Mike Mosher -- the Blog

Glenn Beck app temporarily pulled from Android Market

michaelmosher — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 23:56:42 +0000

Hey everyone,

You’ve probably noticed that this app has been pulled from the market. Starting with the new year, Glenn changed alot of the structure of his website and RSS feeds. I worked on this app for a few months getting it to work with his current structure (remember, this is an unofficial app, and I’m not associated with Glenn Beck or his company), and only a few short weeks after it was released, they changed everything.

I’ve decided to take the app down before everyone realizes the problems. I will continue to improve the app so that it works with the new structure, but cannot guarantee when it will be re-released.

Thanks everyone for the patience, and I look forward to releasing this app again so that everyone can enjoy this content on their phones!

Mike

Glenn Beck app –> Bug caught – Update coming!

michaelmosher — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 20:09:43 +0000

Hello Everyone,

The Glenn Beck app requires a third-party FLV player to view the Insider Extreme videos (see earlier posts for details). Today I noticed an update with RockPlayer (one of the few third-party apps that work with the Glenn Beck app), and after testing the GB app, I noticed that RockPlayer force closes when trying to view an Extreme video.

This update is to let you all know that I’ve notice the bug, and I’m currently working on a fix; an update will be release soon (early this week). In the meantime, a work around is to unistall RockPlayer and have VPlayer installed on your phone to play the Insider Extreme videos. If you don’t want to uninstall RockPlayer, please be patient, I’ll have an update as soon as possible.

Thanks for everyone’s patience….

Glenn Beck App – v 1.0

michaelmosher — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 16:16:39 +0000

The Unofficial Glenn Beck app for Android.

The 1st note that should be made is that this app has no relation to Glenn Beck or his company. I am an independent Android programmer that loves Beck and wanted to see his material come to my phone. So I made it happen …

This app brings most all of the functionality of the Glennbeck.com website to your android phone. You can browse the latest GB articles, download the Insider Podcast, or watch the Insider Extreme videos. Please note that anyone can view the Beck articles for free (no need to login). Since you can read the articles on Beck’s website without logging in, the same is true for this app. The Insider and Insider Extreme areas require you to login with the same credentials you use to access this material on his website. You cannot access this content unless you are a subscribed member of these services on Glennbeck.com. Once you login successfully on the phone, you will not be asked for your credentials again until your subscription ends.

Another important point about this app is the Insider Extreme videos. This section has 2 tabs: On Demand (the recorded radio program) and Specials (Documentaries and shorts). Most of these videos are in the FLV format. Android cannot play this format natively. You will need to download a third-party video player to watch these videos. Currently the app will show a popup explaining this if you don’t have an acceptable video player installed. It currently looks for 2 apps in the market that work well with this app. VPlayer and RockPlayer are FLV players that can play these videos well. The app looks at your phone to see if either of these are installed, and if they are, the app opens the video immediately without showing the popup. I will continue to search for FLV video players in the market that work with this app and provide updates as I find them.

Please contact me with comments, suggestions, bugs, etc. Feedback is always welcome!

Video tutorial for this app: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6-rziN2_Zs

Enjoy…

Video Tutorials posted for Flickr Droid apps

michaelmosher — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 00:53:39 +0000

Hey everyone,

Wanted to give a quick update. I’ve posted a few video tutorials on how to use the Flickr Droid apps on You Tube. Follow the links below:

Flickr Droid (Full version):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCu3J1QSKtQ

Flickr Droid (Lite):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tBqNY6R70A

Enjoy!

Flickr Droid (Lite) v 2.5.0 released!

michaelmosher — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 05:49:41 +0000

Hey Everyone,

Just wanted to add an update. I just released a Lite version of the popular Flickr Droid. This app will have the same functionality of the full version, but will lack alot of the functionality of the full app. With the full app you’ll be able to edit comments, save images, set wallpaper, upload saved photos, take photos on the fly, and much more. With this version you’ll still be able to browse your photostream and view recent and interesting photos on Flickr. You’ll still be able to see the details on the photos and other ‘view only’ functionalilty, but the app won’t let you use many of the ‘edit’ type functions.

This app is a great way to get to know the full version. I’ll release alot of great features and functionality on the full version soon so keep posted!

