Interview with Darren Steele Developer of foobook Android App
by Android Tapp
May 13, 2009 6:35 AM –
With Twitter gaining all the status message app crazy these days. We’re taking a look at the social network that possibly birthed that idea… Facebook. That said, we’re interviewing an Android Developer, Darren Steele, who created an app for quickly updating, viewing and commenting on Facebook status messages.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’ve spent the last ten years working in the worldwide mobile space doing Development and Product Management. A big part of the roles was identifying market trends and coming up with new product ideas. I recently decided to take the next logical step and go it alone producing and selling software for this area.
Why did you create your app?
I’m a bit of a social network addict and was forever launching the mobile versions of social networks to check if anyone had updated their status. This struck me as a bit of a waste of time so I put together foobook to check status updates for me and notify me when something interesting happened. Foobook is kind of like mobile e-mail for facebook status messages!
What technology did you use in creating your App and why?
I did all the development using Eclipse and the Android SDK running on Ubuntu making lots of use of WireShark to do some packet inspection.
I’m not a huge fan of Windows and absolutely love the virtual desktop switching on Compiz-Fusion so that I can have Eclipse on one desktop, the simulator on a second desktop and a browser running on a third desktop.
About how long did it take to create your App?
It took roughly 45 days. Foobook went through many direction changes throughout it’s life-cycle and quite a lot of time was spent creating a status enabled network address-book before finally deciding that wasn’t a route I wanted to go down just yet…maybe in the future though!
What is a cool uncovered tip or trick you can do with the App?
Foobook is a very straightforward app that exposes all of it’s features. That’s a real philosophy of mine when it comes to mobile development. Many developers try to reproduce all of the features and functionality of similar apps running on the web which I believe is a mistake when it comes to mobile phones as there is a much smaller screen and the keyboard is pretty painful to use! I believe in taking the most mobile-centric features of something present on the web and putting it into the user’s pocket.
What other interesting uses can come from the App?
Well it certainly makes stalking people a whole lot easier! 
Can you tell us about future feature enhancements with your App?
I’m currently in the process of porting the foobook functionality into foospace, which as you can probably guess is based on myspace! The other thing I’m working on is exposing the social network status information to other developers so that status info can be incorporated into other applications, i.e. address-book integration or messaging apps. If there are any developers out there interested in integrating this data into their apps then please get in touch!
What did you really like about creating Apps on the Android platform?
I love the willingness of the community to lend a hand when you get stuck with a problem and I love the stability of the simulator and the handset. In the past I’ve had to do development on horrendous platform with zero documentation so Android dev was a real joy to me.
What are some things you would like to see improved with Android?
I’m traditionally a C developer so making the move to Java was sometimes a bit tricky for me. I’d love to see usage examples in the Android documentation so that it becomes clearer exactly how to make use of certain methods.
What is your opinion of the Android App Market’s distribution method? In comparison Apple’s model (strict control over the iTunes store) or the Windows Mobile model (no store at all).
I’m a big fan of the Android Market free-for-all approach. It has the advantage that a lot of niche applications will appear that wont necessarily appeal to the masses, however with this approach it does also mean that a lot of rubbish will appear too. The difficulty then becomes for users to distinguish between the garbage and the gems, which is why sites like androidtapp.com are so useful.
What is your Opinion on the state of the Rating/Feedback system in the App Market?
I don’t think it has quite enough detail. I’ve had people leaving me 1 star feedback because there isn’t enough functionality in foobook, but as I described above that is exactly what I was trying to achieve!
I also have issues when I see apps that have a lower average rating and fewer downloads than foobook appearing above me in the ratings!
Frequency of updates should also be taken into account as there is already quite a bit of abandonware in the marketplace.
Do you have plans on releasing Apps for other markets (i.e. iPhone, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, etc.)?
Definitely! I think if you have a useful app on one platform it will translate into a useful app elsewhere. There isn’t enough time for me to do everything personally which is why I’m always on the lookout for people to help me out.
Your app is a paid app, why did you choose this model over the free model, and how to you project its success?
I actually have two versions of foobook, there is the full paid app and the lite version, foobook-lite. I chose this approach so that people could have a really good play with the app at their leisure rather than paying for it and trying to do a full assessment in 24 hours! However, the main reason I released a paid app is because this is what I do for a living now and sadly my mortgage company wont accept people’s good feedback as payment! I think we all know it’s early days in the marketplace right now, paid apps have only been available for a little while and there are currently only HTC handsets available. I believe as more networks roll out android handsets and more manufacturers release cooler handsets that app revenue will increase. However I think developers should be aware that they’re not going to make a million dollars from a fart app on the android marketplace.
Must-have Android Apps?
An app I use everyday is aWOL from MailSoft. I use it to wake my development machine so that when I sit down I can get straight down to it rather than watching a boot screen! I also make use of GMote to control my windows PC playing movies and GPS Track when I’m sailing as it shows speed in knots.
What advice would you give to another aspiring mobile application developer?
Developing your own software and launching it onto the market is a very exciting and interesting thing to do. You get the highs of positive feedback and good reviews, but also the lows when people slate your app for no good reason. If you have an app burning inside you waiting to get out then go for it, but don’t expect app sales to put a pool in your backyard or a Ferrari on your drive – this isn’t the market to make millions!
Can you tell us what future Android Apps you have brewing?
There are a few ideas kicking around mainly based on mobilizing communities and avatars. I don’t want to go too deeply into it as I really haven’t got it fixed in my own head yet.
Great thanks for the interview Darren! Don’t forget to check out our Android App Review of Darren Steele’s foobook for Facebook app!