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After all the great things I've heard about iPhone's marketplace, I was going to get one until AT&T did their little data plan switch.
Then I got the EVO, hoping because Android was a developing market and there were thousands and thousands of apps, it would compare to iPhone's.
Not even close. I'm scrolling through, trying to find cool apps, and most of them seem to be utility apps or some such stuff. Most of the reviews on these things seem to indicate the apps are buggy or the developer has stopped support.
Where are all the cool apps like iPhone has? Are they in the paid section? Even those seem to be buggy from what I'm reading in the User Comments sections. How come iPhone gets great voice to text support (I know people who use this function a lot) and Android doesn't? Corporations are putting out iPhone apps left and right and Android has practically nothing. And the ones they ARE putting out, again, seem buggy.
Seems like a great waste to me.
Someone please clue me in and show me what I've been missing.
The AppStore has an 18 month head start on the Android Market, not to mention there are like 5 times the number of iPod/iPhones then Android devices right now. So it makes since that developers have up to this point been putting a majority of their time and resources into the AppStore. But, with 160k+ Android activations a day and growing Android WILL take over iPhones at some point in the future and we'll really begin to see a ton of developer support as the platform continues to quickly grow.
Ya what he ^ said. Android will eventually be big enough where developers cannot ignore the potential customers. As long as google doesn't fragment the market too much, you should see the big developers start dual releasing software (similar to xbox and ps3).
great voice to text supprt, you know thats google's software tht does that on the iphone
I got a apple fanboy at work and he is always saying my market sucks and I ask him to show me some of his life changing apps, and he has nothing cool
norkoastal said:
Ya what he ^ said. Android will eventually be big enough where developers cannot ignore the potential customers. As long as google doesn't fragment the market too much, you should see the big developers start dual releasing software (similar to xbox and ps3).
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maybe is apple drops that part of EULA where an apple developer must be only dedicated to apple development or be dropped from the app store, much like our facebook app is far behind the apple one. the new team has to catch up
nbakid2000 said:
After all the great things I've heard about iPhone's marketplace, I was going to get one until AT&T did their little data plan switch.
Then I got the EVO, hoping because Android was a developing market and there were thousands and thousands of apps, it would compare to iPhone's.
Not even close. I'm scrolling through, trying to find cool apps, and most of them seem to be utility apps or some such stuff. Most of the reviews on these things seem to indicate the apps are buggy or the developer has stopped support.
Where are all the cool apps like iPhone has? Are they in the paid section? Even those seem to be buggy from what I'm reading in the User Comments sections. How come iPhone gets great voice to text support (I know people who use this function a lot) and Android doesn't? Corporations are putting out iPhone apps left and right and Android has practically nothing. And the ones they ARE putting out, again, seem buggy.
Seems like a great waste to me.
Someone please clue me in and show me what I've been missing.
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Click to collapse
What are you looking for in the Market? What do you want an App to do for you? You cannot just get into to the Market to 'look for cool apps'. It will be very helpful if you narrow your search, that way you can get the help you want. The Android Market cannot be blamed for corporations that put out sub-par or buggy apps. Take your issues up with their developers.
If you depend solely on users comments to make your decision about an app, you might end up not trying any. Since Android phones have varied models and specifications there are bound to be different experiences from different users. Even for users with the same device, the App may appear a bit buggy because of the modifications they have made to their phones.
There are different communities of users that review Apps and offer feedback that may be useful. AppBrain is a good one to try. Good luck.
I try not to read too much into user comments because some of the people either dont know how to use the app or are trying to use a brand new app on an outdated android phone/os
BrianDigital; said:
I got a apple fanboy at work and he is always saying my market sucks and I ask him to show me some of his life changing apps, and he has nothing cool
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Cause there is nothing that cool lol. I've been using AppStore for 2 years going now and still use it with my iPad. To me, the only thing the AppStore does better are the games. That's expected because they have been out longer. I have yet to try any android games so I could be wrong. Most of appstore apps are gimmicks and a waste of space. They do have a good selection of very good programs, as does the android store. Android store also has more free programs that are better I've noticed. Even the great programs that cost money are cheap. The biggest thing is that you can refund within 24 hours on the android store.
