Things have been busy in the Android camp lately. 2010 is a game changing year. Verizon, Vodofone, and AT&T are set to take on an array of Android phones. Google has announced it’s superphone, the Nexus One, and now, the gloves are off. Of course, some 3G/Edge swapping madness is ensuing, but initial quirks are bound to plague any early release device. (I recall a bit of trouble with the Android 1.5 as well).
So what’s the scoop on clinkbot this year? Well, I’ve been seriously busy with a new job in 2009, though I put out several updates during the year; but things with the new job have settled and some more serious development is underway again.
Geodroid
A rather significant update is coming to Geodroid in the coming weeks. I can’t put an exact date on it right now, but hopefully by month’s end the 1.0 release will be ready. The next release will included some requests, bug fixes, and user interface changes. The UI will be reorganized a bit and the map interface is receiving a bit of an update. I believe it will be quite an improvement on the user experience.
CarDar
In 2009, an app (which shall remain nameless) won 3rd place in the Android Developer Challenge 2. It was CarDar rehashed. That was quite a blow to my motivation to keep working on CarDar. It’s already suffered a name change due to bullying by a European parking lot company and a soulless drone named “Ian”. Anyways, seeing an app that offered the same feature set of CarDar win the contest was difficult (esp considering the 25k USD that was won). CarDar was never about money though (with what it makes, it couldn’t hope to be), I just wish the contest was about new ideas and not ripping off other people’s apps. (Next year I may very well re-invent Google Maps. I mean, people love that app right?!) Anyways, stepping away from the disappointing ADC2 outcome, CarDar has some places to go. I’m not going to reveal the roadmap, but know that some exciting features are coming.
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CarDar (full version) received an update tonight.
Highlights
- GPS / Network locations only required if you set your location. This allows people to quickly set the timer if they don’t need to set their location.
- Updated icon
- Fixed user orientation bug. Orientation was broken in a previous compatibility release.
- Minor tweaks
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CarDar (Lite & full) received an update last week to fix a small layout bug with Donut.
My new day job has soaked up my energy for a while now. Since it’s been several months like this, I’ve started doing a bit of time management to allow healthier blocks of time for development. Geodroid is getting it’s importing code rewritten for better support of larger files. I’m also looking at expanding support for GPX file data along with fixes for any reported bugs.
I have a lot of feedback to sort through and develop a road map for. I’m also going to be reviewing the user interface layout and may revisit several portions of the GUI.
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CarDar has been updated tonight. Fixes are:
- Force close bug affecting some G1’s when trying to mark your parking spot.
- Distance calculation error fixed.
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The demo of Geodroid has been updated in those countries that still don’t support paid apps. The expire date is set for Sept 1st for now. The demo was also updated to the current paid version so that all features can be explored.
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Geodroid has received a highly requested update today. What is it?
Search
You can now search your waypoints and geocaches by their names. The search covers full and short names at this time. It should be a great help to those users that keep a hefty list of entries in Geodroid.
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Update today. Think of it as a celebration release in honor of that disastrous defacing of time called Daylight Saving Time. We get to celebrate our stupidity a little earlier this year, all for the sake of something that doesn’t help anyone with anything, except perhaps breaking lots of electronics and making many of us late for something. Happy DST everyone! 
Updates
- Added notes.
- Removed confirmation when setting location in manual mode.
- Added preferences for setting auto close on mark or found.
- Fixed a bug when attempting to set an empty manual location.
- Fixed a reset ParkMark bug.
- Notifications now disappear after selecting them.
- Fixed bug causing the “expired” notification from appearing.
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IMPORTANT NOTICE
If you are experiencing a FORCE CLOSE when trying to OPEN Geodroid or ParkMark, the solution is to uninstall and reinstall the application.
You will NOT have to buy the application again. Please follow these steps:
- Uninstall the application.
- Open the Market app and click on My Downloads.
- Select the application and install it.
(See the Google Android Market help here for official information on re-installing paid apps.)
I apologize for this problem, but please know that I am not responsible. This problem is currently affecting many developers and their applications, often followed by a flurry of poor ratings and comments. Theoretically, once following this solution it will not be an issue for you again. Please email me if you have completed these steps and are unable to either download or open the application.
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Update to Geodroid tonight. The highlight in this update is improved importing. With very large files, the phone will still display a “Force close” message, but you can select “Wait” and the import will finish. The “Force Close” with the “Wait” option is the phone’s way of handling what appears to be a stalled application. It’s just a side effect of large files being imported. As always, please email me any files that cause problems. Support for other types of GPX files and more data from files will be available in the future.
New features
- Hugely improved import stability and support for larger files. (recommend not going over 4MB in size)
- Added FOUND option for geocaches/benchmarks
- Expanded options for displaying different types of waypoints on the map.
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