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Hello everyone. I've a sort of proposal for the developers here, but before I get into that let me first briefly introduce myself:
I'm a communication designer for print, user interface, and illustration that completely advocates everything Android. I've been lurking the Dream development forums here for quite some time, trying to keep up-to-date with the latest ROMs, apps, etc., etc and I fully appreciate everything that goes on here and the endeavors that you devs put yourself through. Amazing stuff, really.
One thing I've noticed is that there are a slew of third-party / beta apps all over these boards, and other places on the internet as well. More often than not, I find myself scouring the cloud just to find a link for these non-market apps, and I usually get referred to them via some obscure site through another site. Despite getting the .apk file or ROM in the end, the process can get to be a bit tedious; especially for incoming users and those new to the Android platform.
My proposal is this: A website with a simple and clean user interface that has direct and succinct navigation with the purpose of consolidating and listing third-party / beta non-market applications into an easy access database. This website database would link these applications and have them be easily downloaded and installed via the Android browser, without having to mount the device.
I've actually come up with a fully-functional concept site, did the branding and everything for it, and also registered a short domain name for quick access while on your G1 or whatever Android device.
Navigate to: http://anda.pk to see what I had in mind, and how the overall layout/concept of the site would work.
I uploaded several .apk files I had backed up as examples for you to see how the database section would function. I also took into account the resolution of most Android phones and made the .apk application database section fit perfectly in the Android browser when in portrait mode right when you the load the site to ensure the best possible user experience when installing these third party apps. When you scroll to the right, you'll see info on what the site is about, and in the footer there are links to the FAQ, the about section, contact, etc.
I had also noted in the about link in the footer that the applications hosted on the download section are in no way accredited to the site, and that credit goes to their rightful developers. My being a communication designer has had the idea of peer collaboration engrained, and as such I give credit it where credit is due.
That said, I hope you guys here and the developers collaborate with me on on this site, possibly help contribute apks, and agree to them being hosted. If anything, I do hope you just embrace the concept, which originally was just going to be a reference for myself and my friends whom I've turned away from the iPhone, S60, and WinMo in favor of Android. I figured since I know the Android community is only going to get bigger, this website concept of mine could be a decent resource to have bookmarked.
Appreciate you reading this wall of text! Do hope to hear some feedback, so let me know what you guys think. Thanks!
Cheers.
I think this is a fabulous idea...automated version control would go over very well -- i.e. yum update
you should post up bits that you need help with and have folks contact you.
also..I love the logo!
question: do you propose a rating system or a review prior to listing type of approach or something new to keep this resource trustworthy?
Been following this on SA and twitter and it's a great idea.
Having the devs here on board would be a fantastic way to get something solid on the go. It's the kind of thing that can really help android become more hackable and useable for the average user...and it just make things easier for the rest of us.
Sounds good to me.
thelilliandivide said:
the applications hosted on the download section are in no way accredited to the site
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Credit and accreditation are different things. To be accredited is to be given credentials or official approval. I think you meant "credited".
Sounds like a GREAT idea.
My opinion: The color scheme hurts. Love the logo.
i like the logo and the idea. I think the site should be more mobile friendly, or even better, an application for android that can work like the official market. I could help with that part if an application is going to be built.
camalot said:
i like the logo and the idea. I think the site should be more mobile friendly, or even better, an application for android that can work like the official market. I could help with that part if an application is going to be built.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i second that.. it should also have update checks if possible
I was going to complain that I didn't like your site layout, but in portrait mode you only see the left side which lists the apps. I like it.
One thing you might have to be leary of is dealing with apps that are considered warez unless your going to spend the time to verify every app that is uploaded or there has to a method in place.
As well there should be some kind of version control in place. You know what works on 1.1 and what works on 1.5. Obviously almost everybody within the next few weeks/months should be on 1.5, but will all the older apps run on 1.5 or does it really matter or does anybody care? The downloader will care.
CBowley said:
Sounds like a GREAT idea.
My opinion: The color scheme hurts. Love the logo.
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Click to collapse
Seconded. The text is much too light. A darker charcoal shade would be much better.