This is a personal preference. I like good useful programs where I wont delete it 5 mins later. Now I think about it, most of the apps I used on the iphone and iPad now are from Cydia.
what is a "cool app" for you? once you can define it as a boolean string you'll be all set.
until then its not unlike the iphone store...tens of thousands of apps. of that a huge number are redundant and or outdated. a good chunk are crap or useless. that leaves a bunch of needles in the haystack.
1) try a site like appbrain.com or apps.androidtapp.com (they may provide better search options)
2) do some google searches for "top EVO apps" or "Best Android apps" etc. that helped me quite a bit.
what is cool to one person is irrelevant crap to another.
DraginMagik said:
what is a "cool app" for you? once you can define it as a boolean string you'll be all set.
what is cool to one person is irrelevant crap to another.
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exactly. sounds like you just wanna **** around on your phone to me. I AM T-PAIN!!!!!!!!!
Well you can always check out the "cool app" thread in this same section that might help a little btw
brown14you said:
What are you looking for in the Market? What do you want an App to do for you? You cannot just get into to the Market to 'look for cool apps'. It will be very helpful if you narrow your search, that way you can get the help you want. The Android Market cannot be blamed for corporations that put out sub-par or buggy apps. Take your issues up with their developers.
If you depend solely on users comments to make your decision about an app, you might end up not trying any. Since Android phones have varied models and specifications there are bound to be different experiences from different users. Even for users with the same device, the App may appear a bit buggy because of the modifications they have made to their phones.
There are different communities of users that review Apps and offer feedback that may be useful. AppBrain is a good one to try. Good luck.
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I never blamed Android for the lack of apps situation. Where did I do that? I said I was disappointed with the Marketplace. At no time did I say, "I'm upset with Android and Google for not having any cool apps."
What do I want in apps? I dunno. I've never owned an iPhone so I'm not sure exactly what's out there....except I've heard that EVERYTHING is out there.
A couple of things missing off the top of my head:
Kevin's Smith app
Redbox
Blockbuster
The rest, I guess, is just cool stuff...whatever that may be. How about some nice apps for alcoholic beverages? The ones I've found (from the user reviews) don't seem that great. Again, I haven't tried them but if most people say an app isn't very good, I tend to believe it.
How about an app for cooking recipes? How about a great music player (which I haven't found yet, but MixZing seems to be pretty decent)? How about an app that compares prices?
Shazam (a music program) is supposed to be on Android. It's not. It looks like they pulled it, even though their web site advertises it.
The thing is, I don't know what app I need until I see it. I've never experienced it, so I don't know what I'm missing. *shrug* I just know I must be missing SOMEthing, based on everything I've ever heard or read about Apple's store.
On the subject of voice to text...what's a good app for that? Why can I not get something up to par with what iPhone has? Or can I?
There is a redbox app. Google shopper would be good for prices i think. Blockbuster is about to go out of business anyway lol. Shazam is definitely there because i just searched and it showed up. vlingo voice is a good voice to text even though android has that pretty much built in already. The music player that comes with the evo is good enough for me so idk about the others. Whats the kevin smith app?
I'd like to know where the free Redbox app came from. It wasn't there on my device a while ago. I just downloaded it.
Shazam is now showing up for me and I've done multiple searches over the past day for this thing. It's downloading as well.
The Kevin Smith app is found here: http://www.denvog.com/iphone/KevinSmith/index.html
nbakid2000 said:
I'd like to know where the free Redbox app came from. It wasn't there on my device a while ago. I just downloaded it.
Shazam is now showing up for me and I've done multiple searches over the past day for this thing. It's downloading as well.
The Kevin Smith app is found here: http://www.denvog.com/iphone/KevinSmith/index.html
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shazam has been there since last year or longer because i bought the hero when it came out last october and had shazam. just give it time. the "cool" apps will show up
Not sure what you mean by voice to text app
Maybe I am misunderstanding what you are asking. Voice to text is part of the android 2.1 operating system. When you hit the microphone it will put text into whatever you are using such as an e-mail or a text message. There is no need for an app for it as it is built into the operating system
Voice to text? Already supported out of the box.
However, you can get Vlingo from the marketplace. It costs quite a bit, but if you're a dedicated voice user, it can be good for you.
