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China can't sell paid apps and Russia has restricted sales according to the site (they need to use ads, basically).

I would expect if a game was pirated Google would be able to freeze any payments and redirect them to the infringed on author, though I'm not sure of how often payments are made (if instantly, maybe google should reconsider and put a lag in them - maybe a week).

Yep, you can start listening a few seconds after you start the download. This is the usual method for me; buy the book in the app, and start listening a few seconds later no matter where I am. It's actually easier to buy the book from the app than it is on the website (just tap "Buy Book using 1 credit" and confirm).

The Android version does have bookmarks and chapter marks as well, and you can choose from different formats to download from the settings. It also has listening statistics and some kind of pseudo "achievement" system (things like for total listening time, library size, listening all night, listening for X hours in a row, and so forth). You can see screenshots of some of that stuff here: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.audible.application I'm not familiar with the iOS version, so I don't know how similar they are, but when I looked at the app in the iTunes store, there weren't any screenshots to compare against.

I've just realised I'd misunderstood the initial question. I thought (based on the discussions) the query was how to install an application that lets you access the Android Market more easily than the default app.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.triapodi.apprec is one answer - there are others on the Market, and I haven't tested any of them (that happens to be the first one I found).

If you want an alternative app store installed then no, looks like the Android Market itself wont help, and AT&T are doing their best to prevent you installing them from other sources.

How do you recommend installing such an alternative market if you happen to be on AT&T, which hides "Unknown sources" on all its phones?

Erm. From the Google Android Market?

Such applications will be removed. From the Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement:

4.5 Non-Compete. You may not use the Market to distribute or make available any Product whose primary purpose is to facilitate the distribution of Products outside of the Market.

http://developer.android.com/guide/publishing/licensing.html

I'm not entirely sure because I've not seen the need to use it personally yet, but wouldn't the Android Market Licensing service stop this? Been around for a while this API...

Actually, you kind of are restricted to the default launcher - if you don't replace the default launcher in /system then it runs in the background wasting resources. GO is still awesome if you didn't root yet though.

I'm no star dev, but I have a few free applications on market. One of the things I noticed is for a while Google have had a message stating that copy protection is being deprecated, and replaced with "Licensing service". More information here: http://developer.android.com/guide/publishing/licensing.html. Not sure if this would affect OP's situation; whether he was/is using the old licensing services and/or if it will improve the situation in general.

There is a branch/ATM finder app. I've used it twice so far while traveling.

That's when the Native Development Kit was first released.

Though arguably, since 2.2's inclusion of an automatic JIT compiler, everything is native code now. And of course the system libraries always were, which is what 90%+ of most apps' time is spent in.

Then there's the hardware - CPU speed, available RAM etc, which tend to be higher on flagship Android devices as a rule. But I expect you're not really interested in actual resulting performance, you've probably just got something against VMs.

Probably not 60% right now, but the roll out is WAY slower than iOS devices

Android stats Android 2.1 7 31.4% Android 2.2 8 57.6% Android 2.3 9 0.8% http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html

Note that those numbers are "based on the number of Android devices that have accessed Android Market within a 14-day period ending on the data collection date noted below", IOW only the devices that tried to find apps on the "official" store in the last two weeks - Android users who know few apps support their old OS, as well as those who are locked out of the official store (and thus usually also to an old version) aren't even counted.

Probably not 60% right now, but the roll out is WAY slower than iOS devices

Android stats
Android 2.1 7 31.4%
Android 2.2 8 57.6%
Android 2.3 9 0.8%
http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html

Some iOS stats
4.2.1: 52.89 %
4.2: 0.09 %
4.1: 27.50 %
http://www.quora.com/What-proportion-of-all-iPhone-owners-use-iOS4-*-today

About 50% of users run one version behind on Android where as around 50% run the LATEST version of iOS with the rest of the versions scattered.. iOS users can get the latest OS much faster (officially) than Android users.

The Nexus one barely got 1 years of updates then OFFICIAL compatibility was dropped but you could get updates by rooting.
Apple has been providing updates for 3 years for each of the iPhones before they become End of life, then users are left with Jailbreaking to get more features.

http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-2.3-highlights.html

See first entry under "New ways of communicating"

On android you couldn't copy/paste in the browser until 1.5, released 7 months after 1.0: MS is releasing a system wide copy/paste in the next couple of weeks.

