A new Flash Android guide has been launched, and it’s free! You can get it here.

As I have explained on here before, it is not that easy to put adverts into your Android apps if you are programming in Flash. If I was to write a blog post about it, it would be one long post! So I have written a guide instead.

The guide details when exactly you should NOT use advertising in Android apps along with a step-by-step guide showing you exactly how to put the adverts into your app if you want them.

The guide is very detailed and completely free. I have added an icon for the guide on the top right and will remain there so feel free to grab it whenever you need it.

The guide is completely free. When you click on the link to the guide, a pop up will ask you to fill out a short survey. This allows me to gain a small amount of revenue in exchange for the free guide, so please take the time. The guide will hopefully be worth it to you.

Best of luck programmers!

Chris

Remember, you can still get the Adobe Flash Android Extension here if you need it.

Adobe removed this from their site so we have uploaded it for your use. This will save you having to upgrade to the new Adobe Flash CS5.5.

This is no longer available directly from the Adobe site as they are promoting the new version.

Installing this will allow you to package apps up to work on Android devices, ready to upload to the market.

See this post for install instructions.

Chris

I wanted to let you know of a new project that I am working on.

I am creating a guide on EXACTLY how to make your first Android app, step-by-step, using Flash, that you can then upload and make money from on the Android market. Whether you choose to sell it, or use adverts to make money, all will be revealed, step by step.

I make decent money from some of my apps and through some trial and error, I have been able to make a judgement call on what I think sells really well, compared with those that don’t. I will teach you in the guide exactly what you need to do to make your app, and then how to sell it on the Android Market.

Lots of people are looking to join the goldrush that is making Android Apps. With more and more people getting smartphones, it is a great way to earn an income. I have a few income streams on the internet, ranging from apps to affiliate marketing and apps are by far the most profitable income stream I have. You can do this too.

The first 50 people to comment with their email address will receive the guide for free as soon as it is complete. It is still a little while away, but one fine morning, you will wake up to be greeted by an email from me, containing all the information you need to start making some serious cash. After the first 50 people, I will be selling the guide from this blog, so get it for free while you can!

I look forward to hearing from you.

Email addresses will be received as comments but will not be approved for publish. This is in order to protect the privacy of your email address.

Yours

Chris

You may have seen more and more apps pop up that give you the option to make a call at the press of a button.

This is especially useful for marketing purposes. If you have a business, and the app promotes a service or product, then providing a button that allows the user to call you without having to remember and dial the number can only be a good thing.

The code below shows you exactly how to do it, and it is extremely simple:

navigateToURL(new URLRequest("tel:08001381111"));

Look simple? It is! All you need to do is copy the code above and change the telephone number. Remember, the code above only gives you the function. We are wanting to attach this code to a button, which you can do with this code:

Object(this).Call_Button.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, MakeCall)

function MakeCall(event:MouseEvent):void
{
	navigateToURL(new URLRequest("tel:08001381111"));
}

The first line of this code adds an event listener to a button titled ‘Call_Button‘. This makes the program listen for the button to be pressed. When it hears that the button has been pressed, it performs the ‘MakeCall‘ function which is defined in the rest of the code.

Simple as that! So you can create your button on your Flash stage, copy the above code and change the button name and telephone number in the code and you are good to go!

Other call functions

Replace the word ‘tel’ in the code above with:

• mailto – Send an email using the Android email app. Follow this with the recipient’s email address rather than the phone number. Example – navigateToURL(new URLRequest(“mailto:wakey7dev@gmail.com”));

• sms – Send a text message from within the app. Simply enter the recipient’s phone number as in the example above and the Android app will open a blank message with the phone number pre-populated, ready to send. Example - navigateToURL(new URLRequest(“sms:08001381111″));

• market – Put a link to another app on the Android market. This is perfect to put in to a free version of an app and you want to direct people to the paid version. This will take the user to the Android market, showing the app that you specify. Example - navigateToURL(new URLRequest(“market://search?q=Adobe Flash“)); 

• http or https – Navigate to a web page using the Android handset’s browser. Example - navigateToURL(new URLRequest(“http://www.androiddeveloper101.wordpress.com“)); 

Chris

Well, it has been a while!

Work has been busy and new apps are on the way so this is my first post in a fairly long time. I wanted to post tonight to tell you of a website that I have set up in order to promote one of my apps. The address is www.percentagecalc.com and simply promotes an percentage calculator app. I wanted to share this with you so that you can take a look and perhaps get some ideas for your own marketing.

It is important that we drive as much traffic as possible to our apps, by extreme measures in some cases! Get your app out there and promote away! Create sites, contact people for links, market in any other way you can think.

Remember, sales won’t come knocking at your door, and what I am selling here is a free app! So please, take a look at the site and let me know what you think!

Thanks

Chris

That’s right! Android version 3.1 is here. 

There are a host of new features available, such as the improved user interface and the ability to handle USB connectivity. All great, but so what? Well, it is the format of the new version that I am interested. I am of course talking about the increasingly popular Tablet device.

We know that we can make Android apps in Flash. We have done it before. But what about making apps for Android Tablets in Flash?

Well, this is just a quick note to let you know that we will be releasing instructions as soon as we have figured it out. We know that we will have to increase the page size, obviously, but there are other things to consider within the manifest code to make it available to tablets.

