No More Support For Android 1.5 (Cupcake) In All Dooblou Applications

From this moment on, all the SECuRET applications, WiFi File Explorer and GroovyCam LiveStream will no longer continue to support Android 1.5 (Cupcake) with new features. The lowest version of Android they support from now on is 1.6 (Donut).

As Android develops at its rapid pace, cool new features are made available to developers with each new version. I have done my best to support older versions of Android for as long as possible, but it got to a stage that features I wanted to implement in my applications could only be possible using Android 1.6 and above. As Android 1.5 is now almost 2 years old and represents less that 4% of the active install base on Android handsets, now seemed as good a time as any to discontinue support for those devices and to concentrate on developing features that can be appreciated by the wider audience.

So what does this mean if you have bought a license for one of my paid applications and you are still using Android 1.5? Well, it means that you must remain on that last version of the application that supported Android 1.5 and you must not update the application, else it will cause an installation error.

I cannot refund you as changing the minimum supported version of Android is allowed in the developers’ terms and conditions, and it is inevitable that all applications will have to do the same in the future (if they haven’t done already). The Market should prevent you from seeing such updates and stop you from updating to a version that isn’t supported, but it is clear from a couple of emails I have already received that the Market has failed to do it's job on a couple of occasions.

If you have problems and cannot roll back to a good version of one of my applications for your version of Android, then please email me and I will send you a link to a direct download.

So goodbye to Cupcake users – sorry to see you go. I’d recommend that if you can, updating to a newer version of Android is a very worthwhile thing to do; you’ll be impressed! And if you do get a new device that supports Android 1.6 or above, you will still have the license for the application you bought from me, so you can re-install that great dooblou application that you loved so much from your old phone at no additional cost ;)

Where To Purchase dooblou Applications, Licenses, and How They Work

Update: You can now also purchase at AndroidPIT!  It uses a similar licensing system to the Android Market, so the same advice applies.

Whenever you purchase one of my paid applications, you are also purchasing the license to use it. The application will at times try and retrieve the license to ensure you have permission to use it, and it does this by making a call to a license server using whichever data connection you have (WiFi, 3G, etc.). Most people purchase the application, have no problems at all and are very pleased with their purchase. However, some users can have trouble figuring out how to officially purchase my applications and to work out whether they have a license or not. This often happens if you think you have bought a license, but the application then tells you that you haven’t got one. Or maybe you have upgraded to a new version of Android, installed a custom ROM or got a new phone, and suddenly one of my applications says you no longer have a license. Hopefully I can help address a few of these issues here...

You can officially purchase any of my paid applications using the following methods:

• Android Market
• SlideMe
• Android Pit
• And coming soon, Amazon Appstore

If you have downloaded or purchased one of my paid applications from anywhere else, then beware as to what you are installing on your Android device as I cannot be responsible for supporting applications that pirates and bootleggers are publishing on the internet. The ones I am aware of are old and buggy versions of my applications, so I wouldn’t bother with them at all!

As the Amazon Appstore isn’t up yet and I don’t know how it works, I will focus on the Android Market and SlideMe...

Help For WiFi File Explorer and SECuRET LiveStream Users

I often receive similar emails asking for help with 2 of my applications, WiFi File Explorer and SECuRET LiveStream, so I thought I would write a post that I can point users in the direction of to help answer their common queries. I should point out that the huge majority of users suffer no problems whatsoever with these applications – it is only a small handful of users that get caught out with this issue.

Both applications are similar in that they both require you to connect your Android device to a WiFi network and then when they start, you are prompted to enter a web address into a browser on a computer which is connected to that same WiFi network. Without going into too much technical detail, both WiFi File Explorer and SECuRET LiveStream are custom web servers that allow you to interface with your Android device using a web browser.

So the common problem is that users will start either one of the applications on the Android device, it will prompt them to enter an address into a web browser and then ... massive letdown - nothing will happen in the web browser; it will just display a connection error, or timeout. This leads to the inevitable poorly spelt, “Dis app sux – don’t even work. Uninstalling.” comment ... by the way, why do so many people include, ‘uninstalling’ in their comments? Do other people really care if they uninstalled the application or not?

Ah, but the applications don’t ‘sux’! The applications are actually pretty nifty and work perfectly, as proven by the thousands of happy customers that parted with cold hard cash to purchase them, or the 4.5 star rating of each one, of the high chart positions (not blowing my own trumpet or anything ;) ). The problem is down to user error or the network configuration; you know, all the stuff that is beyond my control, but I still get blamed for it anyway!

Now, to try and help the users that have difficulty using WiFi File Explorer and SECuRET LiveStream, I am going to give a few pointers below that should help you find the cause of the problem. Remember though, I don’t know how your network is configured, what network equipment you are using or how reliable it is, what security measures you have in place, or what you had for breakfast – I just write the applications, and I can only support them ... I won’t be your network administrator :P

Pointers are listed below ...

Time For A Break

It’s almost time for me to hang up my mouse and keyboard and set my ‘out of office’ reply on, but before I do, I will let you know of a few updates to expect over the holidays.

For WiFi File Explorer, expect to see the following updates:

• Swedish version;
• French version;
• Improved use of Proguard to obfuscate the code and trim down the app size.

And for SECuRET applications and GroovyCam, you should see updates that include:

• A couple of bug fixes to the camera preview validation;
• Improved use of Proguard to obfuscate the code and trim down the app size;
• A bit of a polish to the UI;
• Full resolution still photos;
• Lots of little bug fixes.

In fact, the SECuRET applications are feeling more stable than ever ... famous last words!!

So I won’t be doing any development over the holidays, just testing these releases and then making the updates at some point, in between gorging on chocolate and recovering from hangovers ;)

I’d also like to think that I will take a much deserved break from answering emails at all hours of the day, but knowing me I will still find time to answer them at some point (much to the annoyance of my girlfriend).

Enjoy your break (if you get one) and I hope you enjoy celebrating in whichever way you choose. I’ll be back adding new features to my applications in the new year – I have huge ‘to-do’ lists, so keep an eye out for update notifications on your Android device.

... And if you want to give me a gift, 5 star ratings and good comments are always welcome :)

So What Do You Use The SECuRET Camera Applications For?

It’s getting close to a year since I released the first of the SECuRET applications; SECuRET SpyCam. In that time I have had quite a few emails from users describing what they use the various SECuRET applications for – ranging from the conventional to the utterly bizarre!

The SECuRET applications are all based on technology that was originally developed for webcams with the intention of being applied to security solutions. As it was all written in Java, it seemed like a good opportunity to port the code to Android in an attempt to get the product ‘out there’. The code for SECuRET fell neatly into 3 products; SpyCam (motion triggered camera application), LiveStream (a wifi-streaming camera appication) and one that could only be done on a phone, RemoteControl (camera application controlled by SMS). Essentially, all 3 SECuRET applications are cameras that allow you to observe, record and monitor events without having to be in direct physical control of the camera.

Now, although the original concept was as ‘security-type’ applications, it was very clear to me at an early stage of development that as it was going to be running on a phone, there could be many more uses ... some that could genuinely help people and some that are just downright mischievous!

So, what are some of the uses I have come across so far? Myself, the most bizarre thing I have used SECuRET LiveStream for is to spy on our guinea pigs when we first got them. One of them was getting bullied (poor old Cecil, centre in the photo above), but every time we tried to get close to them to watch and find out who was responsible, they would scatter back into their huts. So we set up the phone running SECuRET LiveStream and pointed it at the hutch and left the room. We then used the laptop to view the stream from the phone and could see clearly which guinea pig was bullying Cecil – it was Huxley (right in the photo above)!!  There's no way it could have been long-haired Desmond (left in the photo above) - he's far too cool to be a bully ;)

Some of the others I have heard of are:

• Spying on the squirrels in the attic;
• Monitoring sheds on a farm;
• Monitoring a car – and it actually caught someone trying to break in!
• Security camera for a house – and again, it caught someone coming in the front window!
• Spying on brothers/sisters;
• Keeping an eye on misbehaving children;
• Baby monitor;
• Help detect deers when out hunting – not sure I designed it with that in mind!
• And my absolute favourite ... ghost hunting!!!

There are plenty more, but those are just a few of my favourites and the most commons usages. I am very proud that it has actually managed to aid crime prevention in a couple of cases, but I am not so sure I am proud of some of its other uses – I am all up for being mischievous, but there is a limit ;)

So what do you use the SECuRET camera applications for? Please feel free to write about it in the comments section ...

Motorola Droid X Not Playing Nicely With Camera Applications

It has come to my attention in the past few weeks that the Droid X isn’t exactly reliable when it comes to using its camera; hence it affects my camera applications – the SECuRET applications and GroovyCam Livestream. Various commenters on the Market have left the obligatory negative comment as they tend to do, but also I have had some helpful users contact me via email to try and nail the problem down. Not having a Droid X myself (I only have a Nexus One and an HTC Magic ... with a Nexus S on the way – very excited!) it is difficult for me to debug and test my camera applications on the device, but I have found some interesting information nonetheless...

The main point to make to any Motorola Droid X users reading this is ... it isn’t my fault! You can find plenty of stuff on the web regarding “Droid X camera problems” – it even seems to effect the native Camera and Camcorder applications. The main symptom seems to be the phone randomly resetting itself when using the camera hardware. As I said previously, it seems to affect all ‘camera-type’ applications, even the native ones, and so it is believed that there is actually a deep-rooted issue with the actual camera hardware/software/drivers in the Droid X itself.

