Sunday, October 9, 2011

End of Support for Android 2.1 Starting with Picasa Mobile 2.3.0

Starting with Picasa Mobile 2.3.0, the support for Android 2.1 devices ends.
Android 2.1 is now used by less than 1% of our users and this change was needed in order to lay out the groundwork for new and awesome features only available in Android 2.2 and up.

If you are still on Android 2.1, your downloaded version of Picasa Mobile will continue to work, but you will not be able to receive updates until you upgrade to Android 2.2.

Stay tuned for more details.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Google Giveth, Google Taketh Away

On a day like today, if you're an Android developer, it's easy to feel like you're loosing it...

The Android Market has had, yet again, tons of problems. Of course, the average user doesn't know that.
And of course, they blame the developer and punish him with bad ratings and scathing reviews.

Some of the users have the decency to contact the developer with questions before shooting from the hip.
Others stick to their one-star guns.

On some level, I understand them. They need somebody to blame for spending $0.99 on an app that refuses to download. And it's hard to believe that Google is the culprit.

Of course, Almighty Google could do a lot to improve the situation for everybody. That is, if they cared...

In the good tradition of openness we came to expect from Google, they could admit that they have a problem (9 out of 10 experts say it's the first step on the path to recovery:)).
More importantly, they could provide a way for the developer to visibly respond to unsubstantiated claims from users.

For now, I suggest putting a red banner at the top of the Market app, something like the weather warnings on TV:

Severe Android Market conditions in effect. Use it at your on risk of being frustrated and disappointed.

I'm joking, of course. But something is very rotten in Googleland...

Picasa Mobile 2.2.8 is now live

This new release adds multi-select download for your and your contacts' photos.

Many thanks to Jim for suggesting it.