If this is something you are also interested in, I will keep you posted on this as always.

Chris

Yes, it is possible to make money from free Android apps. And I am going to show you how.

I will be releasing a manifesto soon titled ‘Cash Generator for Free Apps’. This will detail everything you need to know about making money from apps that you release into the market for free. Indeed, if you have an app that can do well as a paid app, then why not. This manifesto will be for the people that have free apps out there that wouldn’t work as a paid app.

Apps that wouldn’t work, for example, are apps that perform a function similar to that of an already existing free app. Nobody would pay for something that they can get for free. I learnt that with my free PointWatchers app. I tried to sell it at first but it didn’t even get one sale!

Free apps can make money, that’s a fact. In the manifesto, I am going to reveal to you exactly how I make money from my free app and how you can start profiting from yours too, in a number of ways!

Ever wondered why someone would spend so much time making an app, just to give it away for free. I will reveal the reason!

Leave your email address as a comment below and, once I release the manifesto, I will send you an email to let you know.

Happy Apping!

Chris

It is obviously very important to market your Android Apps. After all the hard work you have put in to making an app, there is no point in it just sitting there.

We want it to fly off of the shelves don’t we?

Well, a little bit of internet marketing can go a long way. And I’m not talking about paying for Google ads to appear on other websites. You don’t have to pay to market your app.

Twitter is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to marketing. Messages and adverts can become viral in a matter of minutes. Not only is it good for putting a message out there, but it is also a great way to engage with potential or existing customers. If you can gain some interest in your app on twitter, with new and existing customers, you may just have a sale frenzy on your hands, all the while building up a great reputation for communication.

Set up a Twitter account for what you need. If you have created a game, for example, create a Twitter account with the same name. You can create your own custom background for your Twitter account too. If you are not sure how to do this, you can pay someone or even just use a preset theme. Either way, you can have it looking professional in no time.

Now you need some tweets and some followers. You can start by getting people you know to follow you. Add some tweets about the app. What does it do? When was it last updated and what changed? Really keep in touch with your app and people that use it. If it is an app to track weight loss, post regular tweets about different ways of losing weight. Become an expert in the area that your app was created for. People will look at your profile and, if you have a permanent link on their, you will have people clicking through to see your app.

The biggest piece of advice I have received to boost the amount of followers you have was to follow as many people as you can. The more people you follow, the more will follow you back. It is as simple as that. Now I am not saying that you should follow just anyone, keep it relevant. Twitter has a handy search tool for that. Type in your key words and get following people in the same area. You will be amazed at how many followers you will get in return.

This is it for now on Twitter but I implore you to try this to build up a huge reputation as an expert in your field, backing up your app with integrity and respect.

Take some time to think about your direction, as this can make or break an app.

Chris

It is always exciting to hear of a successful app that has been made purely in Flash. This one is a game called Bingdats. If you have ever played the popular ‘Dingbats’ before, the concept is very similar. The reason that this app is so good is that it fills a huge gap on the Android Market. There is already an official Dingbats app on the App Store, but nothing on the Android Market. Until Bingdats of course.

Bingdats comes from a relatively new developer, Playon Games. It is a very promising debut app with some slight differences to the original Dingbats game. If you don’t know what Dingbats is, it is a very popular game that resembles Pictionary. There are loads of cards and on each one is an image or a piece of warped text. It is up to you to guess the phrase that it refers to.

Bingdats is slightly different in that you have different categories of card. You have Songdats for song titles, Filmdats for film titles, TVdats for TV programmes and then original Bingdats for phrases.

The game has been put together well with the ability to keep track of your highest score and even ask for clues if you are unsure!

It is a great game. The real reason it is here is that I wanted to show you a really good example of an app made in Flash. It is possible to make a full game in Flash, as Playon Games has. It may take months but look at the end result. I am sure Bingdats will see thousands of downloads in the coming months.

If people tell you that Flash isn’t the right way to make Android apps, point them to Bingdats, a fine example!

There is hope for the rest of us yet!

Chris

The app has received nearly 5000 downloads and the best part is that it is not a ‘flash in the pan’ app. It is an app that gets used everyday, which has been proven by my Google Adsense statistics in the past. My ads were topping at around 1000 impressions every day and rising.

I am offering the opportunity to advertise your website/company/app on a page of PointWatchers for the price of £50 ($80 USD)  (advertising on the web and in magazines generally costs much more than this).

For your £50  ($80 USD), you get the advert place on one of the PointWatcher pages (as shown below) for a whole month. If you want to carry on for a number of months, you can, but there is no obligation. If the advert isn’t working for you, no problem at all. There are no contractual payments or monthly roll-overs. Just make your payment and your ad will appear. The most simple, effective way of advertising on the android market.

Using Google Ads can be good to reach a wide audience, but there is no guarantee of when and where your ad will show. And it doesn’t take long for your ad revenue to be depleted.

I am offering you a whole month of advertising to the masses, for £50  ($80 USD), no matter how many times your ad gets clicked. If you want to carry it on, simply make another payment to me via paypal, if not, it is no problem at all.

PointWatchers has 5 pages. £50  ($80 USD) gets you a permanent advert on one page for one month (date to date). If you take out an advert on the 26th May, your advert will run until the 26th June. It is as simple as that. You can even choose which page you would prefer (download the app for ideas).