You have to look around. Google is your friend.
What do you want? Cool games?
Hungry Shark, Raging Thunder II, Exzeus Arcade, Slimeball Speedway, Tiki Towers, Caligo Chaser, and Gameboid are just some I can think of off the top of my head. Gameboid will multiply those games because of ROMS.
A PSx emulator is in the works by the same developer.
Google's apps themselves impressed a lot of people that I showed my phone to.
Google Sky Map, Google Goggles, Google Earth, Google Maps, etc.
Other free apps that are top knotch:
Pandora, Facebook, Twitter, Shazam, Barcode Scanner, LED Light, Handcent SMS, TV.com (awesome cbs shows right there!).
Ringdroid (make ringtones ON YOUR PHONE), QIK video chat, Fring (for skype).
There are also apps where you can download backgrounds and ringtones from a wide variety.
So... just look around. Google helps.
And lastly, a lot of developers are looking into developing for Android. With all the new Android phones and Android users, things are working out well for its marketplace. For example, with the release of the HTC Evo... former palm pre, blackberry, and winmo users came. Hardly any people moved from android to android in that case.
Pretty much all of those apps you listed I have installed on my Evo via the Market.
patelkedar91 started a great list but here's a list of my favorite apps
acv - comic viewing app if you have downloaded comics(reads cbr files!)
doubletwist - media app that plays music and video, also has a matching desktop client for syncing your android phone, much like itunes to the iphone
epicurious - recipe app
fxcamera - camera app that has some awesome built in effects
layar - augmented reality app that shows points of interest through the camera
urbanspoon - can't decide on where to eat? just set preferences and shake to get a restaurant
Photoshop.com Mobile - basic photo editing app
transdroid - app to control torrent clients from your phone, including adding torrents
zombie, run! - one of the funnest apps on my phone, uses gps location to simulate a zombie apocalypse. shows zombies as red dots and you have to avoid them and make it to a location you set, makes biking to school a lot more interesting
there's a lot more, keep looking and lurk these forums like crazy. good "cool" apps are recommended here a lot
I don't even understand the point of this post. You didn't have an iPhone, but just 'hear' that it had it lots of cool apps. Then come to Android just looking for random 'cool' apps but can't articulate what you are looking for. Sure, the iPhone had 65 different fart apps, so it has an advantage there.
I had the iPhone 3G, then 3GS, then went to the Droid and now the EVO. I don't have a ton of apps, but I use quite a few. When I moved to the Droid in November, there were only two apps that I had with the iPhone that weren't available on the Android Market; SlingPlayer and Alarm.com. Both of those have since been released on the Market too.
Shazam has been available the whole time except for some reason that it disappeared a week or so ago. Music player? Well, Android has one built in and the EVO has HTC's version. On the Market, there is Mixzing and DoubleTwist. Blockbuster? Who friggin cares. Blockbuster will be out of business before long and Netflix is better anyway. The Netflix app is coming soon to Android.
I will admit that the games were a bit better on the iPhone, but outside of that I don't miss anything about the iPhone or the App Store.
Why the apps having the worst users' reviews are shown as "Recommended Apps" ???
Hello,
How are the "Recommended Apps" selected by the Marketplace?
I am tired to see all the apps having actually the worst users' reviews be selected by Micorosoft and promoted on the Marketplace.
For instance, this week I see as recommended the games "Castlevana Puzzles" (rated only 1 star over 5) and "Deer Hunter" (rated only 1.5 star over 5) !!! Most reviews of these games state that they are not very good.
So therefore, by WHOM are they recommended ? I wonder. Not by the users for sure.
In my opinion the most important opinion is the customers' one.
MS, please stop 'recommending' apps that the users said they don't like.
How to find on the Marketplace only the apps that the USERS RECOMMEND (not MS), that is to say the ones with 3, 4 or 5 stars?
Thank you
I believe it is based on the number of downloads, which is a completely different metric from the ratings.
Jim Coleman said:
I believe it is based on the number of downloads, which is a completely different metric from the ratings.
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I don't think so. My app appeared on the featured list once for a while and it only has <100 downloads to this date!
It looks to be fairly random to me.
