The Varieties of Android Experience
Last Friday we snapped the photograph in this post. We posted the image online and it spread virally to reach unanticipated global fame. Much was said about Animoca and about our excessive QA practices. Even more was said about Android and fragmentation. Today we would like to give you Animoca’s point of view on these issues.
A little background
After the photo generated some buzz on social networks, TechCrunch featured our image in a top-trending article titled This Is What Developing For Android Looks Like. The responses to that article ranged from enthusiastic agreement to the predictably vitriolic. Some opined that the writer, respected tech reporter Kim-Mai Cutler, was denigrating Android to exalt iOS (we disagree).
The TechCrunch article explained how Animoca chooses to perform QA of Android apps across as many devices as possible – it did not suggest you have to do the same, or even that our approach is necessarily the best. That said, keep reading to find out why this method works for us, and why Android fragmentation isn’t always a bad thing.
All the Myriad Androids
On a sunny Friday afternoon, we thought, why not do something unusual? So we sauntered over to our QA department and demanded to see their Android test devices. If you know anything about Google Android then you know the choice in this ecosystem is enormous (we wrote about this in a previous post).
Around here we affectionately refer to our QA department as “bucket o’droids” and we think you can probably figure out why. These guys and gals test our apps across so many devices it would make your head spin. Cuby (of Pretty Pet Salon fame) immediately saw the opportunity for some shameless self-promotion and ordered us to set up the conference room for a photoshoot. What a professional!
No doubt you have questions, so here are our answers:
- Yes, all of those devices are found in-house at Animoca – those are just the ones that would fit on our biggest table.
- Yes, the conference room does open directly on to a gorgeous green area complete with trees and a lawn.
- Yes, we really did allude to a classic work of science fiction.
Fridays are fun.
UPDATE: catch the follow-up discussion to this post in our latest magnum opus: The Varieties of Android Experience.
Google Play serves 15 billionth download – weeks ago!
Congratulations to Google Play for serving 15,000,000,000 downloads, a milestone that was achieved without fanfare a few weeks ago. That’s very impressive growth from the 11 billion downloads Google reported just this past January. Wonder what the count is this very moment: 16 billion? 17 billion?
Kudos to Google, here’s to you keeping on trucking!
Baby Flash Cards Lite
Baby Flash Cards is now even more engaging and entertaining for your kids with over 250 colorful cards specially designed to make learning new words a fun activity for you and your child. The cards are organized into different categories that you can turn on through a simple and comprehensive menu to tailor your child’s learning curriculum to your liking. The paid version will also
The paid version will pronounce the words and allow you to record your voice for each card so that you can tailor the card to your language.
Category: Education, Reference, Kids + Family
Language: English
Pet Cafe (Android)
My Car Salon (Android)