I appreciate the support, and comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Thanks!

Next Track On Shake v 0.1.2

michaelmosher — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 04:38:07 +0000

Hey everyone,

I wanted to post a quick note on the update to the app. It now supports Android 2.0.1 and up (instead of just 2.2), and is localized to German, Italian, and Spanish.

Please post issues or suggestions. Thanks for the support!

“Next Track on Shake” v 0.1 Released to the Market!

michaelmosher — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 02:06:50 +0000

Hey everyone,

I just posted my new app. The name “Next Track on Shake” may not be very sexy, but it is the best name I could come up with to describe it’s function.

This app comes out of a personal frustration with my phone. I am constantly listening to music as I work, drive (hands-free, of course), work out, etc. I usually put my 16 Gigs of music on shuffle, but I hate having to change the tracks I don’t like. You have to wake the phone up, slide the button to unlock the phone, open the music app, and change the track. In the latest versions of android, they force you to set a PIN or password when you are using a corporate email account. This adds another layer of frustration every time you want to change the track.

The Next Track on Shake app is a service that runs on your phone. When it’s on, you simply shake the phone, and if the music is running, the track will change. When you open the app, you have the ability to change how quick you need to shake, how hard you need to shake, and a checkbox to toggle the service on / off.

The default shake settings is a comfortable shake for most people. If you keep the phone on your hip when you walk, if you use your phone when you jog, or you find that the default settings are too sensitive for you, the app allows you to change the strength.

The preferences page allows you to turn the service on / off. This is great if you are listening to an audio book or want to listen to to a specific album in order. When you reboot the phone, it will check the saved preferences to see if you had the service on or off before the reboot. If the service was turned off, the app assumes you want to keep it that way.

This pretty much sums up the app. I will continue to add features, so keep checking back for more news. I also appreciate any comments, suggestions, critisisms, and collaboration.

Thanks!

Flickr Droid 2.4.0

michaelmosher — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 23:36:08 +0000

Hello everyone,

Today I’m releasing the newest version in attempts to resolve alot of issues with the app. As you probably have noticed, I’ve taken about an 8 month sabbatical from programming. I know alot of people have noticed problems with the app and have communicated with me about the app. There are a few reasons for the hiatus. Mainly, I have worked so hard to get this app to work on all of the many Android devices out there. I am just a guy learning to program and loving it, but I do this in my spare time, and the only tools I have available to me are my Droid 1 and the emulators in the MotoDev Studio. The most frustrating thing is when the app works on my device, all the emulators, and every version of Android (1.6 to 2.2), but then the app break when released to the world. The last few versions were released mainly to tackle the problems between devices, mainly with uploading, to no avail. The frustration and difficulty of developing without the resources and time of a business seem large at times. You might also notice the almost 9 month time difference between posts. My wife and I are on our 1st baby, and I thought it would be worth the time to focus on our new beginning…

Recently I have been putting all my efforts to fix the problems in this app. I’m excited about this release because I believe this will fix many or most of the errors that people are seeing with the app. Please test this app for me and provide feedback on this post, my Flickr page (http://www.flickr.com/services/apps/72157622918619247/), or in the comments of the app. I hate the fact that so many of you have had problems with uploading, logging in, etc, for the majority of this year, but I’m back at work to fix these errors. I’ve invested so much time and devotion to the app that I resolved not to be finished with it. I know the comments and ratings are very low, but the app has many great features and is still the best Android app for Flickr, and it will only improve.

I’ve added the changelog for this version at the bottom of the post, but I want to go over some of the fixes in this version. I should also state that I have a ton of ideas for added features in the next release, so look forward to that. There are many areas I still want to expand this app to, and, as always, your suggestions, critisisms, help and collaboration are welcome.

Fixes for Current Issues:

- Uploading photos:

I’ve analyzed the errors that people are sending me, and I believe I have fixed the problems. There are multiple ways to upload photos to Flickr with this app (take a photo on the fly, upload a stored photo from the application, or share photos from the Android Gallery or other apps). These funtions have all been updated, and should work smoothly.

- Login in / authenticating the app:

Alot of users have complained that the current way to search for an account are very limited; the app currently allows you to search by username or email address. Many people have no idea what their Flickr username is. Unfortunately, this is the only 2 ways that Flickr allows us to authenticate the app.