Blade0rz said:
I don't think so. My app appeared on the featured list once for a while and it only has <100 downloads to this date!
It looks to be fairly random to me.
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That'd be nice. Maybe if devs know that even crappy apps will be randomly "featured" they'll have a little pride and reduce apps that aren't so shoddy.
It's also nice because apps that might otherwise not be seen will get some time in the spotlight. Could be a big deal for someone - I know it would be for me.
Back in the WMP9 days I made a few skins that people liked for their simplicity (they were designed to be "always on top"). After MS featured them on a skins site and they got a high rating they amounted to about half of my site traffic.
A little free attention from MS can make a huge difference for a smalltime dev.
Bleak Morn said:
That'd be nice. Maybe if devs know that even crappy apps will be randomly "featured" they'll have a little pride and reduce apps that aren't so shoddy.
It's also nice because apps that might otherwise not be seen will get some time in the spotlight. Could be a big deal for someone - I know it would be for me.
Back in the WMP9 days I made a few skins that people liked for their simplicity (they were designed to be "always on top"). After MS featured them on a skins site and they got a high rating they amounted to about half of my site traffic.
A little free attention from MS can make a huge difference for a smalltime dev.
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I totally understand your point of view.
Nonetheless, I would probably like/prefere to have an "Apps recommended by users". I mean the apps with the best feedback from the ones that really tested the apps. Indeed, number of download means nothing.
Strange that the Marketplace does not include this. It seems natural to me.
It would be good because:
- it will encourage developers to make good apps and get a high ranking,
- it will allow users to discover and install apps that have a positive feedback. It does not mean that a lot of people aready installed it. Maybe only one or two people only installed the app, found it very good. Thanks to its high ranking, the app will be discovered by other people.
Also, I do not think that apps such as Deer Hunter or Castlevania need to be promoted like they currently are on the Marketplace: firstly, they are mediocre Xlive games. Secondly, better to promote independant small developers that Xlive games developed by Microsoft. Microsoft do not really need to promote their own game, especially when they are not so good.
arturobandini said:
I totally understand your point of view.
Nonetheless, I would probably like/prefere to have an "Apps recommended by users". I mean the apps with the best feedback from the ones that really tested the apps. Indeed, number of download means nothing.
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Keep in mind, ratings can be gamed as well. One vote for 5-stars could result in a 5-star rating for a 1-star app.
A while back I had an issue with the Zune software - wanted to get a list of all of my songs based on whether or not they were ZunePass (DRM) songs, or MP3's I'd bought with my 10 monthly song credits. The idea was to use the credits on the songs I've listened to most but hadn't yet unlocked.
I was having getting the software to do what I want, so I asked how to do it in the Zune forums. When that didn't get the answer I wanted, I communicated with some Zune MVP's via Twitter. They connected me with one of the Zune application development leads at MS (also on Twitter) and I directed him to the article in the Zune forums where he helped me troubleshoot and fix the issue.
One of the things I like about MS is that when I poke around, they usually put me in touch with someone who can directly solve my problem (like the app dev lead).
In this case, he provided me with a simple work-around for the problem I was having, but if you need a new app feature it's nice to be able to tell the guy in charge directly.
Oh, and if you end up taking this approach I'd love it if you'd post the link to your Zune forums thread here so I can follow along since it's an issue I might encounter soon.
--
UPDATE: I've decided to discontinue my work on Catena, the project is too heavily reliant on community, and the time investment required to make it successful was several magnitudes higher than what I could offer. If anyone is interested in continuing this project let me know.
If you're interested in any of my other projects check out my site at: http://www.creepybit.co.uk
--
Catena is an anonymous and location based instant chat client. The main purpose of Catena is to give you an anonymous outlet for calling out to others in your local area and meeting new people, without the burden of identity. Catena lets you chat in a typical instant chat environment, but also lets you post semi-permanent messages on a shared map, for the whole world to see!
Catena is free, there are no user accounts or signing up. The instant you install Catena you are able to chat. For those who need an identity, either to maintain a conversation or single yourself out for others, there is a type of disposable user name that you can change as often as you want. There are also chatroom like tags you can use that make your messages private and only viewable to others with the same tag.
You can find Catena on the Google Play store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Creepy+Bit
I also have a website up with more info at: http://creepybit.co.uk
I started development on this app when I couldn't find an anonymous alternative. I'm a single developer working in my spare time around work, but I'm currently still managing to push out almost daily updates. Catena is currently in Alpha stage, meaning I'm still adding and changing features, and I'm still modifying the server equipment.
I'd really appreciate it if you guys could give this app a go. Catena has been live for a week and I currently have around thirty users. The users I have thus far have given me really great feedback, and I think with some more hard work down the way I can make this a really great app that people will love.
I have similar idea for Android app. This is good idea, but when not enough people have this app, this is not good working. I wish you more and more downloads!
Sounds awesome. This sounds like the Love Section on Craigslist where people say, "Oh I saw this sexy woman at Walmart. Hope to see you again".
It would be great to leave messages up for like a day and be able to show your GPS route. That way, at the end of the day, you could retrace your day and see if anyone left you a note. Like, "To the hot guy sitting at the bar in the blue collared shirt. I think I love you".
I always wanted a personal area chat room.
It could also be used for marketing such as "Burgers tonight are top notch!". Perhaps if things take off, you could sell extended comments that last longer.
I haven't used it yet, but how would this program handle a single place with lots of chatter? Is it a single point on the map that links to a chat room style interface? 1 map point per comment would create clutter. In my mind, a single comment would just be a dot on the map which would open for dialogue. You'd also probably want to allow accessing ANY of those locations on the fly. So if I want to go get dinner at Red Lobster downtown, I can find the location on the map and read the comments left there. Perhaps someone says, "4 hour wait @ 7pm". Or actually having the ability to ask someone that is physically there to put your name on the list, haha.
I can see SO many possibilities for this.
So perhaps you can only START a chat based off your location but you can join ANY. Also it might be a good idea to be able to disable GPS in case someone is at their home and doesn't want anyone to know where they presently are (can't start a convo but can join one). You don't want to hear about how crazies are killing girls using your app. lol
[UPDATE]
I would do away with broadcast messages. Obviously they just annoying and childish. I would just show the dots to let you know there is a comment there, to open up the local chat for that dot. In the future, I would make the broadcasts a paid ad type thing. Like $20 a day... which is super cheap. Even right now, I could broadcast a business and 30 people would instantly see it.
As the app gets more popular, the map will get flooded with broadcasts and you'll be unable to even see the map. Icons should scale with the map. It's ok right now, but again, things may get crowded. You might also think about playing with the idea of making the icons semi-transparent so you can see the underlying map.
At this point I'm unsure how to even find other local chats; if it is even possible at all. All I see from the map are the broadcasts.
I just want to be able to create a chatroom at my GPS location and be able to have others leave comments. Right now, I see several broadcasts, but I can't chat with them. One was about a guy speeding. It would be fun to be able to go in that chat and leave a message like, "There is a guy going slow" or "That was me!"
player911 said:
Sounds awesome. This sounds like the Love Section on Craigslist where people say, "Oh I saw this sexy woman at Walmart. Hope to see you again".
It would be great to leave messages up for like a day and be able to show your GPS route. That way, at the end of the day, you could retrace your day and see if anyone left you a note. Like, "To the hot guy sitting at the bar in the blue collared shirt. I think I love you".
I always wanted a personal area chat room.
It could also be used for marketing such as "Burgers tonight are top notch!". Perhaps if things take off, you could sell extended comments that last longer.
I haven't used it yet, but how would this program handle a single place with lots of chatter? Is it a single point on the map that links to a chat room style interface? 1 map point per comment would create clutter. In my mind, a single comment would just be a dot on the map which would open for dialogue. You'd also probably want to allow accessing ANY of those locations on the fly. So if I want to go get dinner at Red Lobster downtown, I can find the location on the map and read the comments left there. Perhaps someone says, "4 hour wait @ 7pm". Or actually having the ability to ask someone that is physically there to put your name on the list, haha.
I can see SO many possibilities for this.
So perhaps you can only START a chat based off your location but you can join ANY. Also it might be a good idea to be able to disable GPS in case someone is at their home and doesn't want anyone to know where they presently are (can't start a convo but can join one). You don't want to hear about how crazies are killing girls using your app. lol
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Some nice ideas, I'll let you discover it but it's basically the world is just one huge chat room, but you filter the messages you receive by range. So it ends up being a digital "everyone shouts and you choose how far you listen" kind of thing.
