Alternative App Markets for Android

Currently Google Play has no real approval process so offers an excellent and easy way to get your applications out to thousands of users. However, from a developer point of view it means your application has to climb past many others to get seen by the target audience.

One option for developers is to try an alternative app market, this can mean a more refined selection of applications and an audience that is more specific. Some alternative markets even have the option for users to make their own curated lists of their favourite apps, which is great for promotion.

Along with Google Play, we have been using the Amazon Appstore for some time, but with the release of our latest title we are experimenting with some of the other alternative markets. The free version of 'Seen It! London' is now available on Handster and GetJar, we will update you on the progress!

There are of course many other alternative app markets out there. Do you have a favourite, maybe one you would like to suggest? Send us a tweet or comment below to let us know!

Seen It! London - How Does it Work?

Perhaps you have seen our Android application, Seen It! London, and you're wondering what it's about? Seen It! London features over 60 of London's most iconic sites and 20 unlockable awards for you to collect (see below).

  You've unlocked the Elementary Award! 

There are 20 of these awards in Seen It! London.

To unlock these awards you need to meet the right criteria, this means either seeing particular sites or collecting enough points. Every site in Seen It! London is worth a certain amount of points so you'll be collecting in no time.

Once starting Seen It! London, navigate to the Sites Menu by pressing the Sites button on the Home Screen, you are then presented with a list that details all the sites you have to see.

 The Home Screen: Navigate to the Sites Menu by pressing 'Sites'.

 The Sites Menu: From here you can choose any of the Seen It! London sites.

 

After you've selected a site from the list you will open its Info Page. Here you can find a description for your chosen site, with further useful information. If you have experienced your site then touch the Seen It! Button, and you will receive the points to your total. If you want to know how many Seen It! Points you have, a counter is displayed in the top right of the screen.

The Site Info Page: Discover the history, travel information

 and location of your chosen site.

You can also take a photograph of the site by pressing the Take Photograph button, this will then launch the camera. After taking your photo you can share it on twitter, facebook, tumblr etc. 

More information about Seen It! London: http://www.siliconsymphony.co.uk

Download the Lite Version.

Download the Premium Version.

New Android App Just Launched - 'Seen It! London'

We've just released our latest Android application on Google Play. It's called 'Seen It! London' and it aims to make exploring London even more accessible and fun. There's a free version so if your interested in learning more why not give it a go!

Seen It! London is the travel adventure game for Android devices. Now you can see the sites, while collecting points and unlocking fun in-app awards. Share your progress on facebook, twitter and tumblr. With over 60 places, events, or things to see, Seen It! London highlights the best sites and presents an enjoyable and engaging way to experience them.

Seen It! London Features:
• Discover the history behind some of London's most iconic sites and landmarks.
• Travel information with Google Maps.
• Collect points and unlock fun in-app Awards while seeing the best London sites.
• Share your progress on your favourite social network.

More information about Seen It! London: http://www.siliconsymphony.co.uk

Download the Lite Version.

Download the Premium Version.

Possible Download Issue for Hiragana Scholar and Katakana Scholar (Full Versions)

It has come to our attention that some devices can not download the full version of Hiragana Scholar or Katakana Scholar. This is because some tablets and phones have a download cache limit. Even though Google Play allows applications to be up to 50MB (Hiragana Scholar is 47MB) several Samsung devices are limited to under 30MB.

This download cache applies to the following devices:

Samsung Galaxy S1 (30MB Limit)

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 (30MB Limit)

Samsung Captivate (30MB Limit)

HTC Desire (40MB Limit)

HTC Desire S (40MB Limit)

HTC Desire HD (40MB Limit)

As Google Play will allow users of these devices to purchase the apps but not download, we have tried to manually exclude them from being viewable by the aforementioned devices. We are currently looking into the different (and better) possible solutions for addressing this. In some cases the download cache limit applies to the Android 2.2 version of the device and may be removed in a more recent update of the Android OS.

1000 Installs for Hiragana Scholar (Lite) on Google Play!

We've just reached our first milestone, Hiragana Scholar (Lite) has reached over 1000 installs on Google Play! Thank you to everyone who is using the app to learn Hiragana, we have have some cool updates planed for the future so stay tuned.

More information about Hiragana Scholar: http://www.siliconsymphony.co.uk

Hiragana & Katakana Scholar now available in the Amazon Appstore!

Both of our recently released Japanese learning apps for Android devices are now available in the Amazon Appstore. You can find more information about Hiragana Scholar and Katakana Scholar in the links below.

Hiragana Scholar: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006T5WT2C

Katakana Scholar: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006WCYCYA

New Japanese Learning App out now for Android - Katakana Scholar!

Since releasing Hiragana Scholar on the Android Market, about a month ago, we've received some very positive feedback regarding the app and can happily announce the next instalment. Katakana Scholar is our latest app in this series intended to help students learn Japanese, and is (as you might have guessed) aimed at teaching the Katakana script! The usual price for Katakana Scholar will be $1.49 but to celebrate having our second app on the market the full version will be $0.99 for the rest of the month (we also have a Lite version that is free).

In Katakana Scholar the first 46 characters are dived into manageable lessons, each lesson includes interactive animations that break down the process of writing a character, perfect if you are new to Katakana! Also included in the lessons is a high-quality audio recording, ensuring you know exactly how to pronounce the particular character. To reinforce the content you learn in these lessons, Katakana Scholar has several games you can play, all structured to be at the difficulty you need them.

Katakana Scholar Features:
* 6 lessons with interactive animations
* High-quality audio recording for each of the 46 basic Katakana characters
* Flash Card game with 3 difficulty settings
* Match-up game with 3 difficulty settings
* Soundboard of all pronunciation audio
* Ability to download audio onto your computer or MP3 player
* Support for Honeycomb tablets and large screen phones

More information about Katakana Scholar: http://www.siliconsymphony.co.uk

Download the Lite Version.

Download the Premium Version.