Interview with Chris Lacy - Link Bubble Developer and Action Launcher

Chris Lacy is a lone freelance developer who earns his living only from Android development. In this interview to androidpolice.com, he shares his opinion on the development of Android, the development for it, etc.


AP: What attracted you to the development of mobile devices, Android in particular?
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Chris: Before becoming an application developer, I made games. Based on my interest in gadgets and technologies, it also appeared on application development. The iPhone caught my eye, but after iOS4 turned my iPhone 3g into a slow piece of plastic, I decided to choose Android.

At the end of 2011, after the release of ICS, I decided to write the first application, and this was the client for Twitter, mainly because Android didn’t have normal-looking and working clients.



Tweet lanes

Development for Android attracted me for several reasons. Android APIs are more flexible than other mobile platforms, you can create applications that are simply impossible on other operating systems. For example, with Link Bubble, I can open links from other applications in my own, download them in the background and then display them on top of another application. Cool, right?

I also liked the very idea of ​​what I would write for the platform from Google. That number of different web APIs, conferences, a huge community of developers, programs, features, etc ... It seemed to me that Google is set up to help ordinary developers to move forward in this technological space. I liked the idea that, putting my ideas into applications, I also move this platform forward, maybe only in the eyes of a small number of people who use them, but still.

AP: The first rule of each developer - programs are written in order to solve some problems. What problems do you solve?
Chris: I’m struggling with those problems that I don’t usually think about or know about their existence, that is, I make the application so that when I see how it performs its function, the user wonders how I could do it differently, because so obvious. I do not invent something radically new, just take what has long been, add my ideas and hope that someone will understand my plan.

AP: As an Android developer, what annoys / enrages / hinders you the most in your work?

Chris: WebView (this is a system API that allows web pages to be processed by the native browser to third-party applications, it is used by Link Bubble and many other applications). In it, I came across a few critical problems, everything is processed slowly , the application crashes and you can’t do anything about it (seriously, because of the latter, people often return money for the application or leave reviews with 1 star on Google Play).

Google also switched to Blink (Google Chrome engine) (in 4.4), stating that “2014 will be the year when the web changes completely for mobile devices.” But so far nothing has changed, well, at least for those who do not use Chrom. Developers who need a webview in applications or people who use the browser on another engine smoke aside (if they are not the latest version of the OS - translator's note).

That's why Google is putting more and more functionality and API into Google Play Services. I would like an API like webview and some others not to be tied to the OS version, but could be updated directly through these same services, so that developers using such basic functionality did not experience different problems on different OS versions.

AP: How do you think Google can better contribute to developers?

Chris: In general, Google is pretty good at it. The developer relations group is sociable and accessible, Android Studio is a huge leap forward, and the ability to test applications through groups in GPlus, simply downloading a new apk to the Play Developer Console is also a great opportunity. The application is updated from users literally an hour or two after its publication, and not at least after 4 days, as on iOS, I do not want to seem arrogant, but it would be cool if this happened even faster.

The main thing that Google has not yet succeeded in, in my opinion, is Google Play itself. Finding new applications is difficult, in the tops the same thing hangs. And it would be nice to simplify the process of monetization of applications.

AP: As a developer and as a user, what changes in Android would you like to see the most?

Chris: Permission / permission system for applications. For example, when installing them (both apk and from Google Play), you see and agree on the number of permissions defined for each application (on the use of sensors, access to data, etc.), but this system does not manifest itself any further, and just full of flaws. For example, almost all non-Nexus / Google Play devices come with a bunch of pre-installed third-party applications, which often cannot be limited in their actions, nor can they be deleted or even turned off. My non-operator Galaxy S4 for example carries with it a bunch of such goodness in the firmware. There is an application called “Com2usPoker” and in turn it has access to the applications that I launch, to information about my account, phone number, Internet connection and a whole lot more.

You will find it unacceptable the situation when buying a new house, it will be clogged with hidden cameras that take you off and all the information goes into the unknown where.

