monocube

Android App fragmentation

monocube — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:24:21 +0000

Well Android fragmentation is one thing. However for me the most severe one is app fragmentation. Take a look at the below screenshot from Power Schedule Google Play statistics. The lime line is currently the 1.5 version. Orange is the 1.6 line, while the others represent the 2.x versions. The blue ascending line is the latest version, 2.1.2 – this seems to have a steep update rate, which is a sign that initial 2.x problems were solved.
It seems many users don’t update apps that often (as opposed to me, I always want to have the latest and greatest ).

Power Schedule Unlimited available

monocube — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:08:00 +0000

I just received notification from SlideME Android Market that Power Schedule has been approved and it’s up for sale (0.99$) at:

http://slideme.org/application/power-schedule

This version is AD-FREE, POINT-FREE. Just plain events. As many as you need.
You can buy it directly from the Web or from SlideME Android Market (SAM). Download SAM from:
http://SlideME.org/sam.apk

eCPM results with Tapjoy

monocube — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 10:57:53 +0000

I’ve had mixed feelings about implementing the Tapjoy “points” system. I can tell you that after a week, so do the users. Some don’t like it at all, and ask me for a paid version insted. I would gladly have one, but as I mentioned countless times before, I can’t sell on Google Play (reason being Google, not me).
Anyhow, I will also add Google Analytics, to analyze some things (such as average events used by each user etc.), to see how users interact with Power Schedule.

But coming back to Tapjoy, the results are promising. I’m getting an average of $7.04 eCPM over the first week since implementation. Also the trend is increasing (since only around 30% of users are using the 2.x version). I hope once people get used to the point system and also the new User Interface, things will get even better.
There are some other things which I plan to keep an eye on: localization. I really want to see the effect of translating Power Schedule to Slovak and French. I hope this will add some completely new users, which didn’t see the original 1.x version at all.

Stay tuned.

Unlimited Power Schedule version on Amazon Appstore

monocube — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 15:18:54 +0000

I have some new updates which I didn’t post online yet. First of all, the new 2.1+ versions got Power Schedule users back. Yes, the 2.0 version was quite a disaster, as it was quite complicated to use. Also the point system was not sufficiently explained. Here’s the chart from Google Play:

Anyhow, I’m glad things are getting back on track.
Also, the new 2.1.2 version is translated to Slovak, French and Romanian (more languages to come). By the way, if you know Japanese, Italian or Spanish and want to help me out with the translation, drop me a message.
Today I just uploaded the “point free” Power Schedule version to Amazon Appstore and SlideME alternative Android markets. Yes, it seems they are more open to developers, as they allow me to sell apps there. Power Schedule “unlimited events” edition costs just 0.99$. If you don’t like the point system, you can get the paid version. No ads, no points – just events. As many as you like

It will take a few days until the Amazon and SlideME staff review and approve the app (hopefully ). I will post the purchasing links then.

Also, stay tuned for an income report update. This time, from AdMob, Leadbolt and Tapjoy.

New Update – Power Schedule 2.1.1

monocube — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:44:45 +0000

Last night I updated Power Schedule to version 2.1. I listened to people who complained about the new User Interface. Yes, now that I look at it, it was poorly designed. But somehow I missed this because I got used to it (while working on it).

Anyhow, I hope you like the new one. It’s much more clean and intuitive. I also added a “reboot” event – for Power Users who rooted their phones. You can set up a reboot each night, to have a “clean” phone in the morning (for example).

I plan to add a lot of other features as well – some suggested by users.
Many thanks go to these people (in no particular order):
Andy F
Carlos Blasco
Francisco Bautista
Levon Janpoladyan
Ferenc Harcos
Sujit Dey
Masoud Beheshti
Peter Jancar
Timothy Arceri
David Abdelli
Kevin (Darkbyte)

They helped me fix some issues and contributed with some ideas (or translations). I will also add their names (with their permission) in the About page (inside the App).

Looking forward to the next version

I need some volunteers translating Power Schedule

monocube — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 15:34:42 +0000

Translators needed! I translated the strings to Romanian. However I need help in translating the new strings in other languages as well. If you want Power Schedule in your language, just drop me a message or e-mail me at mircea@monocube.com.

Ok, Power Schedule 2.0 is here!

monocube — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 15:30:33 +0000

Last night I finally finished Power Schedule 2. I rewrote most of the old stuff, so the new event types are no longer compatible with the old schedule – sorry for that, but I couldn’t manage to import them
Anyhow, it’s now REALLY configurable – as most of you have requested. By adding this flexibility, the complexity increased a bit – so some may find the learning curve too steep. Just drop me a message if you have problems using it – I’ll be glad to help.

Also, this time I chose to monetize it – not by making it a paid application (since it’s anyway impossible for Romanian developers – at least on Google Play) – but by using “incentive advertising”. To be more precise: you have 5 events available at startup. Most will find this enough. However, for those of you that need more, they can just complete on of the FREE offers displayed by the Ad provider.
Generally, this just involves installing some free app, game or something similar. Once you do, they will automatically grant you the points. You can choose to uninstall the app later if you don’t like it. The ratio is this: 1 extra event = 10 Power points.
So completing a 50 point offer will get you 5 new events.
Simple. Oh, and your earned points will still be available after re-installation.

I know some people have problems with ads, but unfortunately I have no other way of monetizing my app. I hope you understand.

Ad report – last 25 days.

monocube — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:35:21 +0000

As I said before, I will publish the revenue generated by ads. In total, Power Schedule and App List generated a total of… 6.16$.
This is not much, as the ads are non-obtrusive and are displayed only if the user requests it (by choosing the “Special Offers” menu item).
Here’s the screenshot from my LeadBolt account (referral link):

During the last week, I’ve been walking continuously n my Sisyphus path (also known as Power Schedule 2). I managed to rethink most of the User Interface. Hopefully it’s much more friendly and intuitive – also a LOT more flexible
Yes, most of the requested features are present (and working) already. I’ll leave the rest for the future versions (better to have a stable running version before adding new stuff). This will also support localization properly, so you’ll have Power Schedule in your own language (I’ll post the files soon for translation).
I *may* be able to release it this week (we have Easter holiday on Sunday, maybe things are more relaxed at work).

Meanwhile I also made a small fix for the 1.x version of Power Schedule – mainly, to support Data Connection control on Gingerbread (2.3+) devices. Grab the 1.6 version from the market now if you haven’t already.

So, next post will hopefully be the release news

App List

monocube — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 21:19:27 +0000

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.

No more startup ads

monocube — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:25:57 +0000

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.