If a small area gets really popular and you can't hold a conversation then there are things called Hash Tags. They're basically a short keyword you filter your messages by and it's sort of like joining a chat room. For example I could apply the hash tag "Crime" (like in the screenshot), and it basically means I only see messages from other people with "Crime" and they are the only ones that see my messages.
For the map I'm currently in the process of implementing an upvote system. Messages on the map (I call them Broadcasts) will expire after a certain period, that period is shorter depending on how busy the area is, you can extend the life of a broadcast by 'Bumping' it.
I'd love to add new stuff as I go along. But as it's been said, the key thing I'm lacking is users.
Ahhh I see about the "how far you listen" type range thing. Thats fun and all... but really hinders the usefulness.... well let me think, no I guess it wouldn't if you simply picked a restaurant and did a Spoof Location from that area. I would change that and label it as something like, "Chat from here" or something. Also need to intregrate the map better. Maybe have that as the initial screen that users see. It is a pretty map and looks fantastic. Opening the app to just see an empty chat is a let down. I would initially start zoomed out so you can see the surrounding areas and users online. Tap = popup "Chat from Here" button.
Also a slider for chat radius that displays as a blue circle around your location. Having to go into settings to set a number is kind of awkward.
Focus on the map and let users pop in and out of chat as will based on their location.
Broadcasts expiring based on how busy the area is, is a good idea. I had no idea about the bumping. "Bumping" a thread, I get it... but I when I bumped the broadcasts, it didn't do anything. Maybe just a simple vote system like "Was this helpful: -1 and +1". Because honestly most of those broadcasts are retarded. Peeing on the benches? Smelly Town? Sand Vaginas? The community needs to be able to down vote and get rid of those messages as badly as they need to up vote. Regardless of votes, Broadcasts should still naturally go away after a set time. Like broadcasts = 1 hour with 1 day max.
Also the hash tags, perhaps make it more user friendly... such as a button for "Create a Group" or "Join a Group".
player911 said:
Ahhh I see about the "how far you listen" type range thing. Thats fun and all... but really hinders the usefulness.... well let me think, no I guess it wouldn't if you simply picked a restaurant and did a Spoof Location from that area. I would change that and label it as something like, "Chat from here" or something. Also need to intregrate the map better. Maybe have that as the initial screen that users see. It is a pretty map and looks fantastic. Opening the app to just see an empty chat is a let down. I would initially start zoomed out so you can see the surrounding areas and users online. Tap = popup "Chat from Here" button.
Also a slider for chat radius that displays as a blue circle around your location. Having to go into settings to set a number is kind of awkward.
Focus on the map and let users pop in and out of chat as will based on their location.
Broadcasts expiring based on how busy the area is, is a good idea. I had no idea about the bumping. "Bumping" a thread, I get it... but I when I bumped the broadcasts, it didn't do anything. Maybe just a simple vote system like "Was this helpful: -1 and +1". Because honestly most of those broadcasts are retarded. Peeing on the benches? Smelly Town? Sand Vaginas? The community needs to be able to down vote and get rid of those messages as badly as they need to up vote. Regardless of votes, Broadcasts should still naturally go away after a set time. Like broadcasts = 1 hour with 1 day max.
Also the hash tags, perhaps make it more user friendly... such as a button for "Create a Group" or "Join a Group".
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This is good stuff, I'd love to implement most of this. I'm very close to starting the up vote system so I'm not sure how I'll be doing it yet but I definitely plan to have down voting. Or at least a report button! Thanks for the post!
Love the idea but u might wanna look into integrating facebook n g+ somehow.
Sent from my SK17i using xda app-developers app
I agree, you need users and you should use social network to get them automatically
How about adding video chat for the devices with front camera?
What kind of social network integration would you want? Something like when you post a broadcast you get to share it on your wall? I'd be tempted to do something like that down the line.
Video chat would be hard because my server bandwidth would struggle to keep up, but I could certainly try adding an easy way to connect to other users and enter some sort of skype room or something.
I just uploaded version 31, this has the new upvoting and downvoting system. I called it Bump and Report just to be edgy and different (you love it), but the basic functionality is there. By default a Broadcast needs 10 reports to disappear, but the more it's bumped the more reports it'll take.
I'll see how it goes, there's room for lots of changes but it'll be server-side so I can do it over time in small increments.
Also, Yesterday evening I cleared the Broadcast database, which wiped out the whole map of Broadcasts. Clean slate now but it's looking rather barebones.
This weekend I'm possibly upgrading my servers again. You shouldn't notice any downtime though.
This is great! This has so much potential!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
great
Omg this is so cool The location spoofing is a great idea. I hope that you are aware that your app is unique and there is a lot of potential in it
Keep up the great work
Thanks guys
My current plan is going to be to add private messaging and some changes to client-server communication to fight spam (in anticipation). Is there anything else you guys feel should be added before I start the Beta phase? Once we're in Beta I'm going to be much more conservative with adding new features so now is the time to make a case. I'll consider practically anything.
This looks like it could be interesting.
Will keep an eye on it.
Hey guys, today I found out I'd apparently taken out server time synchronization at some point in the past. That's fixed now so there shouldn't be any odd problems with message order anymore. You might find that your messages appear in odd places but that's because your clock is offset from the servers time (not blaming you obviously, but I can't really fix that).
Version 32 is up, it includes some new stuff:
- haptic feedback on message receipt
- you can now disable the lingering tray icon
- Cast Range now defaults at 100,000km, I'll keep it like this until we reach a release version
Nice I see you are working on this really hard. Thats not a bad thing I'm looking forward for the private messaging feature
[APP][4.0+] "CMX" Crowd.mx -- chat and leave notes where you are... anonymously!
Hello XDA!
I'd like to present crowd.mx or CMX as we've started calling it. It's a location based anonymous chat / note dropping app. We've been working on it for some time and we think it's really cool and would like to share it with the community here at XDA.
CMX has 3 simple functions one on each tab:
[Tab 1] CMX connects you in a chat room with the nearest CMX users. We literally mean nearest. If it's late at night and nobody is on, it will get people from all over the world for you to chat with. If you're at a concert with a lot of users nearby or on at a busy time, you will only see chat that's happening nearby. You have your own personal 'chat sphere' that re-sizes itself for you to have people to talk with. That way, there will always be someone on for you to chat with. If you want to talk more privately, like most chat apps, you can select users and send them private messages.
We think Tab 1 is really frickin cool.
[Tab 2] If you like Tab 1, this tab is even cooler. Here you can leave public notes at different locations. The notes persist at that spot and can be seen in a 100m radius around where you dropped it. You can have a group meet you on top of Mt. Everest and have a private conversation there. You can leave a suggestion at a restaurant *in* the restaurant for people who eat there later. You could announce to your neighbors that you have a BBQ coming up. You don't just have to leave public notes, we even allow you to leave hidden notes which are only visible to the user you selected... even if that user is yourself. You could drop a note with your locker number over your locker or leave love notes for your wife. There are a lot of crazy interesting things you can do with this. Like many social apps, this aspect of our app really needs lots of users to be cool. That's why we made Tab 1... to keep you entertained in the mean time!
[Tab 3] This tab has two purposes. It mainly functions to let you control where you are. So if there's a major event going on somewhere in the world, you can go there and chat directly with the people there.
This tab also serves as a place where you can 'make an announcement.' Announcements are a premium service that you have to pay for. They're kinda like the big-brother to the notes in Tab 2. You can choose what radius you want them to be seen within and they will re-broadcast themselves to people chatting in the area.
Finally,
We've worked really hard to make this service as anonymous as we can. There's no login. No usernames. No facebook. No anything. You can get on and start chatting/dropping notes right away.
We welcome you to come join us in the chat, drop silly notes around town, and give us feedback so we can keep working to make this app cooler and more fun for everyone.
Where do I get the APP?
Search the play store for: "CMX"
XDA-Beta Key: cheerios
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mx.crowd.monster.mini
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More Questions for the curious:
Q: Who made the app?
A: Myself and a friend, both of us recent physics phds... novice app developers!
Q: Where did the app come from?