I have no doubt that Google probably somewhere in contracts with manufacturers there is a fad about such applications, but as a user I just want to have a setting where it will be possible to turn off access to something from each application.

As a developer, I like the possibility of denying access to data by the user. Link Bubble during installation (initial launch) asks about the possibility of using the location, and warns that the use of GPS can consume a lot of energy, I also report the same in the description of the application in the store. By the way, it would be much more convenient and understandable if applications requested access to something only at that moment when they need it (for example, Link Bubble would ask access to GPS only when the site requests it). The same story with Action Launcher and its access to the dialer or contacts.

What is sad is that such a system exists in 4.4: you can turn off access to a location from settings, when placing a widget on a table from a non-system launcher - a request appears, there is even a menu with applications that have access to notifications, but all of these menus settings and requests are scattered or appear only in certain situations. As a user and a developer, I would like to see this as an intuitive and simple function / system setting.

AP: In your opinion, how successful is Google in the design of its own applications, and in general in the interface language (in May there was still no material design)?

Chris: I like the way the Google applications came to mind. Actually, I'm not a fan of the standard look of Android Holo, especially the dark version of it. Applications designed in it, it seems to me very very soulless and simple, what-if ...



AP: If you look, the price of most applications on Google Play does not exceed $ 2. Your applications (not counting discounts) exceed this level, Action Launcher - $ 4, Link Bubble - $ 5 also with a notice that in the future the price can only grow. Why is that?

Chris: First, I will not immediately agree with you. If you look at the category of the most purchased in GPlay, then you can see that if you separate the games, the software just costs more than $ 2. With Action Launcher, I decided - well, if the market quite agrees to buy good software for $ 4, then why am I worse?

With Link Bubble, it seemed to me that he was worthy of another dollar on top. For my money, this program has largely changed my principle of using the device, in some way this can be compared with a new phone or OS update.

I wrote to Artyom (the founder of AndroidPolice.com) in a personal email about the fact that I am going to raise the price for Link Bubble at the start, by the way, I thought to do it after launch, but I never talked about it publicly. Although let's be honest, we all constantly think about a bunch of different things. And by the way, at the moment I'm not going to raise the price in the future.

The response to the Link Bubble price was mostly positive. The run went well. There were and there are people who are unhappy with the price of $ 5 and considers it too high for software. But I'm not, my program helps you use your device / improves this experience, I'm not homeless, I don’t need that much money and I’m not one of those developers who release stupid applications like Virus Shield or Flappy Bird Saga on Google Play, I’m not stealing your data, I honestly made the program and it costs two times less than a ticket for Top 2 (and this is if you don’t remember about popcorn and soda and shopping in applications) (note - surely this is a reference to candy crash saga and purchases in it) and yet the application has a free version showing the full features.

Well, what to say, by the end of the day I had thoughts about what else is important - the price should be such that the application pays for itself and brings the maximum profit, if I managed to solve this problem or not - time will tell.

AP: What circumstances should influence the price reduction / increase for new / current applications?

Chris: Well, I do not think that I will pass for $ 4.99 like Link Bubble, but it depends on the application itself, as I said earlier. In addition, I am not against the decline in prices, if there is a reason.

AP: You often ask your subscribers what they would like to change or add to your applications. Do you follow their advice? Does the public / consumer opinion on the development process?

Chris: Having a large number of people from whom you can get an instant (well, almost) response, helped me decide all sorts of small but important things like “what settings to use by default”, etc. Basically, I write applications for myself, and accordingly for people with a similar principle of use. Sounds probably strange, but I just made a mistake in the past, trying to do what I thought the audience needed, and it turned out that I did not want to use a product and, accordingly, work on it, which is not very good.

AP: Do you communicate with XDA users (xda-developers.com)? If so, how different is the interaction with them from that with your subscribers in social networks (Twitter / G +)?

