

Android app killed by its author due to incompatible phones - riobard
http://blog.iwonderphone.com/2010/03/07/killer-was-killed/
Leech Killer is a SMS/call block app for Android phones http://iwonderphone.com/leechkiller/
======
dpcan
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.

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riobard
Leech Killer (<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
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
Phones, or API levels?

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jrockway
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.

~~~
upinsmoke
Wow, you actually want your users to submit you a patch? How about ask the
users to make the app for you!

~~~
jrockway
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
some people will always whine whether it's free or not.

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thibaut_barrere
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...

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

~~~
gte910h
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
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-...](http://androidandme.com/2010/02/news/all-u-s-android-phones-to-
receive-android-2-1-but-some-will-require-a-wipe/)

~~~
gte910h
Striped and Buttered Pancakes! That will help the platform SO MUCH in many
efforts if they force this update.

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shrnky
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
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)

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

