The Android Developers Blog has announced that they will be adding content ratings (i.e. teen, mature, etc.) to all of their apps in the Android Market. The move is supposedly in order to provide “users with more information about applications.” As the Android OS becomes more popular, particularly as an entry-level device, it will be important to censor offensive apps from its younger users.
The new policy says that new and updated apps will be required to submit an accurate rating for their applications. They also state that existing apps will need to be assigned ratings, or they will be labeled as “Mature” content. The four designations are “All,” “Pre-teen,” “Teen,” and “Mature”.
While some might view these content ratings as a betrayal of the open OS ideology, they might be a necessary step in Android’s evolution. In its youth, Android was primarily appealing to early-adopting adults. Now, as more entry-level devices come to market, and the OS gains wider recognition, there will be a larger population of children using it. If Android wants the support of parents, who make the final purchasing decisions, there need to be some content limitations in place.
They haven’t yet announced how they will go about limiting what younger users can download. It might be via a credit card confirmation or password, as Apple requires on their mature content. We highly doubt the screening will be as flimsy as an ‘Enter your birthday’ field, or an ‘Over 18?’ check-box.
The Android Market is undergoing some changes as we told you yesterday. Thanks to some information from a software developer, we now know that these changes include a face-lift in the graphical look of Android’s application store. The developer’s console, which is used by app writers to upload their work, now includes a few new options.
For example, a 512 x 512 high resolution app icon is now a choice for the code monkeys working on an app. “Featured graphics” at a Hi-Res 1024 x 500 is an option and there is space for a YouTube promotional video. All of these changes could be coming soon as Android 2.3 is only a few weeks away and the developer’s console will be shut down on Thursday night. It all bodes well for a new look for the Android Market, certainly before the end of the year and perhaps much sooner than you would think.
Even though Android is an open system, there are limits to what Google will allow as the developers of the app named Secret SMS Replicator found out. Added to the Android Market Wednesday, the software was removed Thursday after numerous complaints. The app allowed users to read SMS messages not intended for their eyes, by having the message transferred from the host phone to the user’s phone secretly.
Citing the Android Market Content Policy, Google quickly kicked the app out the back door. Zak Tanjeloff, CEO of product developer DLP, defended his firm’s Frankenstein creation when he told the New York Times, “This app is certainly controversial, but can be helpful to people in relationships where this type of monitoring can be useful,” The executive continued, “The app is unique because there is no visible icon or shortcut to access it, so once it’s installed, it will continue to monitor without revealing itself.”
DLP, also the developer of the Mirror App for the Apple iPhone, says it creates about 100 apps a year for the Apple handset and for Android devices. Tanjeloff said that they decided on submitting the Secret SMS Replicator to the Android Market instead of the App Store because the former would not need to review the submission before having it listed. “We can’t build it for the iPhone because it wouldn’t make it past the App Store approval process,” Mr. Tanjeloff said.
Did Google do the right thing, or should open system mean open system regardless of what software is developed?
App developer The Astonishing Tribe is currently developing an intriguing app called Recognizr, an augmented reality app that utilizes your phone’s camera to identify your friends via facial recognition and then display both their contact information and a variety of social networking services they are connected to. The head of user experience research at The Astonishing Tribe, Dan Gärdenfors, demonstrated Recognizr at the Mobile World Congress and indicated that the app would make its way to the Android Market within the next few months.
In addition to recognizing your friends and displaying their contact information and social networking habits, you can use Recognizr to upload their picture to Facebook and it can automatically tag everyone in the photo based on Recognizr profiles. This app seems like it will be a lot of fun and could prove to be very useful, although some may see it as a potential invasion of privacy. What do you think?
Gameloft is a big name in mobile app development, so when they have something to say about developing for Android, it may be worth a listen. According to Gameloft, their iPhone apps sales outpaces Android app sales 400 to 1. Consequently, they have chosen to scale back on Android app development. From Gameloft:
We have significantly cut our investment in Android platform, just like … many others. [The Android Market] is not as neatly done as on the iPhone. Google has not been very good to entice customers to actually buy products. On Android nobody is making significant revenue.
Gameloft may have some good points. When compared to the polished experience on iTunes, the Android Market is far less exciting and enticing. Hopefully as more Android handsets hit the market, Android app development and sales will both prosper.