Also, wasn't Android lacking multi touch at launch? All this crying is from people who wouldn't even consider using the platform.

For android you can start here for a list: https://market.android.com/search?q=jabber&c=apps

For iPhone you will find many of the same companies providing apps. Some don't support file transfer (pictures) and some do.

Google Voice (phone answering system) does support SMS. But you only need Google Talk (free) for unlimited world wide text.

Plus One.

Google talk has totally replaced SMS for me on my Android phone.

Even my Iphone friends use one of the many Google Talk clients, like IMO. Nobody in their right mind would use SMS internationally, and unless you paid for the unlimited SMS plan you would be nuts to pay for SMS on a per-message basis.

Google talk is Google's implementation of Jabber, (XMPP) and interoperability with standard Jabber Servers/Clients has improved of late to the point where you can send and receive to just about any standard jabber gateway, and any jabber client.

The Android version of GTalk comes on every Android phone, and is essential for the Android market to work. But it leaves a tad to be desired, as Google has only implemented about half of jabber capabilities on the smartphone platform.

But there are a dozen or so XMPP/Jabber clients in the android market to choose from, some of which handle file transfer and voice calling as well.

SMS is a dead man walking. The carriers priced it out of existence.

Whoever that loser is, he's wrong.
http://market.android.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=112622

And, BTW, which scientific calculator do they mean?

https://market.android.com/search?q=scientific+calculator&c=apps

If there are more than one app with the same name, tell us from which developer are the bad ones. As far as I see the app is still there!

Stop complaining, download SL4A, and build your own tea-timer in 2 lines of the scripting language of your choice. One of the examples is a two-line script that scans a barcode and looks it up on Amazon - did your 433MHz Celeron do that?

Seriously, there will of course be many things your phone cannot do relative to your PC (lack of keyboard, small screen blah blah) and conversely many things your phone can that your PC hasn't a hope of (mobility, GPS, camera blah blah). People write phone apps based on what they think people will use the platform for, and there are thousands of apps that do stuff that is totally impractical on PCs.

Yes, you can install ffmpeg to recode video with if you want, or busybox and go further. The kernel is Linux, so you can get the NDK, cross-compile gcc for it, and start writing or porting whatever you like. If you don't mind using vi on a 3.7" touchscreen.

I honestly never thought I'd say something positive about Philadelphia, but since moving here I've found one thing:

WMMR. It's online at wmmr.com and they're just awesome. They're a rock station, and recently they've started to play a few more recent bands since Clearchannel killed off the only top 40 rock station in the area a few years ago but still stick mostly to classic rock and hard rock. Their sister station WMGK has more of a classic rock program. All live DJs all the time. Love 'em.

They also have a streaming app for Android and I believe a counterpart for the iPhone. Doesn't matter where you are, you can get WMMR.

Apps outside of market can do whatever they want to protect themselves just like happens in the PC / Mac world.

I'll occasionally slip up and put "wtf" in a PHP comment (usually in some "never happen" safety block).

I think you'll love this part of the android SDK :)

Well as much as I hate DRM (and think it never achieved it's claimed goal anyway), the main reason I've seen Netflix claim they won't make an Android release in the past is something like a lack of a 'universal DRM solution' across Android devices - well if you look at http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-3.0-highlights.html#multimedia - hopefully this 'Pluggable DRM framework' may be what they're looking for. That said, being in the UK, I can't get Netflix anyway, and I don't expect to see LoveFilm bringing its service to mobile devices any time soon.

Android seemed to be doing alright without flash also, about 60% of android handsets run 2.2 or later.

> The difference is that Google is not calling their system Java.

Really? Android docs and source beg to differ:
http://source.android.com/source/code-style.html
http://android.git.kernel.org/?p=platform/packages/apps/Calendar.git;a=tree;f=src/com/android/calendar;hb=HEAD

It's already here. There's also McAfee, AVG and various others available.

My understanding* is that at install time, an Android app has to list what permissions it wants to be able to operate. If I was installing some new wallpaper and it demanded internet access, I'd abort instantly. So does this attack only work against naive users?

