haydenTheAndroid

Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper v1.7.0 Update Released!

2011-10-10T20:26:00.000-04:00

The latest version of Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper has been released to the Android Market! See the list of changes below.

Changes:

New scrolling background option
New "Trippy D:" background
Fixed bugs and crashes with using custom backgrounds

Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper v1.6.0 Update Released!

2011-09-28T22:51:00.003-04:00

The latest version of Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper has been released to the Android Market! See the list of changes below.

Changes:

New Google Maps Satellite Background option.
Fixed pixel speed setting not showing correctly when sharing

New look!

2011-09-15T13:12:00.003-04:00

I've updated the look of the blog thanks to the new blogger themes, I think this one looks cleaner. Maybe the new look will make me update the blog more often, but no promises. What's more likely is that this will continue to be the place where my app update release details are posted and that's about it. It's usually just easier to post a quick thought on Twitter, so follow me if you aren't already!

Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper v1.5.1 Update Released!

2011-07-22T19:19:00.000-04:00

The latest version of Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper has been released to the Android Market! See the list of changes below.

Changes:

Share your current score and configuration from the settings screen through Facebook, Twitter, etc
Fixed hunter lasers being off center for some screen densities

Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper v1.4.1 Update Released!

2011-02-11T19:19:00.001-05:00

The latest version of Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper has been released to the Android Market! See the list of changes below.

Changes:

New option to set custom colors for nukes
New brightness setting for customizable contrast between wallpaper and home screen icons

Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper v1.4.0 Updated Released!

2011-02-02T23:20:00.001-05:00

The latest version of Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper has been released to the Android Market! This update brings a feature requested many times: custom colors for each pixel type. From the live wallpaper settings, users can now choose a color for the zombies, hunters, and civilians using a color picker. Check out the screens below to see it in action.

Changes:

New options to set custom colors for each pixel type

Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper v1.3.3 Update Released!

2010-12-12T14:39:00.003-05:00

The latest version of Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper, v1.3.3, is now available on the Android Market! See the full list of changes below:

Changes:

Added better support for devices with larger screen sizes (Dell Streak, Galaxy Tab, etc)
Scores will no longer reset when you restart your phone. Scores now only reset when you change certain settings that would affect the score, such as populations and speeds.

Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper v1.3.0 Update Released!

2010-08-30T05:21:00.001-04:00

The latest version of Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper, v1.3.0, is now available on the Android Market! See the full list of changes below:

Changes:

Added hunter setting for laser speed
Added hunter setting for laser range
Improved performance
Fixed hunters not always firing at the closest zombie
Fix for rare force close bug

Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper v1.2.2 Update Released!

2010-07-25T22:16:00.001-04:00

The latest version of Pixel Zombies is now available on the Android Market! See the list of changes below.

Changes:

Fixed jerky zombie movement caused by last update
Added setting to turn nukes on and off
Population no longer moves under status bar

Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper v1.2.1 Update Released!

2010-07-22T18:21:00.001-04:00

The latest version of Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper, v1.2.1, is now available on the Android Market! This update brings a much needed improvement to the suicidal tendencies of the hunters, who are now much smarter and deadlier. See the full list of changes below:

Changes:

Improved for smoother performance
Smarter hunter AI: Hunters now run away from approaching zombie hordes and follow to hunt hordes that aren’t currently after them.
Increased hunter’s laser range by 9%
Tweaked hunter’s shooting algorithm
New fading hunter laser animation

Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper v1.2.0 Update Released!

2010-07-12T23:16:00.002-04:00

The latest version of Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper, v1.2.0, is now available on the Android Market! Check out all of the changes below, as well as some new screens.

Changes:

New death animations
More diverse 8 directional movement
Sliding between home screens is now smoother
If custom background doesn't load because SD card is not mounted, Pixel Zombies will try to reload when the simulation restarts
Changed "citizen" to "civilian"

Screens:

July 4th Sale!

2010-07-03T18:00:00.001-04:00

LOL Libs is now on sale to celebrate July 4th! It’s 50%, so you can snag it from the Android Market for $0.99! Get it while it’s cheap!

Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper v1.1.0 Update Released!

2010-06-25T23:12:00.000-04:00

The latest version of Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper, v1.1.0, is now available on the Android Market! Check out all of the changes below!

Changes:

Custom backgrounds
Nuke size setting
Nuke on double tap
Speed settings (slow, normal, fast) for all pixel types
Smoothed ending animation of nuke

Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper v1.0.2 Update Released!

2010-06-13T14:21:00.001-04:00

The latest version of Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper, v1.0.2, is now available on the Android Market! This should be a welcome update for users with Sense UI and home replacement apps that hid the stats and scores before. See the changes below.

