So I've noticed that test builds of MX Player Pro become available here however it's much easier to receive updates through the Play Store automatically rather than having to regularly check the website for new test builds. Many app developers use Google+ Communities or Google Groups that use Google's beta-testing and staged rollouts feature to automatically keep people in that group up to date with the testing version of an app so that if somebody is marked as a tester for the app on their Google account and they install the app through the Play Store then they will automatically receive the test version of the app rather than the regular stable version that most people will receive through the Play Store, this encourages more people to become testers and submit bug reports as well as makes the app updating process easier for testers and ensure that they're all up to date so they're not submitting bug reports for an old version of the app. Is there any chance of having something like this for MX Player Pro? I had a look around and couldn't find something like this but please show me if it already exists.
EDIT: If this could happen then it would also be very helpful for the custom codecs too.
TL;DR
Anyways, someone has already asked before, and the developer said he will think about it for MX v2.0. The developer actually explicitly stopped using Play Store beta in the past for some unspecified reason.
CDB-Man said:
TL;DR
Anyways, someone has already asked before, and the developer said he will think about it for MX v2.0. The developer actually explicitly stopped using Play Store beta in the past for some unspecified reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Charlular said:
So I've noticed that test builds of MX Player Pro become available here however it's much easier to receive updates through the Play Store automatically rather than having to regularly check the website for new test builds. Many app developers use Google+ Communities or Google Groups that use Google's beta-testing and staged rollouts feature to automatically keep people in that group up to date with the testing version of an app so that if somebody is marked as a tester for the app on their Google account and they install the app through the Play Store then they will automatically receive the test version of the app rather than the regular stable version that most people will receive through the Play Store, this encourages more people to become testers and submit bug reports as well as makes the app updating process easier for testers and ensure that they're all up to date so they're not submitting bug reports for an old version of the app. Is there any chance of having something like this for MX Player Pro? I had a look around and couldn't find something like this but please show me if it already exists.
EDIT: If this could happen then it would also be very helpful for the custom codecs too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These are the main concerns in android beta test.
1. For each and every minor update the changelog is to be entered in all supported languages. MX Player supports around 70+ languages & it's very difficult to enter the change log 70+ times for each and every minor updates.
2. As of now the test builds are mostly bug fix versions, not the one for testing new features. So, only recommended for those who has reported/facing the issue. They are getting informed through problem specific thread. Only they can report the particular issue is fixed or not. If it is in the case of beta test community once you opt in for beta & you will continue to get beta builds untill you opts out. So, it can't be used with average users for bug fixing.
3. We have planned to use a closed beta test community for the upcoming major upgrade v2.0 in which new features are to be tested before landing as stable. So, please watch this forum. We may announce the beta test once it's ready to test.
4. Regarding the custom codec, it's very difficult to maintain the custom codec for each and every test version. It will be compiled only from the ffmpeg source for stable version. Anyhow I will consider to compile the custom codec for beta too once beta testing is started.
Thanks you both for the very quick and helpful replies.
ktsamy said:
These are the main concerns in android beta test.
1. For each and every minor update the changelog is to be entered in all supported languages. MX Player supports around 70+ languages & it's very difficult to enter the change log 70+ times for each and every minor updates.
2. As of now the test builds are mostly bug fix versions, not the one for testing new features. So, only recommended for those who has reported/facing the issue. They are getting informed through problem specific thread. Only they can report the particular issue is fixed or not. If it is in the case of beta test community once you opt in for beta & you will continue to get beta builds untill you opts out. So, it can't be used with average users for bug fixing.
3. We have planned to use a closed beta test community for the upcoming major upgrade v2.0 in which new features are to be tested before landing as stable. So, please watch this forum. We may announce the beta test once it's ready to test.
4. Regarding the custom codec, it's very difficult to maintain the custom codec for each and every test version. It will be compiled only from the ffmpeg source for stable version. Anyhow I will consider to compile the custom codec for beta too once beta testing is started.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding #1, I did not know they had to be published for betas, would it not be adequate to put something along the lines of "see changelog at https://sites.google.com/site/mxvpen/" (with the actual URL to a changelog) in each language or something? I guess even just the URL alone would be adequate and you wouldn't have to edit it for each language, it would only be for the few beta testers who wouldn't mind anyway.
Regarding #2, just because something is mainly bug fixes and not features does not mean that we'd prefer to test it than be on the stable build. I see your point about the average user, could this perhaps be worked around by changing the title and logo of the app slightly for beta builds like how Google do with Chrome and Chrome Beta? So the beta app could be called MX Player Pro Beta and have a little beta strap on the icon or have something inside the app that makes it obvious that you're still opted in for the beta and a button in a menu to take you directly to the opt-in/opt-out page?
Regarding #3, I will watch out for that, thanks! Do you have an ETA for v2.0?
Regarding #4, I'm a bit confused as to how you publish test builds of custom codecs, I though that because of this post you only have test builds of certain custom codecs at certain times, so you could just put the test builds in the play store for the custom codecs that actually have a test build
CDB-Man said:
TL;DR
Anyways, someone has already asked before, and the developer said he will think about it for MX v2.0. The developer actually explicitly stopped using Play Store beta in the past for some unspecified reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't see the second part of your post. Do you not have any idea as to why they stopped using it and so do you think it's unlikely they'll use it again?
