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***Unofficial*** Eurogamer Android App/Widget

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  • JohnnyWashnGo 6 Nov 2009 19:27:14 1,544 posts
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    Howdy folks,

    I am making some good progress with Eurogamer Android stuff. The widget is pretty much complete insofar as I got it doing what I wanted it to do given the limitations of Android widget framework. Its been tested a little during this week and its working nicely. It is really just a simple view onto the latest 4 pieces of news from the sites RSS feed and should interact nicely with the main app when I get it running. But for now, its just a nice little widget for keeping you up to date with the site.

    Here is a video of it in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnlRucclryI

    Let me know what you think. I am going to be working on the app in anger next week as I have the week off of work so will have more to show then.

    Also, I may be using this thread as a testbed for the app. So if you see any odd postings, it is probably me ;)
  • Deleted user 6 November 2009 19:55:56
    Not bad. I would be more likely to use a dedicated app than a widget so I'll be very interested in seeing that.
  • morriss 6 Nov 2009 19:57:19 69,381 posts
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    Nice one.

    At last someone with some sense doing something productive with their spare time! :p

    /hugs Vroom
  • mowgli 6 Nov 2009 19:58:22 31,850 posts
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    looks good, nice one!

    Pissy pants.

  • Vroom 11 Nov 2009 13:06:47 4,644 posts
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    Just noticed this thread.

    Looks good Johnny. I must admit I am interested in one of these 'Hero' devices ;)

    Perhaps for Xmas I'll get one.

    *cough*

    Vroom

  • Hopeless_Savage 11 Nov 2009 14:16:51 89 posts
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    Looks good I'll def be dling when you've finished :)
  • robthehermit 11 Nov 2009 14:21:03 3,364 posts
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    Can we have a symbian app please.

    GT: robthehermit

    Velim esset mundus iustus futuis procul et mori.

  • morriss 11 Nov 2009 14:22:59 69,381 posts
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    Any status updates, Johnny?
  • skillian 17 Nov 2009 11:49:03 42 posts
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    Really interested in this!

    If a little donation (£5ish) would be helpful to you in making the app, PM me.
  • LetsGo 17 Nov 2009 11:56:44 4,558 posts
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    How much will it cost?
  • JohnnyWashnGo 18 Nov 2009 10:56:20 1,544 posts
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    Hi everybody,

    Time for an update.

    Have had the last week or so off of work so planned to get a lot done with the app. Sadly, Demons Souls kinda got in the way so I didn't make as much progress as I would have liked ;)

    That being said, the application is coming along nicely with the main news window looking good and linking to the actual news articles almost finished. I have also updated the look and feel of the news widget a little bit to make it more readable.

    It is taking much longer to code than I would have liked simple because of the time spent parsing the various pages of the site in order to extract the relevant data. That and debugging on the phone makes things really sloooow.

    I will try to post a new video of the app soon. Also I would may be a good idea if a couple of Hero/Android phone owners could lend me a hand by running the app on the phone to see how it peforms and to get some feedback as to what would be nice to have.

    My development phone is the Hero so if anybody has a different phone and is willing to run unsigned apps then do let me know.

    As for cost, lets see if I can get something decent working first ;)

    Although to be honest, I will probably give it away. Maybe even open source it at some point when the code is tidy enough to not raise too many eyebrows.

    Take care people, I will have that new video done soonish (maybe at the weekend?)
  • Vroom 18 Nov 2009 11:00:18 4,644 posts
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    JohnnyWashnGo wrote:
    Hi everybody,

    Time for an update.

    Have had the last week or so off of work so planned to get a lot done with the app. Sadly, Demons Souls kinda got in the way so I didn't make as much progress as I would have liked ;)

    That being said, the application is coming along nicely with the main news window looking good and linking to the actual news articles almost finished. I have also updated the look and feel of the news widget a little bit to make it more readable.

    It is taking much longer to code than I would have liked simple because of the time spent parsing the various pages of the site in order to extract the relevant data. That and debugging on the phone makes things really sloooow.

    I will try to post a new video of the app soon. Also I would may be a good idea if a couple of Hero/Android phone owners could lend me a hand by running the app on the phone to see how it peforms and to get some feedback as to what would be nice to have.

    My development phone is the Hero so if anybody has a different phone and is willing to run unsigned apps then do let me know.

    As for cost, lets see if I can get something decent working first ;)

    Although to be honest, I will probably give it away. Maybe even open source it at some point when the code is tidy enough to not raise too many eyebrows.

    Take care people, I will have that new video done soonish (maybe at the weekend?)
    It's harder than you'd imagine isn't it ;)

    The iPhone version is now over 10,000 lines of code.

    Vroom

  • JohnnyWashnGo 18 Nov 2009 11:11:38 1,544 posts
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    Vroom! wrote:
    It's harder than you'd imagine isn't it ;)

    The iPhone version is now over 10,000 lines of code.
    QFT ;)

    Aye, it truly is a pain to extract everything you need from the various parts of the site and not incur some performance hit when parsing the source. Still, its fun.

    Another reason for it taking so long to get up and running is that the API is still fairly new to me, at least the parts that are not J2ME are new. That and making everything multithreaded so as to not grind the phone to a halt means that I have to code carefully, which is completely against my nature ;)
  • Vroom 18 Nov 2009 12:16:51 4,644 posts
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    JohnnyWashnGo wrote:
    Vroom! wrote:
    It's harder than you'd imagine isn't it ;)

    The iPhone version is now over 10,000 lines of code.