If the site gets an apk wrapper (a la FBook) version checking would be rather easy. Set up the directory tree something like this /downloads/WiFiTether/1.2.3.apk and just have the apk compare filenames. If the file names don't match, it needs to install the update.
EDIT: Now following your progress on twitter.
Some solid input. I'll play around with the color scheme and make some changes later this evening once I get back from class. And I actually do plan on making a mobile wrapper eventually, but as it stands as far as the concept layout goes, the site is best used when in portrait mode for easiest functionality. The rest of the site is to be considered supplemental. I do however, have a lot of things I eventually want to integrate; application tags, search, possibility of user uploaded apk files, etc. But for right now, I'm trying to keep the general site as simple as possible to make the workload on my end less stressful (graduating in 2 weeks).
bahnburner said:
If the site gets an apk wrapper (a la FBook) version checking would be rather easy. Set up the directory tree something like this /downloads/WiFiTether/1.2.3.apk and just have the apk compare filenames. If the file names don't match, it needs to install the update.
EDIT: Now following your progress on twitter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did not know how that version checker worked. Thanks. I'll re-work the apk directory scheme akin to that later tonight for when I do eventually get the wrapper up.
thelilliandivide said:
Did not know how that version checker worked. Thanks. I'll re-work the apk directory scheme akin to that later tonight for when I do eventually get the wrapper up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not necessarily how most version checks work, but that's the simplest method I could think of, and probably one of the easiest to implement.
alapapa said:
I think this is a fabulous idea...automated version control would go over very well -- i.e. yum update
you should post up bits that you need help with and have folks contact you.
also..I love the logo!
question: do you propose a rating system or a review prior to listing type of approach or something new to keep this resource trustworthy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! And I feel I might need some help in the future as far as implementing the features that I want to get working. But I'm not quite sure I understand your question. Are you referring to how I choose which applications get posted onto the site?
i'm a graphic designer and web designer, i'll throw in a helping hand if you want, pm me or whatever.
(think about an android based layout to bring it to the phone like Cough*cydia*cough
very cool and much needed
Xda-dev is great, but there is alot of stuff thats not on the market and they have shown to bow down to the tmobs pressure(ie: tether app) so another place to get apps would be great, and your weppage is beautiful and looks like it would be very finger friendly on the g1, but there is a basic model in linux of repositories(which is about what ur doing) and a simple app to d/l them maybe somebody could just make a market.apk with a modded addy, depending on how much is known about the market and its inner workings... it would be nice to do it as it has been always done....but as I stated above your webdesign is very nice and would work well in the native browser(im heading there now on my g1)
bhang
not a bad idea. I think this is great for all verified apps that are pulled from market...
I really like this idea. Go for it.
Just one (stupid) remark about the logo... it's like it has a big nose and a :-| expression... sorry
apetit said:
I really like this idea. Go for it.
Just one (stupid) remark about the logo... it's like it has a big nose and a :-| expression... sorry
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Click to collapse
Haha, I just noticed that actually. Now it's all I see. But yeah, I'm hoping to have a few more apps to upload by the end of next week. Revisions to the site are imminent once I get out of this last class.
I love the idea. One bookmark to check up on all the good non-market apps will be much easier than having several bookmarked threads.
Some applications may benefit from having tags such as [beta], [stable], [experimental], [contains-ads], etc.
As others have mentioned once/if user uploads are implemented an app approval system will be crucial to keep the spam at bay. I can see this really taking off.
im a supporter
zgmf-x322a said:
im a supporter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 this sounds like a great idea, there was something like this for apps for the dash,mda & sda.
Hello everyone,
I'm not new to this forum, i have used it for many years now. Yet i have never made any contribution to the community.
I was fiddling with my G1 again when i found out my rom folder was a complete mess filled with update.zip packages, roms i didn't even know i downloaded. So i though, hey lets develop an application to manage all my roms and radio's with a quick button to upload a rom or radio to my g1.
Something like this:
Sorry i could not post a link, it's restricted. My account is still blocked for that. Admin??
I wonder if anyone would be interested in such an application? And if you are interested could you come up with suggestions to make it better/ help me debugging (i'm a student, i don't have a lot of spare time).
