Parentheticals & Excursions

I’ve just posted a very early preview version of Metaglow - an android application for creating backgrounds. It features the animating emblem that I described in my last post.

Anyone who wants to take a look can download it using Betan which is available via the Android Market (just search for Betan). The password is simply metaglow.

This is a very early release, here are some things to watch out for:

• The application has so far only been tested on my Nexus One.
• It currently requires Android 2.1 (final application will target 1.5).
• It won’t work on non-hdpi devices (because I haven’t done the work of producing multiple bitmap resources yet).
• It’s locked to portrait (because I haven’t done that work yet either).
• The “Set Wallpaper” feature doesn’t give any visual feedback that it’s doing stuff.
• You can’t favourite or share designs yet.
• Any designs you accumulate in your history will be lost under later upgrades.
• The range of ‘basis functions’ (ie ways it can generate backgrounds) is a bit limited at the moment.
• I recently added Google Analytics to the app (I’m interested in tracking UI interactions) which seems to have significantly reduced the smoothness of the application (insert sad face), and has even generated a couple of ANRs (hopefully the analytics team have already started using StrictMode and we’ll see some improvements).

There we go, if there’s anyone left who does want a look:

1. Download Betan
2. Choose me as the publisher
3. Supply the password metaglow
4. Install the application
5. Wait for something to go wrong

There are more detailed instructions on using Betan if you need them.

At the very end of last week I finished an update to Betan that will enable other developers to distribute their applications using the same tools I use to share private copies (usually betas) with users. My website provides details about Betan

I don’t know whether other developers will be actually motivated to use Betan, since it does involve at least one additional step over simpler mechanism such as just emailing the APK. The developer needs to encrypt the published APKs.

What motivated me to produce a more secure way of distributing beta copies of my applications was not that, if the APK was shared, some people would be able to use my application illegitimately. Instead I’m more motivated by ensuring that my users have a well tested product, however they procured the application — this is my reason for sharing beta copies in the first place.

The possibility that some poorly tested APK which erroneously wipes user data might gain broad distribution is enough of a motivation for me to write Betan. It may not be enough of a reason for other developers, in which case I may remain the only listed Pubisher.

This would be a shame, but the work to broaden access to Betan was not that great thanks to the rapidity with which I was able to put a simple web app together using GAE and GWT (about 4 hours). Most of the work consisted of tightening-up the command-line tool, tweaks to the android application (mostly listing publishers and better landscape support) and documentation.

Whether or not Betan is adopted by other developers, at least one more revision is planned — it will finish support for constraints on the phones to which applications can be installed and provide automatic notifications to users when newer versions become available.

This weekend I finished work on the first version of Betan. It’s an application that allows me to easily distribute private copies of my Android applications to beta testers, clients and other developers.

Privately distributing Android applications to non-developers is something I’ve long found awkward and I’m really pleased to have a tool that makes it much more straightforward.

It consists of a small Java application to encrypt APK files for upload to a webserver, and a simple Android application for downloading and installing them.

I think the great thing about Betan is that it wouldn’t take much work to make it a shared tool for other Android developers; each developer would encrypt and upload their own apks; I would just need to maintain a list of publishers that I present to the user.

I’m currently gauging interest, so if any Android developers are interested in using Betan to distribute their Beta versions, just get in touch; it’s very basic at the moment, but with interest it could grow into something better.