News - Google revamps the Android Market

[HEXUS]

A new look, new categories and new rules as Google attempts to get closer to Apple’s mobile store offering.

Read more.

[Funkstar]

Apparently it's being pushed out an an update over the coming weeks.

Or you can head over the XDA-Devs and grab a .apk with the new version.

[mikerr]

We are also increasing the maximum size for .apk files on Market to 50MB, to better support richer games.

That's still not enough for a Sat Nav is it ?

[Guppy]

15 minutes! That is not nearly enough time to try out an app, especially the more feature rich apps. Surely a few hours or even an hour is a far better compromise. This will just mean that people will be making a decision in haste rather than if they actually like the app and think it is worth keeping.

[semo]

Why is there a restriction on app size at all? This is something that id software was complaining about and one of the reasons they only support istuff.

Google started in the right direction but now they still have problems with their market place and the new nexus phone doesn't even have an SD slot (something that other makers may copy)

[Funkstar]

Why is there a restriction on app size at all? This is something that id software was complaining about and one of the reasons they only support istuff.

The Apple app store is limited to 20MB over the air, if you want anything more you need to use Wifi or iTunes on a PC/Mac and sync it across. After that there is a 2GB hard limit to app downloads, probably due to file systems etc. However, there isn't really a big deal here, all SatNav makers have to do is make the front end a Marketplace app which will also grab the map data once installed. Simples. This has the added benefit of letting them release just one app that can then pull the map data for any part of the works directly from their servers, instead of publishing a dozen GB of data or so to Google's servers whenever they need an update.

Seems like Google could do that with the Marketplace as well though, after all, they give you the option of OS updates over Wifi or 3G.

Google started in the right direction but now they still have problems with their market place and the new nexus phone doesn't even have an SD slot (something that other makers may copy)

I don't see the problem, iThings don't have SD card slots. The problem is often that devices do have SD card slots, meaning that the bulk storage cannot be used by apps unless the handset is using 2.2 or higher and the app supports being moved to SD card. With the Nexus S (and Galaxy S as well) the bulk storage is all the main storage, so apps don't have to be moved or managed. You either have enough space or you don't. The Desire is a bit of a pain in this regard, it's only got 147MB of main app memory, even when you have a 32GB card in there. I need to uninstall a few large apps that cannot be moved to SD whenever I want to install an OS update as there isn't enough free space in main memory.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

sounds good

[j.o.s.h.1408]

duplicated post please remove

[directhex]

That's still not enough for a Sat Nav is it ?

Sure it is. Map files download separately, which is good - that way they use space on your SD partition, not the system partition. I have a full satnav app with Belgian, UK, and Western US maps.

[JimmyBoy]

I still have the old market on my unbranded 2.2 desire. any idea when this new market will appear?

[Funkstar]

From the original blog post

Over the next two weeks, we’ll be rolling out a new Android Market client to all devices running Android 1.6 or higher.

[crossy]

(50MB) That's still not enough for a Sat Nav is it ?

Yes it is - just checked my copy of CoPilot and it claims only be using 24.25MB. Although I grant that if you wanted a satnav app with all the maps then it's going to be a big download - I've only got the UK maps. But surely that it's far easier (and cheaper!) to just do the software+one-map as the initial download and then allow the user to add the maps they want as add-on packs.

[crossy]

I don't see the problem, iThings don't have SD card slots. The problem is often that devices do have SD card slots, meaning that the bulk storage cannot be used by apps unless the handset is using 2.2 or higher and the app supports being moved to SD card. With the Nexus S (and Galaxy S as well) the bulk storage is all the main storage, so apps don't have to be moved or managed. You either have enough space or you don't. The Desire is a bit of a pain in this regard, it's only got 147MB of main app memory, even when you have a 32GB card in there. I need to uninstall a few large apps that cannot be moved to SD whenever I want to install an OS update as there isn't enough free space in main memory.

I'd refuse to buy an Android phone that lacked that expandability - in fact I don't know why the manufacturers don't just skip the internal memory for app storage and just bundle an SD card and bung the default apps on that. Surely that'd make it far easier for the teleco's to reconfigure them, ah, there's the drawback...

Back to the main topic - a GMP reorg is long overdue - it's just far too difficult (compared to iTMS) to sort out the dross from the good stuff. Actually GMP looks pretty basic compared the "luxury" of iTMS.

[Funkstar]

I'd refuse to buy an Android phone that lacked that expandability - in fact I don't know why the manufacturers don't just skip the internal memory for app storage and just bundle an SD card and bung the default apps on that. Surely that'd make it far easier for the teleco's to reconfigure them, ah, there's the drawback...

Android doesn't work like that. Apps are installed on the internal storage, some apps can be moved to SD or external storage if they support it, not all do. This isn't something that can be changed by the manufacturer, that is how Android is made to work. In an ideal world you would have a few GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot. The SD can then handle user files like music, photos and videos and any apps you manually moved over.

[scaryjim]

... The Desire is a bit of a pain in this regard, it's only got 147MB of main app memory, ...

Seriously? That's fairly shocking, given that my cheap-as-chips 15 month old Magic with a few apps installed still has 221MB available...

[semo]

The Apple app store is limited to 20MB over the air, if you want anything more you need to use Wifi or iTunes on a PC/Mac and sync it across. After that there is a 2GB hard limit to app downloads, probably due to file systems etc. However, there isn't really a big deal here, all SatNav makers have to do is make the front end a Marketplace app which will also grab the map data once installed. Simples. This has the added benefit of letting them release just one app that can then pull the map data for any part of the works directly from their servers, instead of publishing a dozen GB of data or so to Google's servers whenever they need an update.

Seems like Google could do that with the Marketplace as well though, after all, they give you the option of OS updates over Wifi or 3G.


I don't see the problem, iThings don't have SD card slots. The problem is often that devices do have SD card slots, meaning that the bulk storage cannot be used by apps unless the handset is using 2.2 or higher and the app supports being moved to SD card. With the Nexus S (and Galaxy S as well) the bulk storage is all the main storage, so apps don't have to be moved or managed. You either have enough space or you don't. The Desire is a bit of a pain in this regard, it's only got 147MB of main app memory, even when you have a 32GB card in there. I need to uninstall a few large apps that cannot be moved to SD whenever I want to install an OS update as there isn't enough free space in main memory.

Google entered the smartphone market with the premise that they will be different, open and free. I want to be able to expand my storage (the new nexus does not have an SD slot) and put anything I want there. Google has decided to restrict such usage.

I see the nexus as a reference design and if Google are coming up with such restrictions for their own devices, then it may become a trend for others too.