A: A few years ago, we had a vision for a news app that would let the people report the news around them. While finishing our degrees, we worked on the infrastructure for the app in our spare time. Along the way, we came up with some pretty cool algorithms for indexing information by geography and other stuff. After we graduated, we set out to make that news app, but it was too big! So we looked at all the cool stuff we made for the backend and decided use it in a social app instead. So here's that app! We hope it's the first of many apps.
Q: What do you mean by anonymous?
A: Well, we really mean that we're committed to trying not to save or collect info from you. BUT, we have also taken extra measures to encrypt transmissions, encrypt data in the database, and discard information as soon as we don't need it. We'll continually work to improve on these as we get more experience. If CMX sees any success, we hope to hire experts far more proficient than us! If you're interested in more information about our security measures, we invite you to read our technical description on our message board. You can find the link in the playstore or in the app.
Q: Can I post anything?
A: Well, our hosting service does not allow porn. So you can 'report' people who have posted porn. And we can ban people who have posted porn. Also, we have protections in place to protect us from bot-spam.
Q: How can you ban someone for posting porn, if you don't track them?!
A: It's complicated. You should probably read the technical description mentioned in the anonymous section.
Q: How long will the app be in Beta?
A: Uhh, tough question!
Q: Why does it not show all the chat from when I was last on?
A: The messages sent to the Chat tab are *NOT* stored on our servers. They are redirected to the clients within range. So if your client loses its connection to our servers, you will not receive those chats. If your phone gets low on resources, it may close the service. We chose to do this to further protect people's identity.
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it.
-Foolish John
Whoa, this sounds really cool! It sounds awesome to be able to go to a certain place and see a note about a review or recommendation for the place you're in
Ngo93 said:
Whoa, this sounds really cool! It sounds awesome to be able to go to a certain place and see a note about a review or recommendation for the place you're in
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Click to collapse
Thanks NGO,
I definitely agree with you!
We're in the process of planning a crypto-currency scavenger hunt to have fun with some of the location aware features for our early users. So hopefully, there will be a fun activity for people trying the app out in the near future.
MUCH CURRENCY! :highfive:
Shamelessly bumping to find more interested users!
I like the idea. Hopefully lots of users will pick it up too!
baddesthad said:
I like the idea. Hopefully lots of users will pick it up too!
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Click to collapse
Seriously... *hint* *hint!*
Seriously - we get a lot of people saying they love the idea but they just wish more people were on.
If you really think the idea is cool, keep the app open and check in on it and join the chat every once in a while. It'll naturally get more busy as people do that.
And it won't be too long before there are enough people to start enjoying some of the cooler aspects of it.
-John
FoolishJohn said:
Seriously - we get a lot of people saying they love the idea but they just wish more people were on.
If you really think the idea is cool, keep the app open and check in on it and join the chat every once in a while. It'll naturally get more busy as people do that.
And it won't be too long before there are enough people to start enjoying some of the cooler aspects of it.
-John
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been on to test it out before. The chat tab seemed lively. Leaving notes at specific locations is the most interesting feature for me.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using XDA Premium HD app
Good afternoon again, XDA!
Today I reinstalled the CM rom on my phone and while I was upgrading my apps, a notification appeared on my phone making me upgrade Google Play Services.
I understand that it is a necessary app and all of that, but did you realized about the high punctuation it has in the Play Store? If you read the opinions, on the most useful section, they talk all about the same: "I can't upgrade this app because it is so big and now I can't use my phone" and all those people give between 1 and 3 stars, but the app has 3.7.
So I changed the section to "Newest first" and started reading opinions. There were a lot of then with comments like "P" or "nice" and 5 stars. If you also look the profile of those people who comment on that app, you can find profiles with any information, just a 5 stars punctuation on that app. And nothing more.
A screenshot of one of this profiles can be found here: nicovell3.es/playServices.png
I suppose these profiles are generated by Google workers to elevate the punctuation of that app, and I understand that they want it to have a good image to make people trust in downloading that app but... I'm not sure that's the correct way.
What I want to ask is: if Google controls in that way the Play Store and we continue trusting that company, what will prevent it from making us believe what they want?
I post this here because I think this must concern all the app developers which produce apps to post them in the Play Store...