you're playing, or get Coins in the "MAKE COINS"-part by clicking on the advertisement (I'll tell you more about that later in the chapter app development / advertising). So far I have built "only" 4 Level, however next there will be more available.
App Development:
I am a computer science student at TUM and can do programming (C, C++, Java, Haskell), but I have never dealt me ??with the app development. My goal was that I program an app with some flow to come in Android Studio, Admob, PlayStore etc. within 4 days. The background of this method is that I have noticed from some other app developers that they need 2-3 months for a mature app and then after further 3 months in which the app is to find in the App Store, the Play Store, only 100 Downloads will be reached. This raises the question, it is still worth at all to program Apps, or we, "small" programmer, are powerless against the great app development companies? There are a few more questions in the latter part. The idea for this app is not fallen from the sky, I wanted to build a game that is easy to program, but maximises fun factor at play. However, everyone must decide for themselves.
Design:
I had difficulties to design this app. Unfortunately I have two left hands, regards drawing. However, the app had to be appealing. I didn't want to pay a designer because I didn't know anyway, if there will be a product or not. Therefore, I have worked a little with my Photoshop and made some ugly sketches, but with these I have created a framework with colors and forms. Further problem, I did not know how to fill the backbone. The solution was Creative Commons. I was searching for a relatively long time. Yet I could find a few "nice" images and icons, which were freely available. Given question below for you. Netvertheless I had to paint a few strokes and bars. The same problem arrived with the product video, which I generated with Adobe Animate.
I would pleased if you can give me feedback on the design.
Advertising:
I really do not like advertisment in apps, but I would somehow be rewarded for my work, even if it reaches the end on a Club-Mate or dinner. So I had to make a compromise. I give the user the possibility to click my ads to make them disappear throughout the app for a week. After that, the app is probably uninstalled. But a click per user would be the optimum for me. So I am quite satisfied with less. On top of that you you can generate 200 coins in the "MAKE COINS"-part, to unlock levels. I think that's fair. What do you think about the idea to make the user an app gift by clicking ads?
Programming:
I wrote the entire app in Java, XML is used only for the splash screen. Overall, about 2200 lines of code. I have built the app on the basis of a jump and run game in which was shown on Youtube. However, I had to stop after the chapter 3 of the video series, because I had to develop in a different direction. As a base I used a thread which calls the draw method of Game Panel (Surface View) every x milliseconds, thus changing the surface. The update method will change the position of the objects. So I achieve liquid movements. That works reasonably well. The entire app has only one Activity + one activity for the splash screen. In my Main Activity, Bitmap Images will be visible or not. This works fairly smoothly. One problem is that there are many events that can occur, which I have found after testing the app for one week. Is that too long? If you have any questions about my way of programming, then write me an email to the address below.
Timing:
I had scheduled 4 days for the app, without preprocessing. At the end, it takes 2 weeks + 1 week for testing . On one hand, I had to write my final paper, on the other hand I underestimated some parts of the app development. The designing part has own cost 3 days, seek out the Creative Commons was really tiring. The programming itself has drawn 6 days, adding 1 week for testing and repair. The promo video has cost 1 day, I had to "learn" Adobe Animate (I can recommend the Youtube-Channel "Draw with Jazza"). It was 5-6 years ago that I have looked at Flash, however it has been changed "a little bit". The inclusion of Admob was quite rubbish. This has again engulfed two days. In short, it is a surfaceview and no pure Activity layout so adding an advertisment was not easy and at the end it worked for a reason I do not understand to this day. But that important thing is, it works. Optimizing code lasts 2 days. I had to do that, because it was sometimes a bit too slow. I did not want to program Multithreading, because that would have certainly tooks again one week. So scheduling-conclusion : from 4 days planned to 21 days in the end, anyway I'm happy with the result. I present you below a question about scheduling.
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Questions about the app:
- Have you any guesses to improve the app?
- What do you think about the design of the app?
- What do you think about the app idea?
Questions about your app development:
- How long does it for you to develop an app? (Give an approximate number of lines of code, then I can better classify my project using Cocomo)
- Do you have designers in your team?
- Or rather, do you have a team? (I have my brother, who takes care about website and the legal stuff. I do programming and design)
- do you spend money for your app development? (Design, development, advertising)
- Do you do any advertisment for you app?
- Why do you programm any apps? (Fun, Money, ...)
- Do you use Creative Commons? If so, to what extent?
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I am happy about every opinion that is written down here. Any rewiev would be pleasent. You can write me personally, I will reply to each of the emails you send me and dedicate every question that you have, because the community is very important to me. A feedback from you is 1000 times more informative than a rating in the Play Store. I'd appreciate a download, or share the app with your friends.
I write the same text in several forums, in order to obtain a wide range of possible feedback.
My motto: The design brings the user to download the app, programming to utilize the app.
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Homepage: brandy-games.com
Again the link to the App-Download: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brandy_games.robioactive
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I thank you in advance. Thank you for your feedback.
P.S. the forums entry has also cost me a day, so 21 + 1 = 22 days
Best, Daniel
Hello everybody
Small intro:
I'm building a startup to create the first HumaneTech smartphone experience. For you.
Our project is to create a smartphone experience that is: Excellent. But not addictive.
A smartphone experience that respects your brain. And doesn't mess with your neurotransmitters. To allow you to use your phone without getting hooked, If you want.
To do that, we want to remove/redesign features that are addictive (believe me ! ) :
Glowing colors on screens
Notifications (the pings, the red numbered icons)
Thumb scrolling down (twitter/fb/etc news feed scrolling)
(and many other things)
We understand the psychology of it but we don't have tech skills (yet).
Let's say you have a smartphone/internet/p*rn addiction. And you want your own phone to help you.
Can you imagine android with :
AI based image recognition & filtering
One unique browser (designed to filter p*rn)
DNS/ HOSTS file based p*rn site filtering
Forced Google/Bing/etc SafeSearch
Phone use analytics (amount of time spend on X website/app etc)
Customisable "self parental controls" (limit the amount of time you can use an app, access a website,etc to keep you more productive) that you cant easily remove once set, to protect you
Customisable internet filters (hard to remove)
And in a moment of weakness, no easy way for you to remove it?
We thought of an app but all it takes is to boot in safe mode to bypass it (or not?)
Can we develop a customised Android that flashes like a ROM on a users phone and makes these changes?
We realise anybody motivated enough could do most of the above on his phone himself. By installing 4-5 third party apps, for example. But it wouldn't be perfect.
It could be easily removed. And the average user wants it easy to install.
Any ideas? I have very little technical skills and I'm still looking for answers on how to do this.
Thank you !
P.S.
First post so I'm not allowed to post links
Please go to HumaneTech dot com to understand what this is about.
There is a already a Chrome extension that filters nude images using AI. Its called vRate and works through a server
P.P.S.
I apologise in advance if I posted this in the wrong area.
This is in no way intended to promote a product. Nothing has been coded yet. I'm even willing to pay for a short conversation with someone who can answer these questions.