How to make money with Android. One developer's journey to making an income from Android apps. The goal: $1000 a month.

Posts tagged News

Reply To Comments Enabled For All Google Play Developers

May14
2013 3 Comments Written by David Webb

A few months ago we heard that Google had started enabling “reply to comments” for selected Android developers on Google Play. Unfortunately I didn’t get access at the time, and have been waiting for a chance to try it out ever since. Well it seems like today is the big day. According to the official announcement by Google, all developers can now reply to comments on Google Play.

Screenshot of Google Play developer feature - Reply To User Reviews

This new feature is a big deal for many Android developers. Anyone who’s released an app on Google Play knows what it’s like to receive a negative review, complaining about problems which have already been fixed, or are simply the result of a misunderstanding by the user. This kind of thing happens all the time. And up until now, it’s been impossible to follow up with these users. READ MORE »

Tagged , , , , , ,

New Android SDK Tools and ADT Revision 17

Mar22
2012 9 Comments Written by David Webb

Android with Screwdriver and Spanner InlaidThe Android Developers blog just announced an update for the Android SDK Tools and ADB. This new release, version 17, brings many improvements to the build process. Here are some of my favourite new features:

  • Added check for Android API calls that require a version of Android higher than the minimum supported version. This will save you from having to test your app on Android 1.6 for example, only to have it fail due to an API call that was introduced in Android 2.1
  • Added a feature that allows you to run some code only in debug mode. Builds now generate a class called BuildConfig containing a DEBUG constant that is automatically set according to your build type. You can check the (BuildConfig.DEBUG) constant in your code to run debug-only functions such as outputting debug logs.
  • Added feature to automatically setup JAR dependencies. Any .jar files in the /libs folder are added to the build configuration (similar to how the Ant build system works). Also, .jar files needed by library projects are also automatically added to projects that depend on those library projects.
  • Updated the resource chooser to show the resolved value for resources. For example, when selecting @string/hello the chooser displays a resolved value such as “Hello World”). The resource chooser also now allows you to edit the chosen value directly.

There are plenty more changes to be found in the SDK Release Notes and ADT Release Notes. The Android Emulator can now run x86 system images at native speed, thanks to contributions from Intel. Lint has also received a major upgrade, with 40 new rules checking for performance and code issues. READ MORE »

Posted in Android Development - Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Google Play – The New Android Market

Mar07
2012 13 Comments Written by David Webb

Google Play - Android MarketToday Google announced (in several places) that the Android Market is being rebranded “Google Play”

The new marketplace (sorry, “play store”) includes content from four main areas – Movies, Music, Apps & Games, and Books. Of course, not all of these are available outside of the US yet, so folks in Australia will only get access to Apps & Games and Books for now. READ MORE »

Posted in Google - Tagged , , , , , ,

Android Developers on Google+

Jan31
2012 2 Comments Written by David Webb

Android Developers Google+ Logo

This morning Google announced a brand new Google+ page for Android Developers.

The goal is to create “a place for Android developers everywhere to meet, share, and connect with the people behind the Android developer experience”.

The Android Developer Relations team will be hosting Google+ Hangouts from this page, and even calling in some external developers to talk about how their apps are made. If you’re keen to sit down for a chat, check out the weekly Android Office Hours on Google+.

The page was only created a few hours ago, but already holds some great info. It’s great to see Google reaching out to developers in this way, and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes in the future.

Check out the Android Developers page on Google+

Android Developers on Google+
Posted in Google - Tagged , , ,

SOPA Blackout Today

Jan18
2012 3 Comments Written by David Webb

SOPA Stop Sign

January 18th is SOPA Blackout Day. I’ll be participating in this endeavour – anyone visiting the blog today will be presented with a black overlay and a link explaining why the SOPA legislation is so dangerous to the internet as we know it today.

For those who aren’t aware, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) is a bill being presented in the United States. It aims to limit online piracy by extended legal measures, some of which are outlined below:

  • Gives the US government the right to unilaterally censor foreign websites.
  • Gives copyright holders the right to issue economic takedowns and bring lawsuits against website owners and operators, if those websites have features that make it possible to post infringing content.
  • Makes it a felony offense to post a copyrighted song or video.

Mashable has a great summary of what’s wrong with SOPA. I recommend you read this overview, and let all your friends know the danger of this bill. Whether you’re in the US or not, if this bill is passed it will have a tremendous detrimental impact on your activities online. Let’s make sure it doesn’t get through.

Tagged , , , ,

Over 700,000 Android Devices Activated Per Day

Dec21
2011 2 Comments Written by David Webb

Chart of Android Activations by David Webb

Andy Rubin just posted the latest Android goodness on Google+. Apparently there are now over 700,000 Android devices activated per day around the world. And that’s not counting upgrades.

The full message, posted in two parts on Andy’s Google+ profile:

There are now over 700,000 Android devices activated every day

…and for those wondering, we count each device only once (ie, we don’t count re-sold devices), and “activations” means you go into a store, buy a device, put it on the network by subscribing to a wireless service. READ MORE »

Tagged , , , ,

New Forum for Android Developers

Dec19
2011 7 Comments Written by David Webb

Roman Forum Today I’d like to announce a bit of a new direction for this website. I’ve just launched an official forum, associated with the blog. It’s available at http://makingmoneywithandroid.com/forum/.

There’s a couple of reasons why I decided to launch this forum. I’ve been getting a lot of email queries lately, which would probably be of general interest to many blog readers. Questions about how I developed an app, or details about the monthly income reports, as well as more general Android queries. Rather than communicating with people individually over email, it would make a lot more sense to post these questions publicly so everyone can benefit from them.

But also also I’d like to give others an opportunity to contribute their knowledge & experience in a public setting. Not everyone has their own blog, and even if they do, it might not have a large readership yet. My hope with this forum is to provide a place where Android developers can share experiences & code, with a focus on marketing and making a profit from their apps. READ MORE »

Tagged , , , , , , ,

I Won An iPad

Nov04
2011 5 Comments Written by David Webb

Black Apple iPad 2You know all those “Win an iPad” competitions that seem to be so prolific throughout online advertising? I’ve seen so many of these competitions that at some point I just stopped paying attention, let alone entering the contest. I never knew anyone who actually won an iPad, so what’s the point of entering?

Well just last month, I saw my mobile ISP, Amaysim, was running a competition where you could win an iPad, and a 10GB mobile data pack. It caught my attention, since it was only available to people who had liked their Facebook page. Being a local Aussie company, there weren’t many people who fit this criteria. I might be in for a chance. READ MORE »

Tagged , , , ,

Galaxy Nexus & Android 4.0

Oct20
2011 2 Comments Written by David Webb

Google Android 4.0 LogoI watched the live Google/Samsung announcement of the Galaxy Nexus yesterday. The event was held in Hong Kong, and streamed live to the Android Developers YouTube channel. I wasn’t completely blown away by the hardware – seems pretty run-of-the-mill after being spoiled with the Galaxy S II. But I was impressed to see how much thought Google has put into the user experience for Android 4.0 (“Ice Cream Sandwich”).

I get the impression that this time, Google’s focused on the little things. Like zero shutter lag for the camera, rather than the megapixel count. Or streamlining the voice-to-text capabilities, as well as copy & paste. These “little things” are really the things that matter for consumers. Apple’s known this for a long time, and one of the selling points for Apple’s phones is the great user experience (even if the flexibility isn’t there). I think Google’s trying to take a leaf from Apple’s book here, and start building an engaging, “love-able” (their words, not mine!) user interface. An admirable goal, and from what I’ve seen, they have taken big steps in this direction with the latest version of Android.

But that’s the consumer side of things. For developers, Android 4.0 introduces a number of new concepts, including:

  • Unified UI toolkit – “A single set of UI components, styles, and capabilities for phones, tablets, and other devices”. So Android 4.0 has finally pulled together the Gingerbread & Honeycomb releases.
  • Rich communication and sharing - A bunch of new APIs, most significantly Android Beam, which enables NFC-based instant sharing between smartphones.
  • New lock screen - Not sure how much opportunity there is for developers to plug in here, but Google has introduced a new set of instant actions which can be accessed directly from the lock screen (camera & music controls). READ MORE »
Posted in Review - Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Apple iPhone 4S vs. Samsung Galaxy S II

Oct05
2011 7 Comments Written by David Webb

iPhone vs AndroidOk, so maybe the title’s just a little bit of a linkbait. ;) But I got a very strong sense of déjà vu when I woke up this morning and first read the specs for the new iPhone 4S. Dual-core processor, 8MP camera, world phone…. hang on a sec, that’s describing my phone! My Samsung Galaxy S II that is. The one I’ve had in my pocket for months already.

This feeling of “been there, done that” only increased when I read on further to the details of iOS 5 (A̶n̶d̶r̶o̶i̶d̶ ̶s̶t̶y̶l̶e̶ improved notifications, anyone?) When the iPhone 4 was announced, it seemed to blow away all the competition. It was simply better than anything else out there. But I can hardly say the same about yesterday’s announcement. In my opinion, it was the most unimpressive iPhone release yet. Sure, the iPhone 4S is obviously an incremental upgrade to the iPhone 4. And many of the improvements are welcome. But they’re also long overdue – and suspiciously familiar to long-time Android users. READ MORE »

Posted in Review - Tagged , , , , , , ,
« Older Entries

Android Ads

LeadBolt Apps Advertising Network

I Recommend

LiveStats - Real-Time Analytics by GoSquared. Watch your Website's Traffic Unfold.

MobFox