Slacker Radio announces that their free app is now available in the Android Market, ready for download on Android handsets like the Motorola DROID and Eris. Slacker Radio offers up a library of millions of songs for Android users to listen to their heart’s content. According to Slacker:
Slacker, Inc. today announced that the Slacker Radio app is available for Android phones. Music lovers* can now listen to their favorite Slacker stations anywhere they happen to be on their Android-powered smartphone. The free application is available immediately by visiting http://www.Slacker.com from a supported** Android phone or by visiting the Android Market. Verizon customers using the new DROID by Motorola can locate the free Slacker Radio application quickly by visiting the Verizon channel of the Android Market on that phone.
Check out Slacker Radio on your Android and check out some more screenshots after the break!
The Android-powered HTC Hero is finally available in the U.S. via Sprint and their “Now Network.” For $179.99 and a two-year contract, you can take this little wonder home and enjoy some eye-pleasing home screen widgets, a 5.0-megapixel camera, and plenty of apps in the Android Market.
Europe has been enjoying the Hero for a while now, but it’s fresh and new in the States and ushers in a wave of new Android devices that should surely make the little green ‘droid-lover’s heart glad. Let us know if you pick up an HTC Hero from Sprint – let us know what you think!
Check out the video below of Android update 1.6. One update that’s been highly anticipated is the new Android Market, but other updates include the following:
Quick Search Box
Camera/Camcorder/Gallery
Battery usage indicator
Improved Text To Speech
CDMA support
Give the video a look-see and let us know what you think.
Due to the addition of a Judging app in the Android Market, now YOU can judge apps submitted for the Android Developers Challenge Part Deux. The ADC2 Judging app is now updated and ready to go – simply download it onto your Android device and you will be notified of new apps ready for your rating. Open the app, try it out, then return to the Judging app and rate the app based on these categories:
Originality of concept
Effective use of the Android platform
Polish and appeal
Indispensability
Download the app and start rating apps so you can participate in the Android Developers Challenge (part Deux, of course). Your feedback is invaluable!
Are you still carrying around scraps of paper with reminders and to-do’s written on them? If you have an Android phone, there’s no reason to carry around the paper scraps when you can go digital – with Remember The Milk (RTM) from the Remember The Milk Blog. RTM is a way to manage your to-do lists from multiple locations: your Android handset, desktop or notebook web browser, or even by adding new to-do items via email.
The app itself is free at the Android Market, but to use it to it’s fullest potential, you need to be a Remember The Milk Pro user, requiring a $25 yearly subscription. Before you spend the cash, you can get a 15-day trial. RTM stays in sync with your online account and sends reminders via the notification bar on your phone, so it’s quite handy and may mean the end of carrying scraps of paper to-do lists.
The Android Developers Blog has announced that they will be adding content ratings (i.e. teen, mature, etc.) to all of their apps in the Android Market. The move is supposedly in order to provide “users with more information about applications.” As the Android OS becomes more popular, particularly as an entry-level device, it will be important to censor offensive apps from its younger users.
Gameloft is a big name in mobile app development, so when they have something to say about developing for Android, it may be worth a listen. According to Gameloft, their iPhone apps sales outpaces Android app sales 400 to 1. Consequently, they have chosen to scale back on Android app development. From Gameloft:
Slacker Radio announces that their free app is now available in the Android Market, ready for download on Android handsets like the Motorola DROID and Eris. Slacker Radio offers up a library of millions of songs for Android users to listen to their heart’s content. According to Slacker:
The Android-powered HTC Hero is finally available in the U.S. via Sprint and their “Now Network.” For $179.99 and a two-year contract, you can take this little wonder home and enjoy some eye-pleasing home screen widgets, a 5.0-megapixel camera, and plenty of apps in the Android Market.
Due to the addition of a Judging app in the Android Market, now YOU can judge apps submitted for the Android Developers Challenge Part Deux. The ADC2 Judging app is now updated and ready to go – simply download it onto your Android device and you will be notified of new apps ready for your rating. Open the app, try it out, then return to the Judging app and rate the app based on these categories:
Are you still carrying around scraps of paper with reminders and to-do’s written on them? If you have an Android phone, there’s no reason to carry around the paper scraps when you can go digital – with Remember The Milk (RTM) from the Remember The Milk Blog. RTM is a way to manage your to-do lists from multiple locations: your Android handset, desktop or notebook web browser, or even by adding new to-do items via email.
