

Android Market Client Update - abraham
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/12/android-market-client-update.html

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dpcan
"To make it easier for developers to distribute and manage their products, we
will introduce support for device targeting based on screen sizes and
densities"

This is MUSIC TO MY EARS.

So many of my 1-star ratings are from users who have very specific device
related issues, particularly with tablet devices with 480x800 screens and
160dip densities. My games look terrible because the graphics don't scale up
under these conditions, and it's not realistic to create hundreds of graphics
at different sizes for games as simple as mine.

~~~
sjs382
Please keep in mind that non-tablet devices have 800x480 screens, too. (Mine
phone, too at 3.5").

~~~
dpcan
Yes, but most phones with this resolution report a density of 240dpi and auto
sale images to fit the full screen.

Tablets on the other hand have 800x480 screens but report a density of 160dpi
and images don't scale up and look like little images in the top left corner
of the screen.

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sadiq
"Since most users who request a refund do so within minutes of purchase, we
will reduce the refund window on Market to 15 minutes"

I'm concerned that's gone too far the other way. Twenty four hours was too
long for a utility/short game but at fifteen minutes, you're cutting it fine
if you have installation problems or need to properly evaluate the app.

~~~
dannyr
I think this is fair. If you end up using the app for more than 15 minutes, I
think you have to pay for it.

This is still generous compared to the App Store which doesn't give you an
easy way to refund your app purchase.

~~~
dpcan
I completely agree. Too many users will purchase an app to play for the
evening somewhere (while on a trip, for example) and just refund the next
morning. It's unfair to the developers. 15 minutes is ample time to determine
if the app is something you want to keep or not. As a developer, I still think
this is better than the App Store, as buyers deserve the opportunity to return
a purchase that is defective or not what they were expecting.

EDIT: I just thought about this another way....

With only 15 minutes, we're asking users to make pretty short snap decisions
as to whether or not they want to keep the app. Just as purchasing an app is
usually a spur of the moment decision, now canceling may work under the same
conditions - causing MORE cancels.

~~~
lambda
With only 15 minutes, I'm a lot less likely to buy an app. For instance, I
recently purchased Alchemy Premium only because of the 24 hour return policy;
I'm not willing to use the ad-supported version, so I tried out the pay
version. It wasn't interesting enough to me that I would have kept it on my
own, but my girlfriend got enough of a kick out of it when I showed it to her
an hour or two later that I did decide to keep it. Had there been a 15 minute
return policy, I would have returned it and never again gone back to it.

Another example would be 8pen. Interesting idea, so I decided to try it out.
But it's something that takes enough learning you need more than 15 minutes to
decide if it will be worth it and you'll be dedicated enough to learn it.
Turns out that it didn't really click with me, so I returned it; but had it
been a little more appealing, I might have kept it. Without just a 15 minute
return window, I wouldn't have enough time to make an effective decision and
would most likely not buy in the first place or just return it because of
that.

I, for one, will be much less likely to buy apps with only a 15 minute window.

~~~
enjo
For every time you do that, there are users who download apps trying to
accomplish one task. I've had several friends do exactly that. They'll
download the app, use it do whatever they want, and refund it. This way at
least you have to do whatever your doing quickly.

~~~
lambda
What apps are there that are particularly useful for a single task? Most apps
that I download I do so because they'll be useful in the future, not just
once.

~~~
dannyr
How about backing up your text messages, call history, etc so you transfer it
to another phone?

This is a one-time task. If it's 24 hours, I can easily finish the backup and
get refund.

If it's only 15 minutes, I won't have enough time.

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haribilalic
_We are also increasing the maximum size for .apk files on Market to 50MB, to
better support richer games._

They should increase this. There are some amazing games on the iPhone that are
_well_ above 50 MB. RAGE HD is 743.6 MB (but its an iPad app too) and Myst is
533.4 MB.

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david2777
The Gameloft game Dragon Hunter(Which isn't on the Android Market) comes with
a 5mb .apk. Then once the app installs it connects to the internet to download
the rest of the 240mb of files. That seems like the best way to work around
the limit.

~~~
SingAlong
That work-around comes at a cost of the server bandwidth tho. You'll have to
maintain a server with the game resources. It's one time cost (or probably 2-3
times if the user uninstalls and re-installs again a few times).

But your idea is actually cool if your app needs a lot of screen specific
resources. They can be downloaded later after checking the device screen
specs.

~~~
litewulf
On the bright side, its a bit easier on the device itself, as the package
manager needs to copy the APK from the download location when installing, so
by storing application resources outside of the APK, installs will be faster
and less likely to fail.

~~~
vetinari
It is also much more flexible. Aura (GPS navigation) downloads maps only of
those states or countries, that you are interested in. You don't have to store
all maps.