To find your username for Flickr:
- expand the ‘You’ tab and go to ‘Your Account’.
- Your Username will show up as “Your screen name”.

You can edit this in Flickr after you have logged in / authenticated the app and won’t have a problem. But if you are having problems authenticating, it’s one of two things: 1) You aren’t using your ‘screen name’ as the Username, or have the incorrect email when authenticating with an email address, or 2) your permissions are not allowing the app to find you.

If you are using the correct username or email address when authenticating and are unable to find your account, you need to change the privacy in Flickr to allow third-party apps to search for you.

- Login to Flickr, and expand the ‘You’ tab, and go to ‘Your Account’
-Click on the ‘Privacy & Permissions’ tab
-Navagate to ‘Hide your profile from public searches’ and click ‘Edit’ to the right
-in this section you’ll need to uncheck ‘Hide me from site-wide searches on flickr.com and on 3rd party sites that use the API?’ . Unchecking this allows the Flickr Droid app to find your Username and authenticate you to use Flickr on your phone

- Other main errors / crashes: I’ve found some errors that some people have encountered, and found out that it is due to a lack of internet connectivity, or intermitent connectivity, that interferes with the communication with Flickr. I’ve added proper error handling to display dialogs and messages telling the user of the issue, instead of having the app crash.

That’s all, for now. Please give the new version a try and post your comments. I appreciate the continued support…

ChangeLog:

v 2.4.0

–fix error with uploading photo when sharing photo from the android gallery (UploadSavedPhoto)

-this produced a FC on alot of devices.

-changed the way we find the absolute path of the photo on the phone so we can upload. Should return the correct path everytime. If it doesn’t, it will popup a dialog box with an explanation of the error instead of the FC

– fixed errors and bugs when uploading photos from main ativity > ‘Take Photo’ and ‘Upload Photo’

– fixed error when trying to use ‘Take Photo’ on a phone that doesn’t have a camera or doesn’t support that function

- instead of an FC, user will see a popup telling them that this function is unsupported on their phone

– fixed the issue with scrolling the main screen in Android 2.2

– fixed the issue with scrolling in the ‘Comments’ and ‘Details’ tabs in DisplaySinglePhotoTabs

– fixed ‘Set as Wallpaper’ function in DisplaySinglePhotoTabs.

- no longer trying to open the android Wallpaper activity. After 2.0, Android doesn’t let you call their
activity (they removed intent filters)

-using WallpaperManager class to set wallpaper

– fixed the error that sometimes popped when uploading a photo. The crash was due to MediaScannerConnection.connect().

- changed the code to only use this function when necessary, and to use it correctly.

– added alot of error handling for issues not handled before. Added alot of Exceptions to catch issues like no internet connection, no response from Flickr, unable to find referenced photos, unable to upload, etc. This will make sure that the user will see a popup explaining issues that arrise, and don’t see as many Force Closes.

– updated the Italian and German translation of the app. A big thanks to Massimiliano Arione (for the Italian
translation) and Nils Berg (for the German translation)

– Changed the layout for many pages (Contacts, Upload Photo, Collections, Sets, etc)

-It is now a ListView to allow the user to easily see all the items, and there is no need to display a
few items per page, but all the items can be displayed and the user can scroll through the items

Flickr Droid 2.3.0

michaelmosher — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:40:51 +0000

Hey everyone,

I’ve just released the newest update to the app. It mainly fixes a few issues that have been found with the app.

One issue that people have noticed is that you are unable to view your private photos when you choose “View My Photos”. I’ve updated that section, and you will now be able to view your entire photostream when authenticated.

Another change to the app is that it has been translated to German and Spanish. If your phone’s language is set to Spanish or German, all the text in the app will show up in your native language. The app will be translated to other languages in future updates.

There is still one major outstanding issue with uploading photos from this app. There have been a few users that have noted that the app Force Closes when they try to use that function. Some users get this error when they are in the Gallery and choose “Share” on the specific photo they want to upload. Others get the error when they go to the apps homescreen and choose “Uload a Photo”. Either way, I have been unable to reproduce the issue in test environments. The app has been tested in all versions of Android (1.5, 1.6, 2.0, 2.0.1, 2.1), so I’m guessing the issue is due to the hardware.

