I recently worked on some apps for my new android mobile Samsung Galaxy S and published them on the market a few weeks ago. They are focusing on two key features, which to my surprise are not part of the android core functionality:
- An Email Widget, which shows your recent emails (Exchange, POP3, IMAP) and allowes you to open them from your homescreen
- A calendar event reminder which allows you to set a vibration pattern for nagging event alerts
The first one was really a tough nut to crack, because the android core surprisingly doesn’t provide easy access to emails stored on the phone. You have to use a private api, which unfortunately isn’t documented at all. Also this api is secured on the latest android release, so it is impossible to get the app working without rooting the phone. Additionally the mail app seems not yet technically mature enough, so many device manufacturer like HTC are providing their own implementation of it. This made it even more difficult to build the app.
Thanks to the feedback of several users i was able to improve the apps and make them more feature rich. I also created a twitter account for publishing news on recent development for the apps. You are welcome to follow me there.