Chris: I have an account on XDA, but no, I don’t go there at all. Hour spent on the forum for me is an hour that I could spend behind the code. It seems to me that the fact that I freely answer everyone in social networks is quite enough.

Also probably because of my absence XDA was affected by the fact that I was not interested in tweaks at all, custom firmwares and other things that they mostly discuss there. I never ruled my devices, did not put custom or xposed, etc.

AP: Are you already working or are you planning something new?

Chris: I have a ready application that I could release even tomorrow, but there are a couple of reasons why I still think what to do with it. It is not written as a project, but rather as an experiment, I use it every day at home. In fact, I was going to quickly write it for the function I needed and release, but then the idea grew and I think about how far it all goes. Most likely, it will all end with the fact that on some Friday I’ll just take it and let it out for no particular reason, and see if it comes in.

One of these days I had such a funny moment when a terribly cool idea came to my mind for an application, the prototype of which I did for 18 months, it will be very useful, but I don’t even know when I find time to modify it to a full-fledged application, because now I'm very busy.

It seems that time is my enemy.

AP: So you have succeeded as an independent lone developer, have you considered options for working in a company?

Chris: Yes, there were offers from both large and small companies and teams. In short, they all boiled down to one thing - I (and therefore my family) must move to the Coast (San Francisco Bay) from Australia. This is not a very common thing for us, my wife has a career here, my applications are also selling well and I can do what I like, we have relatives and friends here, in general, relocation cannot be called a particularly advantageous situation.

But at the same time, working alone is difficult, primarily as a person. I rarely contact industry co-workers or very rarely work with someone in a team on some projects. I have already said that there were different proposals, and at such moments you begin to let saliva on projects, on which there was an opportunity to work, on what tens of millions of people would see.

If I were offered to go to a team that does something really cool, just moving to any country with easily accessible chili fries and Buffalo chicken wings would be hard to refuse, that's for sure.

AP: What are your thoughts on iOS?

Chris: Recently, I finally began to use my iPad Mini Retina a little for the first time since I bought it at the start of sales. IOS has a lot of pleasant things to learn. Basically this is the speed and smoothness of the animation throughout the system, Android is still not so smooth, despite all the efforts of Google. For example, my Nexus 5 sometimes thinks about deploying an application that has already been launched before, which I didn’t notice on the same iPad (it refers to the animation of deploying the application most likely).

Although I, for example, cannot understand why, in OS 7, there is still no way to select a standard browser, mail client, etc. And the fact that it’s impossible to quickly share any link from one application to another is also very annoying.

On the iPad, I use Twitter and Google+, and this is where I miss my Link Bubble. After six months of using it, I am painfully waiting for the browser to load again and again during the opening of a new link.



Link bubble

AP: What do you think about the flagship devices of 2014?

Chris: Oh, nothing, I was bored with all these characteristics updates every year, tired of the trend of increasing the flagship of each company. The Galaxy S2 had a 4.3-inch display, but after three iterations it grew to 5.1. How will this end?

What I say sounds much better than what is realized. I would like to see progress in those industries where smartphones have everything bad: I want to discharge slowly; I want a screen that can not just be broken / scratched for example, sitting on it; I want a camera that will make a good photo from the first time.

AP: Are you interested in other platforms or device types associated with them (Glass, Fire TV, Android Wear)?

Chris: As someone who has been making console games for over 10 years, I’m very interested in TVs. For the last three years I have been waiting for someone from the manufacturers (Apple / Google) to finally break into my living room and occupy it, but so far this has not happened.

I would like to improve the TV interface in some ways, but let's be honest, I don’t have the means and capabilities, let the guys from the Google ATAP group or Amazon or anyone else do it.

I have some interesting ideas for Android Wear, but until I see the SDK and the ready device on my hand, I can’t say anything.

AP: Thanks for the answers, Chris!

You can subscribe to Chris Lacy on G + and Twitter , and find his apps on Google Play .