If anyone is interested i will seriously think about further developing this app,
it's now in pre-pre-alpha stage or so .
Greetings from holland.
zuenaerox said:
Hello everyone,
I'm not new to this forum, i have used it for many years now. Yet i have never made any contribution to the community.
I was fiddling with my G1 again when i found out my rom folder was a complete mess filled with update.zip packages, roms i didn't even know i downloaded. So i though, hey lets develop an application to manage all my roms and radio's with a quick button to upload a rom or radio to my g1.
Something like this:
Sorry i could not post a link, it's restricted. My account is still blocked for that. Admin??
I wonder if anyone would be interested in such an application? And if you are interested could you come up with suggestions to make it better/ help me debugging (i'm a student, i don't have a lot of spare time).
If anyone is interested i will seriously think about further developing this app,
it's now in pre-pre-alpha stage or so .
Greetings from holland.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off, I am not sure if this is in the right section...perhaps putting it under General might be a better option, as it does not have to do specifically with developing a ROM.
Secondly, the idea seems promising. I am not fluent with ADB, but if you can flash roms with it (IE: boot the phone into recovery, and use adb to flash the rom), then yeah, I think it would be a great idea. And again, depending on what ADB can do, haev it control nandroid/bart as well for backing up and restoring. I know ADB has the shell command, so if you can use stdin/stdout to read/write to that shell prompt, it would be feasible.
But that is forcing every user to go ahead and keep a db of the ROMs they download...perhaps using an external host to manage the images (keep a listing, changelogs, etc) of the individual roms would be an idea...then you can have the application pull roms directly from that repo. This, of course, would require you to manage the remote repository and keep it up to date.
Thats my $0.02
jmhecker said:
First off, I am not sure if this is in the right section...perhaps putting it under General might be a better option, as it does not have to do specifically with developing a ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is ANDROID Development, not ROM Development.
My $0.02.
Bavilo said:
This is ANDROID Development, not ROM Development.
My $0.02.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats why I said "I'm not sure"...I stand corrected though.
If we want to get technical, this is Htc Dream (G1) Android Development. If we want to be nitpicky this should be in Android development unless it is only for the Dream (G1) and will not work for any other Android phone, which I doubt. But who's being nitpicky anyway?
JAguirre1231 said:
If we want to get technical, this is Htc Dream (G1) Android Development. If we want to be nitpicky this should be in Android development unless it is only for the Dream (G1) and will not work for any other Android phone, which I doubt. But who's being nitpicky anyway?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off, I love the last line of your signature...classic
I just know that the mods and certain 'Senior Members' like to trash talk about threads in the wrong section, rather than simply stating that it would be more appropriate elsewhere. I was just trying to stop the bashing before it started, heh.
This thread is getting sidetracked though. I do think that the idea is a good one, whether it be strictly for G1, or across the board for all Android devices.
Sorry...
Sorry for posting this in the wrong section, i thought it should be in this section becouse it involves rom's.
Putting up a rom repo, would involve PHP and Mysql(a large one, saving all roms and radio's).
I would be very interested starting this project. I could use some help however. I don't mind building such a repo, but the content should be community managed.
I think android is going to be the mobile future so building such a repo would pay off since we're getting more and more rom's. Ill experiment with php and mysql tonight. I don't have a host, i run it locally.
Maybe someone with mysql/ bandwith to spare?
greetings
zuenaerox said:
Sorry for posting this in the wrong section, i thought it should be in this section becouse it involves rom's.
Putting up a rom repo, would involve PHP and Mysql(a large one, saving all roms and radio's).
I would be very interested starting this project. I could use some help however. I don't mind building such a repo, but the content should be community managed.
I think android is going to be the mobile future so building such a repo would pay off since we're getting more and more rom's. Ill experiment with php and mysql tonight. I don't have a host, i run it locally.
Maybe someone with mysql/ bandwith to spare?
greetings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wouldn't necessarily have to be done with MySQL/SQLite/etc...XML would work just as well, but can be a bit more tricky to manage. SQL probably would be the better option now that I think about it.