* I don't have, and have not used, an Android or other smart phone

You could have fooled me. There's no shortage of developers working on Android software.

If you want your app to run on everything from $120 Huawei Cricket phones to the Motorola Atrix, Android is your choice.

If you want your app to be on the most popular smartphone platform, Android is your choice.

If you decide to forgo being on the platform your customers use because you can't handle compatibility testing, then your customers will decide to become customers of another developer who is less lazy.

Writing software is hard work. We do not live in a homogeneous world and you cannot expect a single device model to meet everyone's needs. You can accept that and try to work within that framework (with the understanding that it's not as bad as the pundits say - Google has done a lot of work to abstract away the differences between devices). Or you can decide that it's not worth your time and money and develop for a smaller fragment of the market.

You may wish that we lived in a world where everyone uses the same hardware. We don't. Android gives you the ability to target an incredible range of devices at the cost of additional compatibility testing and workarounds. You may not be willing to accept that compromise, but your competitors almost certainly are.

Yeah, this whole fragmentation thing is just killing us Android dev's right???

Or not: http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html

90% of all users that connect to the Market are now on Android 2.1 or greater. Android 2.2 and 2.3 haven't brought any kind of huge API changes that require you lock out 2.1 users to get some awesome new feature. The new "big thing" is going to be the Fragments API and it will support all the way back to Android 1.6.

Now, don't get me wrong. I want everyone that can be to be on 2.3 yesterday, but it isn't exactly a big deal.

Gingerbread? 2.3?

It's released.

Oh, do you mean, "Shouldn't they focus on pressuring Android phone manufacturers and network providers to release their own OTA updates to existing phones?"

Google don't play that.

May I recommend Cyanogenmod nightlies? I'm running CM7 Nightly 30 and it's rocking Android 2.3.2 flawlessly on my CDMA HTC Desire. If you're waiting for your network-providing gatekeeping overlords... well, I hope you enjoy waiting.

Yeah, see I have a Nexus One, so I'm not sure how they would pressure themselves . . . ? And with no updates and no word on when it will happen, I figure something must be falling apart over there. Apparently these days, Google doesn't play much at all. But they do like to talk about how much they are doing.

I'll give it a few more days and then I'll go the cyanogenmod route. I was just being too lazy to want to deal with any quirks or bugs not worked out yet with the nightlies.

Gingerbread? 2.3?

It's released.

Oh, do you mean, "Shouldn't they focus on pressuring Android phone manufacturers and network providers to release their own OTA updates to existing phones?"

Google don't play that.

May I recommend Cyanogenmod nightlies? I'm running CM7 Nightly 30 and it's rocking Android 2.3.2 flawlessly on my CDMA HTC Desire. If you're waiting for your network-providing gatekeeping overlords... well, I hope you enjoy waiting.

Yes: http://research.nokia.com/page/231 http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_iphone_becomes_a_web_server.php https://market.android.com/details?id=org.xeustechnologies.android.kws http://windowsphone7central.com/news/webserver_for_windows_phone_7_brings_homebrew_file_exploration-12-23-10.php

And where's the Free Android distribution?

Right here: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.apps.authenticator

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.apps.authenticator

Not true, if you install the Android app it works completely offline. It imports data via a 2D-barcode displayed in gmail when you set up 2-factor. You don't even need a phone with a working SIM.

Go here and click on "permissions":
    https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.apps.authenticator
Note that no internet or phone access is listed.

Apparently only 7 apps can actually "multitask" properly.

You've got to be joking, not even trying to multitask a normal app have 5+ threads running.

That's what I thought when I first read grandparent: a limit on simultaneous applications analogous to that in some Windows Starter Editions. But after I reread it, I realized what was meant: only a handful of distinct applications support being a foreground activity on one screen while another application is the foreground activity on another screen.

Oh, and there's no Netflix on Android because Android has no unified digital restrictions management system, and none of studios will license films to Netflix without DRM. See previous Slashdot story.

