I’m in the process of updating Jumpy not only to give it some polish, but also learn more of the ins and outs of the Android Market marketing capabilities…hopefully I’ll also figure out how to insert advertising and possibly make a little extra cash.

Anywho, as I’ve been updating some of the code, I came across my custom AboutDialog and decided it needed to go into an AlertDialog instead.  By using the code below, I was able to use the same layout resource of the AboutDialog (removing a couple widgets) and fully utilizing the AlertDialog by instantiating a View via the LayoutInflater and setting it into the AlertDialog.

    private void openAboutDialog()
    {
    	AlertDialog.Builder dialog = new AlertDialog.Builder( this );
    	dialog.setView( getLayoutInflater().inflate( R.layout.about_layout, null ) );
    	dialog.setTitle( getString( R.string.about_jumpy_title ) );
    	dialog.setPositiveButton( getString( R.string.done ), null );
    	dialog.show();
    }

It’s really nice that with the getLayoutInflater().inflate call you only have to supply the resource since the root ViewGroup is optional.  Now I’m able to get rid of the AboutDialog class and remove 50 some odd lines of code from the applications.

I finished another version of Jumpy last night.  I added in a small feature to detect when there are no more moves available, signaling the end of a game.  Not a huge change, but I thought it was worth putting it out on the market.  This is an important ability for future features which, I hope, will extend the game for users how have already solved the puzzle.

Wow, I kinda feel like a celebrity :).  I had no clue that Jumpy would get an official review!  Thanks to Android Guys, Jumpy has now been critiqued.  Hopefully I’ll be able to find the time soon to make some improvements and get a version ?.?.? out the door.

Just a quick note that version 1.1.0 of Jumpy is available on the Android Market.  The features I added include:

1. An undo option allowing the player to move back the most recent move.
2. Redo Board allows the player to redo the most recently played board.
3. A setting has been added allowing the player to choose the first piece removed from the board.

I uploaded it to the Android Market over the weekend, but because of a bug in the market software it cleared out the total number of downloads and the rating Jumpy received to that point.  Currently it has been re-downloaded 1304 times and has a rating of 3 1/2 stars.  Thanks everyone who has tried out the new version.

I also have another application or two I’m working on.  The next one I plan to concentrate on is a mobile shopping list with a couple extra features that other shopping lists I’ve seen are missing.  And since I don’t like to waste to much time initially thinking of a name I’ll go with…ahh…hmmm… Honest Shopper.

Today has been an awesome day for me!  For the first time I’ve taken an idea (albeit a very simple one), written a program, deployed it for others to use (although not all in one day), and enjoyed as users gave feed back to my work, good and bad.

(more…)

  Well I’ve gone and done it!  My first Android application has been deployed to Google’s Android Market.  Jumpy is a rendition of the classic peg game where you win by removing all the pieces from the game board.  A piece is removed when it is jumped by a selected piece.

So grab your G1 and head over to the Android Market and download Jumpy, let me know what you think and give Jumpy a rating (good or bad).  Lot’s of more features in the pipe, but I wanted to get something onto the Android Market so I could learn the process.

Thanks a bunch for your support and helpful critiques, hope you enjoy!