Charlular said:
I didn't see the second part of your post. Do you not have any idea as to why they stopped using it and so do you think it's unlikely they'll use it again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My first 2 points are the reason.
One more point I have forgot to mention is that beta builds are not immediately rolled out. When we tested last time it took some time to be rolled out completely. Not everyone is getting the update immediately after uploading to the playstore. So, it is not the efficient way to test the bug fixes real time.
Releasing a seperate bata is again going to a head ache and will make confusion. There is no way to switch to stable version untill or unless the user updates the stable build. Otherwise we have to maintain two applications separately.
Be Patience till we call for beta test for v2.0.
ktsamy said:
My first 2 points are the reason.
One more point I have forgot to mention is that beta builds are not immediately rolled out. When we tested last time it took some time to be rolled out completely. Not everyone is getting the update immediately after uploading to the playstore. So, it is not the efficient way to test the bug fixes real time.
Releasing a seperate bata is again going to a head ache and will make confusion. There is no way to switch to stable version untill or unless the user updates the stable build. Otherwise we have to maintain two applications separately.
Be Patience till we call for beta test for v2.0.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah okay, well then for the moment is there any mailing list that I can easily subscribe/unsubscribe to for updates to the test builds of MX Player Pro or the custom codec for ARMv7 NEON?
This forum is the place to watch regarding updates.
ktsamy's custom codec thread has all the updates regarding his custom codec.
Regarding MX Player bug fix versions, the developer will reference a beta version whenever one is created to address a specific issue highlighted in a forum thread here. The developer always posts test builds on his own website here: https://sites.google.com/site/mxvpen/translation/test-build
Hello everybody,
like I guess quite a few people here, I develop for Android in my free time, and this is my second app. It's a finance tracker, hopefully an evolution to the well-known MoneyWise. I decided that I wanted a new one since, although MoneyWise is definitively useful, it's ugly and its usability is a little bit too cumbersome.
So, I made LBudget with the Material Design principles in my head as much as I could and, if any of you uses the Google+ app, you'll hopefully find the navigation relatively familiar.
The app is still in Beta phase (using the Google Play platform) and, because of the current condition of Android L, it will remain as such at least until a stable release is commercially released. Nevertheless, I would like to use the time until then for the app to be tested and improved. If you would like to contribute by installing it, you'll first need to follow the annoying Google Play standard procedure:
Join the testing community at https://plus.google.com/communities/117254163315407088886
Register as a test at https://play.google.com/apps/testing/org.jorge.lbudget (use the same account with which you joined the testing community).
Download the app in the link that the aforementioned page provides once you become a tester.
For reporting bugs, requesting features, or such, I want to really encourage you to utilize the project GitHub issue tracker, but if you don't know how to use it just leave a comment and I will "port" it to GitHub.
Also, if you're interested in contributing but not using Android L yet or simply don't want to install the app, you can contribute to the translation project at https://crowdin.com/project/lbudget
Went to check this out, but it says I need a newer SDK version. I'm not on L, anyway to make it compatible with 4.4.4?
Sc4ryB3ar said:
Went to check this out, but it says I need a newer SDK version. I'm not on L, anyway to make it compatible with 4.4.4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, the app is compatible with L+, so understandably if you try to install in 4.4.4 you cannot. Probably it is feasible to adapt the app to 4.0+, but my intention was knowledgeably using only the new features of L to become familiar with it.
Hi Guys, I had a bit of a genius idea for an App. Anyways I have got a quote from someone who can create it for me, what I am wondering is though, how difficult do Google make it to get an app uploaded. Do I need a developer license or upfront payment etc. I don't plan on releasing anymore (not anytime soon), what sort of difficulties/costs are involved? Also how does device compatibility work, do I need to list all compatibly devices or its it just based on O/S version?
Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum and have joined as I've started working on a private/commercial version of AOSP. I've worked in mobile apps natively and more recently using React Native for the last 5 years and am enjoying hacking and playing around the source.
The main usage for build of AOSP is for a bespoke vehicle tracking device with a few additional features. So far I've managed to build AOSP, flash onto a device, and most recently set the tracking app as the home app so that it boots on launch.
The question that I can't find a solid answer to online is does anyone the best way of going about modifying AOSP so that we can deploy an OTA zip update and have the OS download and update it?
I'm not sure if this is necessarily the best way/use of time. I'm guessing it might be easier to just update the app itself internally and not develop OTA updates for the OS? I think at this stage I'm just after opinions before I spend too much time getting stuck into it. My only concern would be that we have 100+ devices out there and no ability to update the OS... although if it's a basic build of AOSP that just removes a few pre-installed apps, has a custom bootlogo and replaces the home app, maybe that's not necessary?
Any advice at this early stage would be gratefully received! Additionally, any tips for development or something a noob would benefit from would be great.
Thanks,
Joel
Hi all.
As I recently unlocked my smartphone and installed a custom ROM, I was wondering what were Google position about GApps. I read some quick news online about this but there's nothing clear. To me it's not "piracy" or "hacking" as most of us don't modify their apps. Actually I think we really enjoy Google's services and this is why we need those packages.
My point is we're customers of Google even we make some changes on our devices. As far as I know, this company is more or less in an "open source mood". Do you guys know if there's (somewhere) an official response to this ?
Thanks. :good: