The main issue we ran into during development had to do with accuracy of the Sphero’s location values that the app was receiving. We were unable to solve this issue effectively, our base locations get adjusted no matter what.

Due to the difficulty of controlling the Sphero, it’s hard to make two Spheros physically contact each other, let alone push each other. Maybe this would take some practice.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UNp79e_7T4&w=560&h=315]

I learned that setting up Cordova requires a fair amount of trouble-shooting, but once you do it once, it’s a lot easier to do a second time. Also, once you get the project structure set up, actual app development goes fairly quickly, especially with previous HTML/JavaScript/jQuery experience.

The SpotiFind app also incudes a ListActivity for retrieving the links on the class blog, as per the requirements.

You can switch between the SpotiFind screens and the LinkActivity at any point in the app.

Through creating this app, I learned how to make a CustomAdapter, which is a lot more work than it seems or should be. I’m hoping that Google finds a way to streamline this better in the future. I learned that working with JSON in Android is fast and easy, once you learn the ropes.

Puzzle: nogramming

Key: nogrammingkey

The app has three screens. The first displays the bids (READ) that have been made in the game, the total scores of either team, and buttons that let you start a new game and make a new bid.

The second screen is where the bid is made. The user chooses the team that made the bid, the number of tricks they can take, and the suit they can take it in. The “Enter Bid” button takes the user to the last screen.

The last screen is where the actual number of tricks taken is recorded, using two rating bars near the bottom. The “Enter Score” button takes the user back to the first screen and inserts the bid into the table (CREATE).

The first screen also has functionality to UPDATE and DELETE the bids from the bid table. To update you click a bid list item, which takes you through the other two screens and updates the bid rather than creating a new one. To delete a bid, you long click a bid list item.

Developing this app taught me that it’s difficult to try to get complex layouts to work in both screen orientations, and you should try and keep models and database designs as simple as they can be.

The app uses a Chronometer, ImageViews, CheckBoxes, TextViews, and one Button.

The lessons I learned developing it are that custom-made Views and classes are super useful, developing goes way faster on a device than an emulator, nesting lots of layouts can be really irritating, and Google is my friend.

I have five ideas for apps, but not sure they’re very diverse from each other.

1. Tetris, because I think it would be fun to write and would involve graphic animation stuff

2. Some sort of running app that makes use of your current location and allows you to create maps in the area, calculate distances, and store/compare run times for the routes you create.

3. A task manager app that keeps a running list of tasks and deadlines and notifies you of the most dire ones whenever you have free time in your calendar.

4. A bartending app that would give you drink recipes (from the internet) based on a collection of ingredients already in stock that the user would input.

5. A organization app for job searching that would allow the user to collect job posting information all in one place and organize it by company/position. Would include contact information, ability to directly call potential employers, ability to schedule interviews on your calendar, ability to e-mail interviewers, schedule thank you/application/interview reminders, save directions to interview location, pre/post interview notes, pro-con lists, etc. Could also link to Linkedin, Monster, Dice, etc…