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So – the intention was to get enough FLEX code together for a prototype release into the community. I’ve now done that – it ain’t pretty… really, it has an awful interface and looks terrible. Also – with the understanding that there are one or two bugs with Adobe Air and playback of audio-only streams right now (mainly on newer Android versions) – there are some gotchas.

If you have the right combo of Android version and Adobe AIR installed – it will play radio content rather well. It’s just an awful UI experience.

But I wanted to release the code to the community, in the hope that those interested individuals might want to pick it up and further develop it.

It’s been enjoyable to develop the Air App on Desktop first, and then see how that translates over into the mobile space. (If anyone asks for the Desktop AIR App code it is also available for anyone that wishes to improve it.)

Here is the source code for the Mobile Air App – you will need something to compile the Flex and package it correctly.

https://www.assembla.com/code/radioplayer-mobile/subversion/nodes

This prototype is also available on Google Play for Android devices – should you want to play with it.

 

In August 2011 Adobe announced the end of their InMarket brand – which is how Adobe suggested to Air developers should upload their applications in one location and then it would be syndicated between several app markets – at the time this was Adobe’s own ‘MarketPlace’ and Intel’s ‘AppUp’ platform. Adobe has ended support.

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/inmarket.html

What this means to the RadioPlayer app: nothing! Except that I need to pull out the Adobe license code and the application update cycle stops working (so the app checks to see if it’s the latest version by requesting info from Adobe servers – if there is a later version, it will offer an update to you). That all goes, now I have to manually do that – I may not bother, depends… as not many updates are likely (not because I don’t plan to update it, but because little changes regarding APIs into BBC Radio services)

Firstly a quick reminder – RadioPlayerApp in Air (either downloaded from Adobe Air MarketPlace or Intel AppUp) does not communicate any private information when it gathers stats. The Adobe Market keeps stats on downloads, Intel AppUp is powered by the Adobe Market so those stats are gathered there also. The App itself only communicates once each time it’s opened with Google Analytics – again no personal information tracked. If you use the social sharing buttons (Facebook, Twitter, etc) there is a link through the AddThis service which aggregates statistics about general information on sharing – again, no personal information there. It’s all pretty private really.

With that said here are a couple of examples of the current stats.

Firstly from Adobe MarketPlace (InMarket Portal) – over the last month or so the app has regularly been downloaded each day by people visiting Adobe Air Market Place and Intel App Up. I believe that initial spike was the app being featured on the markets.

Here are some interesting views of the Add This social stats:

Not many tracks on the AddThis portal – but it’s interesting to see users actually using the feature on the App. Interestingly – you can share without tracking through AddThis, it’s fairly easy to get around it (should you want to be more private – but I’d ask you to reconsider as this sort of shared statistics is really interesting and might be useful for other features in the future).

Now the app has been published onto the Intel AppUp platform

So – after approximately 2 years, it’s finally been published on the Air Marketplace. Heavens!

Added a twitter account for the App.

So – after a bit, I realised that I had to change the primary domain of this blog. It will now be www.radioplayerapp.com

So – I originally began working on this application (using the Adobe AIR frameworks – for PC, Mac and Linux) a couple of years ago.

The main reason for doing so was that I wanted a simple way to listen to BBC Radio (specifically) without having to load my Web Browser and visit their website. It was also a way of seeing just how much data the BBC publishes around their programmes, and how (relatively) easy it is to weave what is available publicly into a more simple offering.

I haven’t previously launched the app to the public – I did it for myself, and some of my friends. Some of which loved it so much that they’ve encouraged me to make it available to everyone.

Over the next few days I hope I’ll be able to publish a link to allow you to install the app yourself.