Changes:

Changed default stat and score location to better suite the new Android 2.2 home screen
Added options for custom statistic and score locations
Added “follow me” button for Twitter in the settings screen so users can more easily find news and updates on Pixel Zombies

Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper FAQ

2010-05-28T01:51:00.001-04:00

I added a FAQ to the Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper page to address some of the questions I’ve been seeing, including how to drop nukes and the scores/stats being hidden on certain phones. Thanks to everyone who has purchased it so far, I hope you are enjoying it and I look forward to putting out some sweet updates for you this summer :)

Pixel Zombies Launch Day Roundup

2010-05-26T01:49:00.001-04:00

Wow, what a day! I launched Pixel Zombies almost 24 hours ago, and I was definitely not expecting this level of excitement or coverage. I hope that everyone who has purchased the app is enjoying it, and I look forward to making many improvements, tweaks, and new features in the future.

Thanks to all the sites that have covered the app! Here are some links to the articles as well as some quotes:

“Zombies. Brains. Zombie hunters. Nuclear bombs. Statistics. You love all of these things, and now you can have them as the live wallpaper on your Android phone.”

- Gizmodo

“My heart has a huge soft spot for zombies — just the kind of moist and tender spot that would make it the perfect snack for the living dead — so when I heard about the Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper I couldn’t help but immediately assume it was the coolest Live Wallpaper ever.”

- Phandroid

“…as soon as I'm done writing this I'm buying it from the Android Market so it's mine forever.”

- Android Central

“…this neat little $1 outbreak will have you staring at your wallpaper for hours trying out hundreds of different configurations to find out just how you might survive the next zombie apocalypse yourself.”

- Examiner

Have fun simulating the zombie apocalypse and nuking endless populations on your phones!

[Note: Droid 2.1 owners, I’m aware some of you are having issues seeing the app in the Android Market and am trying to figure out why. Know that I’m on it and let me know if anyone has tips on what may be the problem!]

Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper released!

2010-05-25T01:50:00.001-04:00

My newest Android project, Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper, has been released to the Android Market! It is a live wallpaper with a living population that is under attack by a zombie infection. Watch the horror of the zombie infection on your phone! It is available in the Android Market for all Android 2.1 devices and higher at a cost of $0.99.

See this page for more information on Pixel Zombies, including screenshots, and click the icon below to buy the app from the Android Market!

LOL Libs v1.8.1 Update Released!

2010-05-24T01:27:00.001-04:00

A new update for LOL Libs has been released to the Android Market. The changes combined for v1.8.1 include:

Changes:

Android 2.2 (aka Froyo) users can now move or install LOL Libs to their SD card or external storage.

May Update!

2010-05-04T16:38:00.001-04:00

It’s been a while since I posted anything to the blog, so I wanted let you know what I’ve been working on. I should have more time to work on Android development going forward, so hopefully there will be more frequent updates to both my blog, twitter, and of course my Android apps!

The first thing I have been working on is LOL Libs 2.0. This should bring some much needed (and requested) features that I hope everyone will enjoy. Some of these new features are: improved user interface, story editor (yes, you’ll be able to make your own stories!), word library management, and a few small surprises. I don’t have an exact date when this will be coming, but it will be out this summer.

The next thing I have been working on is a completely new Android project. I can’t say much yet, but will say that it does involve zombies and should be out before the LOL Libs 2.0 update, so May or early June. I’m very excited about this one, and am really itching to share it with the world.

Stay tuned! Follow me on twitter (new widget on the right) if you haven’t already!

Thank you for helping Haiti

2010-02-19T10:26:00.001-05:00

For those of you who purchased LOL Libs during the end of January, thank you! Because of you, $110 has been donated to the Red Cross to help the people of Haiti.

Haiti Relief

2010-01-23T10:57:00.001-05:00

As most people know, Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake that has affected millions of people. To help with the effort of the international community to assist the people of Haiti, all purchases of LOL Libs from today until February 1st will go to the “Haiti Relief and Development” fund of the American Red Cross.

Please spread the word to anyone you know with an Android handset. You can help the people of Haiti while also receiving an app that will hopefully bring you and others you know the joy of laughter.

(Scan QR code to go to LOL Libs in the Android Market from your Android phone)

market://search?q=pname:haydenTheAndroid.lolLibs

LOL Libs 1.8.0 Updated Released!

