Following on from last weeks app which was launched to the market.  This week comes another app available via the market.  At this rate I may have to set up ‘a app a week’ weksite – similar to Jayekai’s A Game A Week website :)  Doubt I have the time to be able to push one out every week.

Anyway, whats this new app about.  To summarise the application listens for incoming messages and compares the text to a set phrase.  If this phrase matches, the phone activates is GPS receiver and gets the current latitude and longitude.  It then attempts to query eighty-six.co.uk in return it will be provided with a URL in which a user can visit to see the current location of the phone.  All of this information is then returned to the number that initially sent the message.

The returned messages is similar to the one below;

The application does not need to be running for it to see the incoming message, therefore all incoming messages will be seen.

There admin side to this application provides a discreet interface, so if your phone is stolen, an application with the name Hawkeye will not cause alarm, compared to a name such as ‘Lost Phone Tracker’.  The initial screen also prompts for a password which is set when you use the application for the first time.  This provides an extra layer of security whilst preventing unauthorised changes. The admin side appears as below.

If the application is unable to contact eighty-six to obtain a URL, the application will sent the message with just the latitude and longitude so your phone can always be located by other means.

Click here to see an example of the URL sent.

Get it now from the market.

Since the Rightmove app was a non-starter, I’ve decided (in my quest to publish my first ever app for a mobile device) to create something else.

I’m not entirely sure where this app will end, but the initial app will be a simple directory with some advanced features.  Using the data I collected last year for Rentopoly.com, the app will allow searching by either entering the name of a university/institue, or using GPS find universities/institues near by.

Rentopoly.com was supposed to be the rightmove but limited to only properties to let to students.  Depending on how successful Rentopoly.com is, I may include properties as a major part of this application.  Maybe this app is what Rentopoly needs to get it going.

So heres what I’ve done so far….

Initial Screen

This is the welcome screen, the first thing a user will see when they launch the application.  Its nothing great at the moment just thrown together to test the code.

The idea is, the user can either search by name or use their location.  Since searching by name is nothing special, this example shows the application using GPS to get the current latitude and longitude.

Once the coordinates have been obtained, the following screen will be displayed.

Results

The next part above is a nice list of results.  This information is downloaded from Rentopoly.com as Json, limited to within 10 miles.  An advanced feature that will be added will allow this range to be altered.

So thats what I have so far, nothing special but slowly getting back into the Java/Android thing.  Stay tuned for updates.