I have added code in this version that will catch any errors experienced in this section and give the user a chance to email the developer the details of the issue. This will help me analyze what is going wrong on user’s phones, and quickly fix the issue.

Thanks again for using the Flickr Droid. I always appreciate comments, ideas, suggestions, and any other form of communication about the app!

ChangeLog:

v 2.3.0

– took away the Loading bar when moving between photos in DisplaySinglePhotoTabs

– Localized app for German and Spanish

– fixed the issue of not being able to view private photos in the “My Photos” section

– Still am unable to reproduce the issue some people have been having with the “Upload Photo” section.

- It’s been said that there is a FC right when they enter this section, often when going into the gallery and choosing to share a photo.

- others say they have an issue when going to the Flickr Droid homescreen and choosing “Upload Photo” (they get an immediate FC)

- I’ve tested the code in emulators for each firmware (1.5, 1.6, 2.0, 2.0.1, 2.1) and am unable to reproduce

- I know that the issue has happened on the Nexus, but don’t know what would be different than the test environments

- I’ve added code to throw exceptions at every point that would cause an error

-these errors will be caught and added to an email to be sent to the developer for review, if that option is choosen

Flickr Droid v2.2.0

michaelmosher — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:10:46 +0000

Hey everyone,

Flickr Droid update v2.2.0 is being released today.

I appreciate all the feedback, comments, and emails. I’ve had a few people contact me about a few bugs they have found with the app. In this release it fixes for all those bugs, so the app should run super smooth. I’ve also spend a great deal of time adding new features to the app. It’s very close to being a fully-featured app for Android phones, doing almost everything you can do on the Flickr website.

Checkout the features and screenshots of the new version below, look through the ChangeLog at the bottom of this post, and, as always, I appreciate your comments, feedback, and positive ratings!

Next on the Todo list:

-Adding the app to all Android Markets

-Adding the app to this blog to allow anybody to download it to their phone (This will open up the app to regions that can’t get the app in the Android Market)

-Notifications

-more features!

Also, I will elaborate in a future post, but I wanted to mention that this app will be a featured app in the new Sprint Android Market and the Sprint website at the end of this month!! Sprint is opening up their own Android app website for their phones, and it opens at the end of January. Flickr Droid will be one of the few featured apps! Look forward to more availability and increased improvement!

Some of the new features include:

-The Display Photo page is now tabed. It has a section for the photo and it’s actions, a tab to view / add / delete comments, and a tab for details and actions for the photo

-The ability to set the photo as wallpaper

-The ability to add the photo as a favorite

-The ability to view sets and tags that a photo belongs to

-The ability to view details of the photo

-The ability to see/add/delete comments of a photo

-The ability to view the geo location of the photo on a map

ChangeLog:

v 2.2.0

–fixed bugs

-issue with hitting the “Upload Picture” button on the Homepage

-”Upload Picture” opens the Android Picture Gallery app. I didn’t realize that this is for Android 2.0. Change the code to correctly open the Gallery for phones that run Android 1.6 (currently Android 1.5 isn’t supported by this app)

-issue with displaying the last photo in certain sets or collections

-issue with going to the last picture in the Photo Grid

-more efficient when viewing of sets /friends

-changed the configs back to allow the Photo Grid and the single image page to rotate.

-Android has issues with changing the orientation of the phone when a progress dialog is showing (the loading bar). I’ve made some changes to correct that, and allow the phone to rotate the application. I also reimplimented it due to popular demand.

–added tabs to DisplaySinglePhoto

-there are tabs in DisplaySinglePhoto for viewing the photo, comments, and details and actions

–added options in DisplaySinglePhoto

-ability to set the photo as wallpaper

-ability to add the photo as a favorite

-ability to view sets and tags that a photo belongs to

-ability to view details of the photo

-ability to see/add/delete comments of a photo

-ability to view the geo location of the photo on a map

-ability to view the user’s photostream

–changed the font/colors of the homescreen.

-better font/textsize

-child items in the expandable list have a grey background to make them stand out

–changed the functionality/look of the Sets / Contacts

-they are much quicker and look better (they have the same look as the other photos in the Photo Grid