Now one of the reported ‘fixes’ for this is to not run any ‘media-type’ applications in the background whilst you try to run a ‘camera-type’ application. The 2 ‘media-type’ applications that are commonly mentioned are Pandora and Music. Again, I can’t verify this myself, but some of my helpful testers have confirmed this indeed stops (or at least reduces) the random resets. The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed I have recently added a warning message to the SECuRET and GroovyCam applications that appears when you press ‘Start’ that says exactly what I have said in this paragraph ... so you have been adequately warned – so no more 1 star ratings and comments of “Doesn’t work on Droid X – Uninstalling!” – deal? Good, thanks!

It does work on the Droid X, it’s just the Droid X’s camera doesn’t work properly! :P

I have also added some new code and tweaked some old code that handles errors from the camera in a more efficient way, as well as interrogating the camera before it’s used to make sure everything is valid. Yet again, I can’t verify this myself, but some of my helpful testers have actually said that they no longer see the random resets at all. Personally, I think that is just a happy coincidence because some users are still getting the problem ... but it’s nice to think I may now be handling any errors from the camera well enough to prevent random resets.

So hopefully this post explains what is going on with the Droid X and I can point any emailers here from now on to answer their questions. Also, it may help you to appreciate just how difficult it is to write camera applications for Android – every new device seems to have some little quirk or strange behaviours that means my code needs to change regularly to ensure compatibility with as many devices as possible.

I think I have done quite well to make my camera applications as widely compatible as they are, considering I only have a pair of HTC devices to my name! ;)

SECuRET Updates Coming Soon

Seems like a while since I posted anything exciting about the SECuRET range of applications (installing to SD and 'torch mode' don't really count ;) ).

So what have I been working on that you will see in the forthcoming updates?

First of all, in the next set of updates I have made a few 'security' tweaks, as described below:

1)  The BACK button is now disabled when the touch screen is locked on the main camera screen, making it harder for people to get into your phone;
2)  There are some new 'Show Password' check-boxes to allow you to see what you are typing when inputting passwords into the Settings menus. 
3)  The application no longer appears in the 'recent apps' list that you get when long-pressing the home button - so no-one knows you were ever recording them ;)

Following on from that, I am currently developing and testing higher resolution modes for both still photos and video.  I have had both working on my Nexus One without too many issues, so it is looking promising that you'll see these very soon.  I am particularly happy with the higher resolution video recording as this is something people have been asking for since I started these applications ... (it will only be available on Android 2.2 devices and above though).  In a world where no-one is satisfied unless it is 'HD', hopefully this will shift a few more copies ;)

I think as a by-product of using different resolution settings for video recording, it may well of fixed the issue on some Droid X handsets whereby the phone will reset when video recording starts.  I can't confirm this yet as I don't have a Droid X, but if anyone is interested in testing it for me, then let me know (pauldyble82@gmail.com).

And finally, another problem that has plagued a handful of users is that when video recording starts, you hear the shutter sound regardless of the 'Shutter Volume' setting.  This can be got around on most phones by putting your phone into 'Silent Mode' in the system settings, but I have now added a 'Put Device in Silent Mode' setting in the SECuRET applications.  Again, I can't confirm this is fixed yet as my phone never had this issue, but anyone who does have the issue, let me know and we'll get you to test the new setting.  Also, by putting the phone in silent mode whenever the SECuRET applications are running, it means the phone stays more discreet whilst it is hidden away, just in case any alarms or ringtones decide to go off!

So a nice set of updates and features coming your way very soon indeed.  And please remember to show some love in the comments section on the Android Market ... the SECuRET SpyCam DEMO could definitely do with a few decent ratings going its way, so take the time to bless it with a 5 star rating - thanks :)

Celebrate Good Times, C'mon!

Yesterday was a gigantic landmark in my Android development journey so far – I passed the mark of 10,000 applications sold, in total! It is also roughly a year since I released my first application, Mate Rater ... when I released Mate Rater a year ago, I’d never have imagined that I’d be able to convince over 10,000 people to part with their cash to buy my applications!

I also passed the mark of 1,000,000 downloads in total in the past couple of months. I was pretty chuffed to reach this landmark as well, although seeing as many of my applications are free, I didn’t feel it was worth celebrating ... it isn’t exactly hard to convince someone to download a free app (although it may be hard to get them to rate it within the context of it being free ;) ).

Firstly, a massive, huge, gigantic thanks to all the people that have helped me over this first year (you know who you are) and have aided me in reaching these landmarks – all the testers, the “feedback-givers”, the translators, the “word-spreaders”, the reviewers, the bloggers, the Facebook fans, the Twitterers ... hey, even the idiots that gave my applications low ratings for stupid reasons – it drove me to make my applications better. Many of you have given your time and energy for free and have made massive contributions to the success of my applications – it’s great to see just how many people out there are willing to help; I think the Android platform has a great future ahead of it mainly because of the enthusiastic users and their desire to push things forward.

So what about the year ahead and beyond?