#worldcupbuddy

Many people think that it wasn't really intentional, but I beg to differ. Not many soccer players are "kneed" by a flying player during a match. Unfortunately, this was caused by the overzealous player who wanted to get some edge by "roughing" the opponent team's players. Although he may not have intended to cause physical damage like this, if you go beyond what is generally acceptable in a sports, you always risk harming other people or yourself.

It was an accident to a large extent, but nonetheless it made me sad. We tend to admire people who excel in certain things no matter what they are. Brazil, for instance, had many phenomenal soccer players, starting from Pele, to Ronaldo and Ronaldino, etc. We all wanted to see another Pele in this World Cup. Unfortunately, that dream has been cut short. We will see how Brazil plays without Neymar against strong teams like Germany, Netherlands, and Argentina.

Just a few more matches, and then the World Cup is over. We'll have to wait another four years to see events like this. :)

Anyways, it's time for me to close a chapter as well.

I released this Android app, World Cup Buddy, on the day of the opening match, June 12th. That's over three weeks ago, and sadly I've had ten users (yes, 10 users :)) in that three week period. Well, I wasn't really surprised because it was more or less expected. As I mentioned before, Google Play store is completely broken for a vast majority of app developers. Unless you have marketing budget or otherwise can afford a different distribution channel, developing an app is a dead end on Play store. Google Play store provides merely a place where you can store an app file and let other people download it. No more than that. In the early days, places like Apple App Store (for iPhone apps) was the distribution channel for small app developers. Those days are over now. One thing to think about is that the fact that my app had 10 users had nothing to do with its quality. Whether an app is good or bad has nothing to do with how many times it is downloaded or tried, for the vast majority of small apps, at least in a time scale of weeks or months. They are simply not "visible" to the potential users. (Over much longer time frame, clearly, good apps will rise in ranking and get more exposure. I suppose.)

The Play Store developer console does not tell you how many times the app page has been viewed, but my guess is that it's probably around 10 in the case of my app. The fact of the matter is that a large portion, if not all, of Play Store revenue for Google comes from a small number of large publishers (app or content). Google's interest does not align with the small app developers (other than giving them the boasting right, e.g., "we have a million apps on google play store" as if that were a good thing).

The real challenge for us is not to develop fantastic/ground-breaking apps but to discover a better distribution channel (which is normally considered the role/responsibility of the platform provider). We will also have to take a hard look at whether Android is a viable platform for developers like myself.

In any case, it was a good learning experience for me. I learned many things besides the distribution channel problem. Most of them are really "small" and almost trivial. For example, what happens if you change your launcher activity after releasing the app. Not many developers care about it, and that's probably why you cannot find the answers to "small" issues like this on the Web, in general. I'll try to write up some of my experience in the future, that is, if I have time.

Now, I'm looking for the next project.

I still have a hope for "real time sports app". I thought about creating Tour de France companion app (being an avid cyclist, or at least so in the past), but it's (again) already too late. But, other events are coming up. Like the U.S. Open tennis, and many PGA tournaments, etc., and ultimately, my favorite, NFL season starts in September. The "sports app" (the kind I'm thinking about) is a very interesting category.

There are many downsides. For example, the apps are all short-lived, in general. I (along with nine others :)) used my World Cup app for a few weeks, and that's it. The app (regardless of how much effort a developer puts in) has no use after certain time (although it can be "cyclic", like being useful for a few weeks every year). Another major downside is that many popular sports events have "official" apps. FIFA has an app. The U.S. Open Tennis has an official app. NFL has an official app. This creates a unique challenge. Your app competes (for the audience) with big players with authorities/credentials as well as with many small players in the category.

On the other hand, there are many upsides as well when developing apps in this category. There are literally thousands of sports events all year round, domestically and internationally. You'll have virtually unlimited choices as to which sports event apps you want to develop. Also, (I presume that) many events are rather similar, at a high level, and you can re-use your code for multiple apps. Tour de France might not be similar to FIFA World Cup, but many ideas I thought about for World Cup can be used for NFL football, for instance. Many tennis events, Wimbledon or U.S. Open, etc., have very similar, almost identical, formats.

I have certain good ideas (or, "vision") which I would like to implement, but there are many problems as well. For example, as I mentioned at the very beginning while starting the World Cup app project, getting (affordable) "real time sports data" is a big challenge. I couldn't still come up with a solution although I have a few ideas to explore in the future.

I've been thinking about other potential projects as well. They all look good on paper. But, very few (or, none) of these ideas will actually "work". The challenge for me, right now, is to figure out which projects are more promising. At this point, I'm limiting myself to the ideas that can be implemented on smart phones/tablets as well as Google Glass and Android Wear/watch. Android TV is optional, but it might be nice (as a learning exercise, if nothing else) if I can develop an app that runs on all these new platforms.

This is actually quite a challenge, if you think about it. Certain types of apps simply do not make sense in certain platforms. For example, let's suppose that you want to develop a simple "fifteen puzzle" app. It can potentially be a decent app on a smart phone or tablet (and there are quite a few already, if you look at the Play Store listing). But, does this app make sense on Google Glass? How would you play Fifteen puzzle on Glass? How about a smart watch? How about smart TV? It may not be impossible. But, it poses a difficult and new challenge for the developers. How do you control the tile/block on TV which do not have touch screen? Etc.

Semi finals are coming up in a few days. And then the grand finale of World Cup 2014. I'll think of something meanwhile, and hopefully, I'll get better "result" with the next project. By the way, despite the lack of users, I supported my app for the last three weeks. One thing I'm proud of, if that matters, is that I released the app updates every day for the last three weeks. This is partially due to the fact that I did not have a way to provide real-time data to the users. But, it's also due to the peculiarity of the sports apps, in general, whose UI may need to change over time. (e.g., From group stage to Round of 16, to quarter finals, etc.) I may have set a record in this regards. :) (Not sure how many apps, out of a million, have been updating every day for a few weeks.)

Last but not least, my thanks to all (nine) users who have tried my app. I appreciate it. I'd be grateful even further if you could take a bit of time to provide some short feedback, like how you stumbled upon my app, how often you used it, what you liked or disliked about the app, etc. etc. Or, just any short comment. You can find my "official email" on Google Play store page. I cannot promise you anything concrete in return at this point, but everyone who provides a feedback will get "VIP status" in all my future apps. :)