2010-01-21T10:43:00.000-05:00

A new update for LOL Libs has been released to the Android Market. The changes combined for v1.7.0 and v1.8.0 include:

Changes:

Android 1.6 devices and above now use official speech API
Android 1.5 devices and below continue to use the TTS service
Added all 29 new stories from Politics Edition (grand total is now 64 stories!)
Story list is now in alphabetical order

E-book Readers

2009-12-04T22:38:00.001-05:00

Walking into a Barnes and Noble today rekindled my interest in e-book readers (no pun intended). The place was covered in nook ads. The idea of being able to do all my reading on one slick device is a very enticing thing for me, but I still have some reservations:

I don’t want to buy e-books in a format that will lock me into one hardware manufacturer forever (I’m looking at you, amazon). The B&N store currently sells them in pdb format, but will be moving to the epub format soon, which is on the way to becoming the most universal format.
Pricing isn’t that great. While for NEW books pricing is much better for e-books than a hardback (~$10), many books stay that price while the mass market paper novels go for closer to $6-$7. You will obviously find some books for free, but those are most likely books I am less interested in reading.
Book selection leaves much to be desired. There are still many publishers not publishing their books digitally, which would be unfortunate after investing a good chunk of change on an e-book reader. Some publishers only have select titles in the format, which can be very confusing for customers. For example, I’ve been reading books in Orsan Scott Card’s Ender’s Game series, but only the very latest in the series is available as an e-book. This means I’d have to wait it out for the rest of the series to come to a digital format or buy the paperbacks.

With all that in mind, if I was to buy an e-book reader today, it would probably be a nook. It has wireless (AT&T + wifi), attractive features like a dictionary, and the store supports a format that is becoming fairly universal (much more than Kindle’s format in the least). The industry is still very young and has a way to go, but I think in the next few years we’ll see some very positive advancements.

LOL Libs Lite & LOL Libs: PE Lite Update Released!

2009-09-14T12:13:00.001-04:00

A new update for both LOL Libs Lite and LOL Libs: Politics Edition Lite has been released to the Android Market. Both versions now have all of the features of the full versions and two additional stories, bringing the total stories in each version to 5. See the full changes below:

LOL Libs Lite Changes

Updated to LOL Libs Engine v1.6.4
Random Mode now available
Saving/loading stories now available
2 new stories!

Added story Baking Recipe
Added story Top Ten Songs

LOL Libs: Politics Edition Lite Changes

Updated to LOL Libs Engine v1.6.4
Random Mode now available
Saving/loading stories now available
2 new stories!

Added story New Agency
Added story Protest

More Frequent Updates

2009-09-12T23:41:00.001-04:00

It’s been a while since I’ve updated the blog and will try to address that in the future. I finally set up a publishing program that will make posting much quicker.

I will be pushing out a big update to the lite versions of LOL Libs early next week, so look out for that! It should give Lite users a better idea of the full experience.

LOL Libs 1.6.0 Update Released!

2009-06-17T19:45:00.001-04:00

A new update for LOL Libs has been released to the market. The changes include:

Changes

5 new free stories!
Added story Fossil Discovery
Added story Book Review
Added story Top Ten Movies
Added story The Alien Gift
Added story Math Test

LOL Libs: Politics Edition Released!

2009-05-28T02:21:00.009-04:00

The next game in the LOL Libs series, LOL Libs: Politics Edition, has been released! This version focuses on American politics, government, and recent events, and is now available on the Android Market in all regions where payed apps are available. A free, Lite version is also available in all Android Market regions.

LOL Libs: Politics Edition features:

Fill in your own words to create unique, hilarious stories!
30 stories to choose from, with titles such as About Democrats, Area 51, Obama Inaugural Address, and more!
Have your Android phone read stories aloud to you! (Requires TTS service)
Send completed stories to friends through email or text message
Save your best stories
Load saved stories and read them again!
Use Random Mode to have LOL Libs automatically enter your favorite words into stories for quick fun!

Here are some screenshots from LOL Libs: Politics Edition which is running LOL Libs Engine v1.5.3 (the original LOL Libs is also updated and running v1.5.3)

The above images show the Title Screen, options menu, and the new word entry screen that now shows your progress of total words entered for the story.

Above, we can see how the new Random Mode works. Every time you finish a story, words are automatically added to your word libraries, as you can see in the above two screens. Words are always added to your libraries while an SD card is inserted, whether Random Mode is on or off.

Here, we can see the results of when Random Mode is enabled and a story is picked. There were enough words in the libraries to completely fill out the story, as noted in the left screen. If the story could have only been partially filled, the remaining words would need to be entered by the user as usual. The screen on the right is the resulting story!

If for some reason you notice you entered a word incorrectly and it is in your libraries, thus making errors in your stories while in Random Mode, you can always clear your Word Libraries and start over. To do this, just press the Menu button to bring up the context menu. Press Clear Word Libraries, and your Word Libraries are now reset and you can start fresh!

Enjoy LOL Libs: Politics Edition!