This idea would have 2 parts to it then, correct? The backend (database hosted online somewhere), and the frontend for the user desktop.
As far as the bandwidth required, there are plenty of places on the net that are geared towards hosting of open source projects...perhaps you could use one of their offerings.
The idea first involved a client managed application only. However the idea in the other post about a web based repo liked me better . Ill try to develop a simple web application to add rom's,track changes. I will try to put a test application online tomorrow.
I hope this repo will be used and managed. I like this forum very much and the community could not live without it. This repo would absolutely be and addition to xda!
Using the repo, you could view all available rom's, installation instructions, track changes.
Check the thread tomorrow. Ill try to upload an example
Have a nice day
zuenaerox said:
The idea first involved a client managed application only. However the idea in the other post about a web based repo liked me better . Ill try to develop a simple web application to add rom's,track changes. I will try to put a test application online tomorrow.
I hope this repo will be used and managed. I like this forum very much and the community could not live without it. This repo would absolutely be and addition to xda!
Using the repo, you could view all available rom's, installation instructions, track changes.
Check the thread tomorrow. Ill try to upload an example
Have a nice day
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think anything is better than what we have now: Threads scattered all over the place with new ROMs getting posted. We need something more centralized.
bro you look like a fake maxisma .. hahahhaha .. sorry had to point that out
@georgegreco86
Well thank you for your kind reply...
@jmhecker
I've put together a quick php,mysql script on a temporary host. It's not possible to add roms. But you can view rom information in an organized way.
This is just an example of what is possible. Never mind the layout.
Its just a quick preview.
androidrepo.zxq.net/index.php
Greetings
Great idea!!!
im not a developer, but im a flashaholic he he, cant wait for this info....
zuenaerox said:
@georgegreco86
Well thank you for your kind reply...
@jmhecker
I've put together a quick php,mysql script on a temporary host. It's not possible to add roms. But you can view rom information in an organized way.
This is just an example of what is possible. Never mind the layout.
Its just a quick preview.
androidrepo.zxq.net/index.php
Greetings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The one thing to think about with this is when you allw people to add/update/delete their roms. You will have to have some sort of permission system in place that would prevent UserA from deleting a ROM that was created and uploaded by UserB.
Also, this creates another login/password that the rom creators need to remember.
Yeah i thougt about that, unfortunatly we live in a world where you can't trust people. So yes i need to build an user auth system
This was just preview
I'm going to bed now, ill be working on it tomorrow
have a nice day
I like to help
well I am just putting a new linux server online in the next day or so
toss one of my google adds on the page and you can host it there
and as space requirements grow I can add more np
it would at ther very least get it hosted so you guys can get it off the ground
by the way I have been lurking around here for months
some of the stuff you guys have done is truely sweet my phone
will never be the say again unless rogers has its way
Hello guys,
I've been working very hard on the repo and i'm glad to announce that the admin part is allmost fully finished!!
@Broncosis
Thank you for your reply!!!!
i hope your host can run php, and mysql. I use the mysql to upload foto's and roms are saved to the server harddisk. Will this be possible?
Thanks in advance for helping get this project off the ground !!
greetings
zuenaerox said:
Hello guys,
I've been working very hard on the repo and i'm glad to announce that the admin part is allmost fully finished!!
@Broncosis
Thank you for your reply!!!!
i hope your host can run php, and mysql. I use the mysql to upload foto's and roms are saved to the server harddisk. Will this be possible?
Thanks in advance for helping get this project off the ground !!
greetings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I may make a suggestion: When you are working on the frontend (what the users (not devs) will see, code it using proper XHTML standards, and utilize classes from within your CSS. The reason I say that is I would be willing to make a desktop application that would scrape your webpage at load, and obtain the ROM categories, rom information, download links, etc, and the user would then be able to simply choose a ROM from the application, which in turn would download it, and create a nandroid backup of the phone, move the ROM over, and flash it, without any user interaction. (thats assuming I can work out a few of the troubles I am running into with ADB and Fastboot)
zuenaerox said:
Hello everyone,
I'm not new to this forum, i have used it for many years now. Yet i have never made any contribution to the community.
