Interview with Corgi for feedly Developer Stanislav Dmitriev

Advertising is hard We do it all day. Let us teach you what we've learned. Learn how the experts market their startups. Grab the free ebook. From our sponsors

 

 

xda-developers

Android and Windows Phone Development Community

Interview with Corgi for feedly Developer Stanislav Dmitriev
3/15/2015 3:03:56 PM

Here at XDA, we focus on highlighting the most promising projects that can instantly become hits. Not so long ago, we showed you Corgi for feedly, which brings the latest technology news to your lock screen. We reached out to one of the developers, Stanislav Dmitriev, who uses XDA as Stan.Dmitriev, to answer us a few questions regarding Corgi and other non-development things. Here’s what Stan had to say.

Hi, Stan! You're one of the developers of Corgi for feedly. Could you tell us something about yourself?

Hi, Tomek! I'd be happy to. Shortly, I'm a Student living in Helsinki. I am passionate about different design concepts and always try to do something new.

What motivated you to start to develop Android apps?

I was always passionate about everything mobile. Since my first Nokia S60 smartphone to my first Android HTC EVO 3D, I was testing out and playing with some cool apps. Android customization, though, is something I was always excited about. It's the Android vs iOS choice, where for me personally, Android wins. As a design driven person, I believe, us – users should have the right to decide how their phones should look. This is something that would always make me go Android-first when developing an app.

What was the inspiration behind Corgi?

We've found out, that an average person turns their phone ON 110 times a day and it kind of snapped us. Just think about it, in most cases when we turn on our phones, we don't really get much. A person still needs to unlock the phone and open a specific app to get the content that he/she needs now. That kind of made us think whether that should be changed.

What devices and ROMs did you use for tests?

We went for all possible stock Android devices running pure stock Android. The devices were Moto G 2013 GPE 5.01/4.4.4 and the Nexus 5 Android 5.0 (Our daily drivers). We also had a few Samsung devices including the Galaxy Trend as well as the Galaxy S4 (4.4). But really, we've tested it on all of our friends’ devices which pretty much make up most of the new flagships.

I hope that you didn't smash it against the wall when you got yet another force close.

Well, there actually weren’t that many force closes. It was more about such things as, "Why would it lag if hardware acceleration is on?" more detailed so to say.

Android development could be cumbersome. What was the most challenging aspect of developing Corgi?

One of the biggest challenges is the fact that Android is not pure on many devices. And that can be a huge issue when making a lock screen. For example, our app tracks when the Alarm turns ON so our lock screen would not be on-top of it. But since some of the phone manufacturers put their own solutions, we have to track phone manufacturer specific alarms. Another issue we have is that our app works very fast on stock-Android, but it will lag on Samsung Devices, we are currently trying to figure it out. But it has something to do with the bloatware, which is a bit sad. There are also some issues with Lollipop, due to the memory leak issues of the 5.0.1. It is a bit challenging sometimes, but we are trying hard to figure everything out.

Did you use XDA or any other public forums to find answers for your questions?

Indeed we did, and for all Android developers out there, I suggest to use XDA, it is amazing. Both in the type of material you can find on the forums, as well as how helpful the community is. Thanks for making such a great platform for developers!

Tell us something about the icon. Is that a dog holding a wallpaper or maybe a fox? Who came up with an idea of the icon?

The idea of the icon is a Corgi dog holding a newspaper. If you tried our app, you probably know that we bring your favorite content right to your lock screen. Kinda like a dog fetching a newspaper for you. We've decided to use corgi just because of one reason, this dog looks really cool. It was our Android developer's idea, Sergey, he is a very cool guy!

Would you create Corgi again?

Of course! Despite all of the bottlenecks we have encountered. It's an awesome app with a great potential. The most important thing though, is that our users see the value in it. We didn't just want to build an app for ourselves, we wanted to make something useful for the Android eco-system. What made us most proud, was that there are people who started reading news thanks to Corgi. I'd be glad to make this app once again if I could.

What advice would you give for the young developer that wants to commit his/her future with app development?

If you want to make a good app, you have to work with your users. Even if it's just a mockup or a non-functional demo. The only way to make something awesome is by listening to people.

Thanks for your time and good luck with your projects!

Learn more about Corgi for feedly by visiting its forum thread.

 

The post Interview with Corgi for feedly Developer Stanislav Dmitriev appeared first on xda-developers.

 

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at feedmyinbox.com

If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions