5 ms·

Android app killed by its author due to incompatible phones

15 points by riobard 17y ago

Leech Killer is a SMS/call block app for Android phones http://iwonderphone.com/leechkiller/

riobard 17y ago
Leech Killer (http://iwonderphone.com/leechkiller/ http://iwonderphone.com/leechkiller/) is a SMS/call block app for Android phones. The author decided to kill it due to maintainability difficulty caused by so many incompatible Android phones.
- follower 17y ago
  Given part of the app's functionality is SMS related I wonder if the author only used official APIs? I know there's a bunch of Android SMS functionality that is only available via "undocumented" APIs which could cause problems across multiple phones.
  - joezydeco 17y ago
    Phones, or API levels?
  - gcb 17y ago
    no he didn't. Killer needed to be used on rooted phones as root to enables all of it magic. So from the beginig he knew it would not work on all phones. But again. If there's need to do this, i still blame the api, not the person that hacked around it's limitations.
- alttab 17y ago
  I'd honestly just say "supports these OS's and these Phones" and tell everyone else to bugger off if they wanted to complain from a different handset or donate to the cause to get support for their platform. Discontinuing development and making a dramatic blog post about it doesn't really benefit anyone, including him.
jrockway 17y ago
Looks like he was mad that it got bad reviews. Personally, I will never put any of my Android apps in the market for this reason. I don't really care about your opinion of my app. If it doesn't work, send me a patch. The author of this app should do the same thing; get a thick skin, and accept patches on Github. That way it is the user's fault for the app not working, not his.
- dpcan 17y ago
  How do you find buyers for your apps if not in the Market?
- upinsmoke 17y ago
  Wow, you actually want your users to submit you a patch? How about ask the users to make the app for you!
  - jrockway 17y ago
    They're getting the app for free, so the onus is on them to add any features they want. If you are writing a paid app, then maybe you should be nicer. But I wouldn't want to listen to your whining for 99 cents either.
    - upinsmoke 17y ago
      some people will always whine whether it's free or not.
tocomment 17y ago
I was thinking of getting into android development. Is this a real concern? Should I quit before I start?
- kgrin 17y ago
  Depends what you're doing... if you're making a fairly low-level utility, then I'd carefully check out the available APIs for whatever you'll need to mess with (i.e. SMS). Otherwise, as far as supporting device differences like, say, multiple screen sizes and resolutions, it's just a matter of being careful about the APIs. Compared to developing for a single device, yes, you definitely need to put more thought and care into platform differences (though you can also target individual phones and OSs, if your app requires e.g. a physical keyboard for some reason rather than an on-screen one).
- gte910h 17y ago
  This was exacerbated by the fact he was using very low level interfaces which were likely not consistent among models. Android is a tough platform to target, as its basically 8 platforms or so currently with differing OS versions and screen sizes.
  - rortian 17y ago
    You may have been alluding to this but all phones should/could be 2.1 OS in the future: http://androidandme.com/2010/02/news/all-u-s-android-phones-to-receive-android-2-1-but-some-will-require-a-wipe/ http://androidandme.com/2010/02/news/all-u-s-android-phones-...
    - gte910h 17y ago
      Striped and Buttered Pancakes! That will help the platform SO MUCH in many efforts if they force this update.
shrnky 17y ago
If palm ever got their heads out if their.... and released an unlocked gsm developers phone I'd be all over it. The irony is they are more open than android at this point. Hell it's been rooted forever, they've acknowledged it, and still don't care.
- mattj 17y ago
  Aren't all palm phones potential dev phones? I recall you just have to do a konami style code to flip it into dev mode (it's described in the palm sdk)
dpcan 17y ago
This particular app appears to need some seriously low level access to the phone. I can completely understand his frustration. However, with most general apps, you can debug all your problems with a number of emulators (which all suck because they move twice as slow as the actual phones). Screen resolution differences are definitely a big challenge, then after that, the application's state. Someone can exit your app from the back button or the Home button, and then getting back in to a complicated app without a "Force Close" error can be a nightmare. Then you have to account for the fact that the phone is doing a number of other things at the same time as your app and it could get slowed down even more. When there is NO multitasking, you don't know how good you have it until you have it ;) Some days I dream of what it would be like to be an iPhone developer. No multitasking, one screen resolution. Ahh the life.
thibaut_barrere 17y ago
iPhone vs Android reminds me a bit of Amiga vs PC. Having one platform (or a few variants) with well-known hardware/software allowed to focus on the 'real' work on the Amiga, and we saw amazing things despite the lower raw power compared to PC. In the end thought, PC took over Amiga. I'm be curious to know how the future will go for both iPhone and Android...
dbz 17y ago
I think google just needs to expand the sdk- and of course- update everyone's OS.

15 points by riobard 17y ago

Leech Killer is a SMS/call block app for Android phones http://iwonderphone.com/leechkiller/

Leech Killer (http://iwonderphone.com/leechkiller/ http://iwonderphone.com/leechkiller/) is a SMS/call block app for Android phones. The author decided to kill it due to maintainability difficulty caused by so many incompatible Android phones.

follower 17y ago
Given part of the app's functionality is SMS related I wonder if the author only used official APIs? I know there's a bunch of Android SMS functionality that is only available via "undocumented" APIs which could cause problems across multiple phones.
- joezydeco 17y ago
  Phones, or API levels?
- gcb 17y ago
  no he didn't. Killer needed to be used on rooted phones as root to enables all of it magic. So from the beginig he knew it would not work on all phones. But again. If there's need to do this, i still blame the api, not the person that hacked around it's limitations.
alttab 17y ago
I'd honestly just say "supports these OS's and these Phones" and tell everyone else to bugger off if they wanted to complain from a different handset or donate to the cause to get support for their platform. Discontinuing development and making a dramatic blog post about it doesn't really benefit anyone, including him.

jrockway 17y ago

Looks like he was mad that it got bad reviews. Personally, I will never put any of my Android apps in the market for this reason. I don't really care about your opinion of my app. If it doesn't work, send me a patch. The author of this app should do the same thing; get a thick skin, and accept patches on Github. That way it is the user's fault for the app not working, not his.

dpcan 17y ago
How do you find buyers for your apps if not in the Market?
upinsmoke 17y ago
Wow, you actually want your users to submit you a patch? How about ask the users to make the app for you!
- jrockway 17y ago
  They're getting the app for free, so the onus is on them to add any features they want. If you are writing a paid app, then maybe you should be nicer. But I wouldn't want to listen to your whining for 99 cents either.
  - upinsmoke 17y ago
    some people will always whine whether it's free or not.

tocomment 17y ago

I was thinking of getting into android development. Is this a real concern? Should I quit before I start?

kgrin 17y ago
Depends what you're doing... if you're making a fairly low-level utility, then I'd carefully check out the available APIs for whatever you'll need to mess with (i.e. SMS). Otherwise, as far as supporting device differences like, say, multiple screen sizes and resolutions, it's just a matter of being careful about the APIs. Compared to developing for a single device, yes, you definitely need to put more thought and care into platform differences (though you can also target individual phones and OSs, if your app requires e.g. a physical keyboard for some reason rather than an on-screen one).
gte910h 17y ago
This was exacerbated by the fact he was using very low level interfaces which were likely not consistent among models. Android is a tough platform to target, as its basically 8 platforms or so currently with differing OS versions and screen sizes.
- rortian 17y ago
  You may have been alluding to this but all phones should/could be 2.1 OS in the future: http://androidandme.com/2010/02/news/all-u-s-android-phones-to-receive-android-2-1-but-some-will-require-a-wipe/ http://androidandme.com/2010/02/news/all-u-s-android-phones-...
  - gte910h 17y ago
    Striped and Buttered Pancakes! That will help the platform SO MUCH in many efforts if they force this update.

shrnky 17y ago

If palm ever got their heads out if their.... and released an unlocked gsm developers phone I'd be all over it. The irony is they are more open than android at this point. Hell it's been rooted forever, they've acknowledged it, and still don't care.

mattj 17y ago
Aren't all palm phones potential dev phones? I recall you just have to do a konami style code to flip it into dev mode (it's described in the palm sdk)

dpcan 17y ago

This particular app appears to need some seriously low level access to the phone. I can completely understand his frustration. However, with most general apps, you can debug all your problems with a number of emulators (which all suck because they move twice as slow as the actual phones). Screen resolution differences are definitely a big challenge, then after that, the application's state. Someone can exit your app from the back button or the Home button, and then getting back in to a complicated app without a "Force Close" error can be a nightmare. Then you have to account for the fact that the phone is doing a number of other things at the same time as your app and it could get slowed down even more. When there is NO multitasking, you don't know how good you have it until you have it ;) Some days I dream of what it would be like to be an iPhone developer. No multitasking, one screen resolution. Ahh the life.

thibaut_barrere 17y ago

iPhone vs Android reminds me a bit of Amiga vs PC. Having one platform (or a few variants) with well-known hardware/software allowed to focus on the 'real' work on the Amiga, and we saw amazing things despite the lower raw power compared to PC. In the end thought, PC took over Amiga. I'm be curious to know how the future will go for both iPhone and Android...

dbz 17y ago

I think google just needs to expand the sdk- and of course- update everyone's OS.