I was fiddling with my G1 again when i found out my rom folder was a complete mess filled with update.zip packages, roms i didn't even know i downloaded. So i though, hey lets develop an application to manage all my roms and radio's with a quick button to upload a rom or radio to my g1.
Something like this:
Sorry i could not post a link, it's restricted. My account is still blocked for that. Admin??
I wonder if anyone would be interested in such an application? And if you are interested could you come up with suggestions to make it better/ help me debugging (i'm a student, i don't have a lot of spare time).
If anyone is interested i will seriously think about further developing this app,
it's now in pre-pre-alpha stage or so .
Greetings from holland.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may want to partner with the guy who built Droid Explorer. This sounds like a natural extension to that tool (if it's not already baked in). I know you can push things like APKs to the phone from Droid Explorer.
maxawesome said:
You may want to partner with the guy who built Droid Explorer. This sounds like a natural extension to that tool (if it's not already baked in). I know you can push things like APKs to the phone from Droid Explorer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do we know who it was that created Droid Explorer? I would love to be able to improve upon what he has already done.
[back story to understand question]
I wanted to make a 2d Android game. I am pretty familiar with developing applications for it from my job and I thought it could be a fun project. I have not distributed an application yet because i am still working on the project for my job. I understand the Android market is different than the Iphone and WP7 market , but I still want to develop the game because I own the phone already(Iphone dev looks really expensive, and i dont know anyone who owns a wp7) and I have knowledge of Java and other tools that the game would take.
My problem and question come in when I proposed this idea to my friend who is proficient in creating game assets and he said it would be a bad idea. He said that the game would get pirated a lot, the ads would be blocked, and that someone could easily decompile the project and distribute it as their own. He then said he would rather work on Iphone development or something with less piracy.
My main concern is not the piracy or the ad blocking but the decompiling. I read a thread on this forum and did not want to necro post it, but they message of the thread is that it is very easy to decompile a game and then distribute it. Is this true? How do you prevent this from happening where someone could claim that they created what you did? Is this just like what happened to Blender where someone tried to sell it and claim that they made it?
[question]
Is decompiling a game that easy that anyone can redistribute your project or is my friend just over reacting to a media post he could of read ona forum.
Thanks. Sorry for the long back story
Good morning/evening/Hi
First I'm sorry for my English's mistakes,I'm brazilian.There are a long time ago that I already knew about xda site but I just joined in it now because I need a lot help into apk development.I develop games in Construct 2(paid) for Android but when I finish my game in the program I get a HTML version of it and sent to Adobe Phonegap because like this I can get a apk without the boring problems of make it in ConcoonJS.My problem is when it get back the apk because the apk comes just like a ''raw'' project.What I want to mean is that the apk by the way doesn't come with a icon/logo(I think that like this it must come without the name of the company for instance too).In Unity we can put icon,name of company,compatibity and another things but I prefer to make in Construct my game because Unity is more complex than.SO what I want is a program that can give these informations for my developeds apks.
Thanks to everybody that answers my question!
I will make anyone a modded APK for a price
Public:
Social Media:10$
Games:15$
Any other application:10-15$
Nonpublic:
Social Media:15$
Games:20$
Any other application:15-20$
(All payments made bitcoin price that I set on here)
I am a trained modder I can mod any APK necessary, I will get you a public one, or a private one, or even on for you and your friends, just answer this thread, with the details and application, and I will make it, then PM or post it on this forum, depending on which you choose, payments will be done via bitcoin, which is:
Mod edit: Removed
Also I will help anyone making a modded apk or making an apk already for 5$ doesnt matter if public or not.
If you have a mobile kik me at:
P.S.:Give me a time of a week or two to make the apk after you send the apk you want modded, because I have to fill in everything properly and test it.
P.S.2:I will get it done quicker in the summer rather than in the rest of the year, I have school for 2 more years, but I have trained and trained on how to modify and edit things, I can edit literally anything and succeed, if I don't mod it or it doesn't work 100% I will tell you then refund, but I will know if it works.
You might want to take a look at the forum rules here before you start making these sort of posts. If you've come to XDA to make money, you've come to the wrong place.
Thread closed