So I hope when Android 3.0 turns up that in addition to making the UI more friendly it also addresses the CDD. GPS, compass etc. are nice to haves. The basic tablet spec should not force them. But perhaps it should specify extended profiles for PMPs, ereaders etc. For example, perhaps a "media" tablet profile might mandate more codecs, while an ereader tablet might specify certain screen visibility characteristics, possibly even allowing for e-ink displays.

The point being that Android is growing up but the CDD has long been an impediment and it needs to be improved.

"It's hard to name android devices that even got the bump from 1.6 to 2.0, hell, 90% of them don't even get *minor* OS version updates from the one they started on, there are still plenty of 1.5/2.0/2.1 devices out there for exactly that reason."

Er, no.

http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html

My HTC Magic from Vodafone was on 1.5 originally, got 1.6, now has 2.2.1.

I'd agree updates are slow from some cellcos, but they generally seem to come.

Having 89% of phones on 2.1/2.2 is pretty good.

Regarding minor updates, it really depends what you mean. Android doesn't really have minor updates for the OS, the marketplace gets updated separately.

Personally I'd rather have an Android phone that my carrier will support for at least the life of the contract and that I have the option of upgrading myself before or after my carrier stops supporting it than an iPhone that's out of date without question after a mere 2 years.

Still, nice troll fanboy.

I don't think it's a real issue, considering that almost 90% of android devices are newer than 2.1.

http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html

This fragmentation argument is getting old and will become completely invalid after Android matures a bit more.

"Notice anything...funny...about Android? Like the fact that there is not a spot of GPL V3 code to be found? Why do you think that is?"

Because it's not (any version of) GPL. Except the kernel it runs on (which is GPLv2), it is mostly Apache.:
"The preferred license for the Android Open Source Project is the Apache Software License, 2.0 ("Apache 2.0"), and the majority of the Android software is licensed with Apache 2.0. While the project will strive to adhere to the preferred license, there may be exceptions which will be handled on a case-by-case basis. For example, the Linux kernel patches are under the GPLv2 license with system exceptions, which can be found on kernel.org. "
source: http://source.android.com/source/licenses.html

the Android apps I was writing of are running plain Dalvik byte code, far more easy to learn than x86. most programmers wouldn't even need to study it. very few apps make use of the NDK, so you don't usually need to learn ARM assembly. I never said x86 was easy, though it's not hard either.

And what good does this do for anyone except you, if you can't legally re-redistribute any modifications you make?

WTF? I mentioned it was for checking for malicious apps on your own phone, not making modifications. though if you do want to mod them, smali is generally capable of reassembly.

there are also various ways of modifying apps on Android that don't require redistribution of derivative code. your app can copy the 3rd-party's package at runtime, patch the binary, and then load it (reinstalling it would pose problems, e.g. lack of signing, permissions).

This is what I think is stupid about android. It's touted as being "open" but you are left depending on the manufacturer of the device to upgrade the software. You should be able to download the software directly from Google and install it on any tablet.

Well, actually you can. The source code for Android is freely available, and you can literally roll your own. That's exactly what's been going on with heaps of Android phones right now, that are happily running Gingerbread long before the manufacturers have even thought about releasing an update.

Where the model falls down, though, is in the hardware drivers -- for my phone, an HTC Desire, developers are still waiting on Google's long-promised-but-never-delivered OTA update to the Nexus One in order to grab the proprietary hardware drivers for the device. Don't misunderstand me -- everything works right now, and very well too -- but not quite as well as it might with the proprietary drivers.

Its in the market. Take a look again.

For example:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.stardroid
and click on the PERMISSIONS tab.

That gives Android a 33% share of the global mobile market

Google has a heavy hand in Android, but doesn't necessarily "own" it. Quoth http://source.android.com/

We wanted to make sure that there was no central point of failure, so that no industry player can restrict or control the innovations of any other. That's why we created Android, and made its source code open.

"No industry player can restrict or control the innovations of any other" supposedly includes Google too.