    QFT ;)

    Aye, it truly is a pain to extract everything you need from the various parts of the site and not incur some performance hit when parsing the source. Still, its fun.

    Another reason for it taking so long to get up and running is that the API is still fairly new to me, at least the parts that are not J2ME are new. That and making everything multithreaded so as to not grind the phone to a halt means that I have to code carefully, which is completely against my nature ;)
    All of the above :)

    It is fun however. Good luck with the app. Looking forward to seeing the vid.

    Vroom

  • mrpon 18 Nov 2009 12:22:16 24,062 posts
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    Undercut Vroom for a price war! :p

    Give yourself ½ gig or a £, you're worth it.

  • Vroom 18 Nov 2009 12:25:10 4,644 posts
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    mrpon wrote:
    Undercut Vroom for a price war! :p
    /readies molotov

    Vroom

  • Slurmseh 19 Nov 2009 02:40:52 2,222 posts
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    Hopes this app is free as the Android Marketplace doesn't exist in Ireland yet and I'm too clueless to root my phone to get marketenabler.
  • Alastair 19 Nov 2009 10:56:47 11,954 posts
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    JohnnyWashnGo wrote:
    My development phone is the Hero so if anybody has a different phone and is willing to run unsigned apps then do let me know.
    I have a G1 and would be willing to help.

    /doesn't understand the potential implications...

    Not as nice as I used to be

  • JohnnyWashnGo 21 Nov 2009 14:05:04 1,544 posts
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    Ok so its update time.

    What can I say except... my god its taking time to get anything working as I would like... maybe my standards are too high?

    Anyways, here is a video link to the latest build of the app. Everything you see is subject to change at the drop of the hat so don't regard the UI as anywhere near final.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj-6vTNe1f8

    The main interface will be tabbed and allow you initially to switch between the site news and the forum. At the moment all that is working is the news feed and the ability to read a news article. The news tab will display all the news from the RSS feed, for each item you will get the title, tagline and a little icon representing the type of news it is e.g. review, preview, interview and so on.

    I have so many cool ideas and yet so little time to implement them that its kinda frustrating me :(

    Also when I get more of the thing working, I will be looking for some testers ;)
    So those of you who have volunteered already... thanks.

    Well, let me know what you think.

    Oh, I just watched the uploaded video and the quality sucks - I hope you can get the drift from what you see.
  • Deleted user 21 November 2009 14:13:59
    Looks very good so far. Is there an option to have dark writing on a light background? Either way, I'm happy to test it for you (HTC Hero). :)
  • mrpon 21 Nov 2009 14:22:48 24,062 posts
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    Excellent work Johnny, I like the icons against each article denoting what it is. Are you listening Vroom?! Seems a lot faster than the previous video showed as well. I knew I should've bought an Android phone!

    Give yourself ½ gig or a £, you're worth it.

  • Vroom 21 Nov 2009 15:02:29 4,644 posts
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    Looks good johnny. :)

    Lol @ mrpon.

    Vroom

  • Deleted user 21 November 2009 15:04:04
    Don't laugh, Vroom. Pull your funking finger out.
  • YoshiMcTaggis 21 Nov 2009 15:37:26 1,971 posts
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    Make sure you tick whatever box needs ticking to say it works on the "smaller" screens, otherwise us cheap Tattoo users won't even be able to see it in the market.

    Also: Looks good!
  • pinebear 21 Nov 2009 15:49:45 8,555 posts
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    Agreed, looks really nice. Well done on the work so far!

    ツ

  • Vroom 21 Nov 2009 15:56:18 4,644 posts
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    MrED209 wrote:
    Don't laugh, Vroom. Pull your funking finger out.
    My finger is out cheeky pup!

    This stuff ain't easy ;)

    Vroom

  • Deleted user 21 November 2009 16:02:29
    Vroom! wrote:
    MrED209 wrote:
    Don't laugh, Vroom. Pull your funking finger out.
    My finger is out cheeky pup!

    This stuff ain't easy ;)
    I's messin' wit' yu baby ;)
  • mrpon 21 Nov 2009 16:06:23 24,062 posts
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    I'm sure we could club together Vroom! :p

    Give yourself ½ gig or a £, you're worth it.

  • JohnnyWashnGo 21 Nov 2009 16:08:04 1,544 posts
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    YoshiMcTaggis wrote:
    Make sure you tick whatever box needs ticking to say it works on the "smaller" screens, otherwise us cheap Tattoo users won't even be able to see it in the market.

    Also: Looks good!
    It should be fine on smaller screens - nothing is really hardcoded to HVGA so it should just work... but I will try to ensure that it works on all display sizes.

    Also, Vroom! is spot on, this stuff is hard. I am trying to take cues from the iPhone app wherever possible but some things will not be possible or as straightforward on an Android device.

    Still glad people seem to like it...
  • YoshiMcTaggis 21 Nov 2009 16:21:05 1,971 posts
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    Is there actually some sort of box you need to tick to say "Yes this works on small screens"? I ask because a bunch of apps don't show on the Market because apparently the devs didn't tick that box, even though it would work fine, the shits.

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