LOL Libs 1.5.0 Update Released!

2009-04-26T14:42:00.002-04:00

A new update for LOL Libs has been released to the market. The changes include:

Changes

New Fast Input mode
New Random mode
Options menu available by pressing menu button
Entered words automatically added to word libraries
New progress bar to show number of words entered for current story
Added examples for Proper Noun word type
Fixed: pressing enter at word entry no longer temporarily expands text box
Fixed: missing word example in Pirates vs Ninjas
Fixed: missing word example in Poem
Other fixes and improvements

LOL Libs Lite Release

2009-04-06T13:17:00.000-04:00

Today haydenTheAndroid has released LOL Libs Lite to the Android Marketplace. LOL Libs Lite is a casual game for the Android platform where users input their own words into stories to create hilarious results. It was designed to give users a free taste of what the full version of LOL Libs has to offer. It should be available in all countries where Market apps are available!

LOL Libs Lite features:

Fill in your own words to create unique, hilarious stories!
3 stories to choose from: Pirates vs Ninjas, iProduct, and Constitution Preamble (30 available in full version)
Have your Android phone read stories aloud to you! (Requires TTS service)
Send completed stories to friends through email or text message

LOL Libs 1.0.3 Update Released

2009-04-06T11:41:00.006-04:00

A new update for LOL Libs has been released to the market. The changes include:

Changes

Update changes shown to user on first boot after update
Added examples for Event word type
Added a missing "the" in "Weather Report"
Added word type Noun ending with "er"
Fixed Plural Noun examples in "Marriage Proposal"

LOL Libs Gets Reviewed!

2009-04-01T10:32:00.003-04:00

The first review for LOL Libs is in! It was reviewed by Christopher Earle over at Android and Me, and he says:

For people who love words and twisted meanings, this story generator will provide hours of entertainment. If you have kids from 10 to 99, this could be a godsend on a long road trip. It is well worth the $1.99 purchase price.

You can go checkout the review here and definitely look around on their site, they have some great content.

LOL Libs 1.0.2 Update Released

2009-03-25T19:53:00.005-04:00

A new update for LOL Libs has been put out to the market. The changes for both 1.0.1 and 1.0.2 combined include:

Changes

Changed Noun ending with "ion" to Noun ending with "tion"
Fixed Restaurant examples in story "Marriage Proposal"
Added "Plural Species" word type
Fixed force close if no SD card inserted

LOL Libs Feature Walkthrough

2009-03-18T14:02:00.000-04:00

In this post I am going to discuss the different features of LOL Libs. I will walk through creating an LOL Lib story, and show screenshots of the process. Here we go!

1. First, we must start the app!

2. Once we are at the title screen, pressing the "Create New" button will get bring up the list of stories to choose from.

3. Once we pick a story, LOL Libs will display a list of the types of words that need to be entered. As we enter values, the list will display check marks beside words that have valid entries.

4. After all words have been entered, a pop up will ask if we are ready to read our story. If we want to change an entry before we continue, we can press the "Keep editing" button and make the change. Once we are sure we are ready, we press "Yes" at the pop up.

5. Read our story! Once we have read it, there are also options at the bottom of the screen to enhance our experience.

6. The "Send" button will let us send our story to family and friends. It can be sent through email or as a text message.

7. The "Speak" button will let our phone read the story aloud to us. This requires the free TTS Service. If the TTS Service is not already installed on your phone, a prompt will ask if you want to.

8. The "Save" button will let us save the story to our SD card to read again later.

9. Once we are done with this story, pressing the "Menu" button will allow us to return to the title screen.

10. If we are back at the title screen and decide we want to load a story we saved earlier, just press the "Load" button. You can then load or delete any saved stories.

That's LOL Libs! Please contact me if you have any questions!

LOL Libs 1.0 Release

2009-03-18T11:00:00.003-04:00

Today haydenTheAndroid has released its first Android app, LOL Libs, to the Android Marketplace. LOL Libs is a casual game for the Android platform where users input their own words into stories to create hilarious results. It should be available in all countries where priced Market apps are available for $1.99.

LOL Libs 1.0 features:

Fill in your own words to create unique, hilarious stories!
30 stories to choose from, with titles such as Pirates vs Ninjas, iProduct, Constitution Preamble, and more!
Have your Android phone read stories aloud to you! (Requires TTS service)
Send completed stories to friends through email or text message
Save your best stories
Load saved stories and read them again!

Official Android Developer!

2009-03-11T19:56:00.001-04:00

I am now an official Android developer! I plan on having my first application published to the Android Market sometime next week. At that time I'll probably post some screenshots and discuss the features of my first app here on the blog.