Do you have an Android? Yes? And I assume you recently downloaded some apps for it from the Android Market. Oh…! I bet you are facing the same problem which most of the Android users are complaining about: the poor app update notification and the missing ability to update all the apps in one go.

I have an Android and an iPhone too, and a few days back when I was going to update the new FriendCaller release for both, iPhone and Android, I observed the differences.

On Android, normally a user downloads an app from the Android Market, and he/she enables the status bar notifications for the new updates of apps, and whenever there is an update released by the developer, the Android user is notified by a status bar notification. But, most of the time, this notifier fails to notify about the new app updates. As a developer I have observed customers complaining about small issues, which are in fact fixed already in a recent update. The customers then usually gets the same replies from our support team for updating the Android app manually.

And when the Android user tries to update multiple apps from My Downloads section, unfortunately, he/she has to update each app manually. The snapshot on the left shows a recent Android update of FriendCaller 3G VoIP app performed by an Android user. But, still there are other Android apps left to be updated, and one needs to click on Update again and again to get all the updates done.

Howsoever, on iPhone, one gets a peaceful one-click operation. All one needs is an App Store account, which is a must for an iPhone user. If you want to see whether there are updates available for any of your installed apps, you simply check the App Store app icon, and there you can see the number of updates available in a red circle. Just on your springboard you can easily know how many updates are available, instead of waiting and missing notifications of available app updates.

Opening the Update tab inside the App Store app, will give you an Update All button (if there are multiple updates available), clicking which you can update all your apps in one go. Above you can see a snapshot of the update available for the FriendCaller VoIP app, and another app. Just click on Update All, and all apps on your iPhone are upgraded automatically.

No wonder why Android OS missed the update all functionality, and fails to notify the user with proper updates. Android app users loves our new  Android VoIP app (which runs as a background service), but they expect some more features, and when we fulfil their requested features, they never know

Shabaz

View all posts by Shabaz
Shabazs website

Related posts:

1. Where have all the Android apps gone? Easy come, easy go? The truth is, however, that the Android Market is growing...
2. FriendCaller iPhone apps approved with 3G VoIP calls. Mobile VoIP freedom, at last? FriendCaller iPhone apps approved with 3G VoiP calls and available...
3. Why JavaFX is better than iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android? Apps on JavaFX are easy to install, use and there...
4. Finally the Android 2.2 makes app update handy The latest release of Android 2.2 solved the app updating...
5. The New Dial Assist – International Calling Made Easy In the brand new versions of our iPhone / iPod...