So I just released a new app – it’s called simple: App List.

You can check it out now here (Browser link):
App List on Google Play

or here (Android link):
App List on Play Store for Android

You can use it to quickly share some apps you like with your friends (via Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Gmail or whatever sharing app you have installed on your Android device). Also, you can filter/search your installed apps list, view details about each one, open them or open the corresponding Google Play Store page (if any).

I implemented this one to familiarize myself with other Android topics. I’ll post a tutorial about what I’ve found out soon.

I saw some users are not happy about having ads in apps. Ok, so I removed the startup splash screen and added a more unobtrusive “Special Offers” entry in the menu. These frequently change and generally you have an offer to download a free app from the Google Play Store. If you do, I will earn some cents. That’s all.

Well, it’s easy to get over-enthusiastic and get burned
It happened to me last night because I didn’t test Power Schedule 1.5 on more devices. So first it crashed because I removed a needed library, then because LeadBolt (ads provide) apparently has some problems on Android 2.1 (even though they say they support it – heads up for other developers as well).

So now I just published version 1.5.4. Hopefully the crash reports are gone for now.

Next time I’ll take my time and test it on all supported platforms.

To be fair and help other developers, I decided I will also publish regular reports on the income from ads. Right now, I included ads from LeadBolt (referral link). Why not AdMob? Well, to tell you the truth, I’m still mad at Google for not allowing developers from most countries sell apps on Google Market (now Google Play Shop).

OK, I made a little mistake with 1.5.0 – seemed to crash on most devices. Fixed in 1.5.2 – please update now

Well, I’m now definitely back to work. I’ve had quite a stressful year at work (hopefully things will chill down for a while). Yes, some of my team’s work can be seen in the new Audi A3 (just revealed at Geneva Motor Show). Pretty proud of that, actually. Soon you’ll also see it in the new Golf 7

But anyhow, as I said I’m back to Android development – and hopefully without major breaks this time.
To start, I thank the 15,000 active Power Schedule users by releasing a new minor update: version 1.5. I’ve finally added one thing most of you asked for – “vibrate” instead of “silent” option.
Also, if you don’t mind, I’ve added an ad, as a splash screen. This is because my hosting costs some bucks / year. I hope this doesn’t upset anybody – if most users demand removal, I will.
You can find it in the form of a checkbox in the “Ring Profile” section.

So go on, update your app. And if you don’t use it already, what are you waiting for?

I’m happy to say Power Schedule has more than 10000 active users. That’s a small town using it. I know it’s nothing comparable to > millions other apps have, but it’s a great milestone for me. It even motivates me to continue working on it (I know, I’ve bene quite lazy lately)

Thank you all.

Yes, finally that time of year has come
Tomorrow we’re heading for Sardegna, supposedly one of the best Italian destinations – where all the stars go. No, we’re not playing in their league, we just got a very good deal on accommodation. So I guess we have a good chance of having a coffee with Heidi Klum and the likes

See you when I’m back (29.08) with a surprise .

P.S. I can’t wait to dive again. Yay!

One of the users wrote me an e-mail that after uninstalling Power Schedule, when he turned on Airplane Mode, WiFi was still enabled. This is because Power Schedule (and others) change this setting to allow individual control over WiFi, Bluetooth and Telephony. Since the application being uninstalled is not notified it’s being uninstalled, it has no chance of cleaning up (and restoring previous settings). This is how Android is designed (a bit of a flaw, in my opinion – on Windows Mobile an application was notified before uninstall).

Anyway, I wrote a small app to restore the settings. Download and install it using Astro or whatever file manager you have on your device.
Here’s the link:
Restore Airplane Mode

Yes, I’m back. Barcelona is easily the best city I’ve ever visited (not that I’ve been to that many anyway). It has it all: views, sea (+1), food, night life, history.
Plus, the weather was excelent. We’ve had around 24-26 degrees C (78 F), while back home in Timisoara, around 37 C (98 F). That doesn’t seem right, but anyway – great weather for walking around the city .
I hope I’ll be back soon. Plenty of things left to visit.