Is compatibility mandatory? No. The Android Compatibility Program is optional. Since the Android source code is open, anyone can use it to build any kind of device. However, if a manufacturer wishes to use the Android name with their product, or wants access to Android Market, they must first demonstrate that the device is compatible.

and the Android 2.3 Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) http://source.android.com/compatibility/android-2.3-cdd.pdf

6. Developer Tool Compatibility Device implementations MUST support the Android Developer Tools provided in the Android SDK. Specifically, Android-compatible devices MUST be compatible with: â Android Debug Bridge (known as adb) [Resources, 23] Device implementations MUST support all adb functions as documented in the Android SDK. The device-side adb daemon SHOULD be inactive by default, but there MUST be a user-accessible mechanism to turn on the Android Debug Bridge.

Kind of difficult to legally call your device android if you can't adb install apps on the device and while using the SDK might seem complicated to install apps some help full developers made the Android Sideload Wonder Machine (http://forum.androidcentral.com/android-sideload-wonder-machine/) to solve that problem. Sorry but android wins on the front of being able to install non market apps no matter how you slice it. Since in order to call your device an android device you MUST include functionality to install non market apps.

Is compatibility mandatory? No. The Android Compatibility Program is optional. Since the Android source code is open, anyone can use it to build any kind of device. However, if a manufacturer wishes to use the Android name with their product, or wants access to Android Market, they must first demonstrate that the device is compatible.

and the Android 2.3 Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) http://source.android.com/compatibility/android-2.3-cdd.pdf

6. Developer Tool Compatibility Device implementations MUST support the Android Developer Tools provided in the Android SDK. Specifically, Android-compatible devices MUST be compatible with: â Android Debug Bridge (known as adb) [Resources, 23] Device implementations MUST support all adb functions as documented in the Android SDK. The device-side adb daemon SHOULD be inactive by default, but there MUST be a user-accessible mechanism to turn on the Android Debug Bridge.

Kind of difficult to legally call your device android if you can't adb install apps on the device and while using the SDK might seem complicated to install apps some help full developers made the Android Sideload Wonder Machine (http://forum.androidcentral.com/android-sideload-wonder-machine/) to solve that problem. Sorry but android wins on the front of being able to install non market apps no matter how you slice it. Since in order to call your device an android device you MUST include functionality to install non market apps.

This is the best bit from http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-3.0-highlights.html:

"Compatibility with existing apps

Android 3.0 brings a new UI designed for tablets and other larger screen devices, but it also is fully compatible with applications developed for earlier versions of the platform, or for smaller screen sizes. Existing applications can seamlessly participate in the new holographic UI theme without code changes, by adding a single attribute in their manifest files. The platform emulates the Menu key, which is replaced by the overflow menu in the Action Bar in the new UI. Developers wanting to take fuller advantage of larger screen sizes can also create dedicated layouts and assets for larger screens and add them to their existing applications."

Looks like this should run on existing platforms without too much tweaking by custom ROM builders/manufacturers.

http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-3.0-highlights.html

I'd like to point out the hilarity of you fucking up the spelling of a word you're linking the definition of?

Point taken.

And frankly, as a pissed off user of a Samsung Galaxy, perma-stuck on 1.5, I'm all in favour of Google getting some damn balls and telling companies that using Android carries some responsibilities.

I really sympathise with your predicament, I really do. But here's my advice: put this on the "lesson learned" tab (not quite at the "college tuition fees"), because it is not with Google you have the problem and I argue it is not Google's fault the model you picked has been made obsolete so soon.

No one's asking Google to act as God over Android, but instead impose structure on something that Google created. Sort of like companies usually do with their products.

I invite you to read the license under which (pick your OpenSource project here) is licensed. Take ZFS or JBoss or whatever OSS created by a company. Where does it say that the developers are responsible for anyone's use of their creation? Now, go back to Android and read TF license, why is should spell something different?

Buddy, a saying that I remember goes like: "you simply cannot enter the heavens after whoring around and enjoying every bit of it". Grow up, freedom comes with a price (hint: unfortunately not the one you paid on your Samsung Galaxy). Next time: wait a bit, shop around, don't buy on impulse - pay the needed price of judging your decision before acting on it because it will be your decision and you will have to live with it.

Yeah, that 'choice' thing really throws some people. You 'choose' to get a phone from a company which provides updates. Oh, and before you mention fragmentation:

http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html

It's not a problem. Well, unless you have an old phone or something. Looks like Android is outselling iPhone too, so it looks like people are happy to buy 'open platforms'.