My late uncle and I were very different people. Despite being the two ‘fixers’ in the family, the ones who got the busted kettles and the snapped gear cables from the rest of the clan, we were poles apart in one area: our approach to warranties. Even though he would keep his cars going for 20 years, he had a very sharp understanding of what should be his responsibility, and what was down to the vendor.

Actually, that’s an understatement. Woe betide the firm whose slipshod customer handling captured his attention. Once the horn-rimmed specs and the Brylcreemed bonce were aimed in their direction, he would pursue them relentlessly, his measured drawl torturing their receptionists until they actually did put him through to the MD or the Company Secretary (which incidentally is still quite a good one to try, since chancers seldom know enough about company law and structure to try that route).

I am the opposite. I fix (where I can), and like him I take great pleasure in diagnosis. However, I have a low opinion and equally low expectations of what happens when one tries to make a warranty’s promises stick. This is largely because my career in computing has spanned the period during which price of equipment has fallen so spectacularly as to leave me groping for metaphors.

I have a low opinion and equally low expectations of what happens when one tries to make a warranty’s promises stick

I can remember a DEC engineer turning up to put a memory upgrade in our VAX. He marched through the door and waved a plastic briefcase. “I’ve got a Testarossa in here!” he declared – meaning that the contents were worth the £60,000 of a then-hot Ferrari. This last month I’ve received 32 times that much RAM, shipped (and dropped) by the US Postal Service, for £250.

It’s difficult to run a perfect warranty upkeep process when prices are low and margins are tight. Unlike my Uncle, I have a “time is money” attitude (if he was the Obi-Wan Kenobi of our family then I’m more like Iggy Pop). When I start to see signs of undermanning or deliberate sandbagging during a server warranty claim and engineering visit, I will occasionally take the view that throwing money at the problem is worth it to keep the project on track or the service level up to scratch. Those who always take the opposite view are surprised when I sympathise, out of character, because I remember my Uncle and his completely different way of doing things.

However, I don’t think either of us would get very far pursuing warranty or fitness-for-purpose claims in the smartphone and app store business. App stores are supposed to be great, easy gateways for developers to reach new markets, and for users to benefit from an intermediary’s validation and quality control processes. However, there are plenty of opportunities for gaps between the promise and the reality.

One early example from last summer was a first generation Windows Mobile 7 phone. These could lock themselves completely as part of the ActiveSync system update, with a message of “take me to your dealer” for a complete factory reset and retry. I had one on test that duly bricked itself; it had a Vodafone PAYG SIM in it so I went to a Vodafone shop to get it sent away and reset. “Sorry,” they said, “not sold through us. Not our problem”. Despite asking around, I couldn’t find anyone who would actually do the necessary reset.

That was irritating, but not as irritating as Navigon’s Android satnav app. It costs a relatively whopping £60, and with Europe-wide maps it also demands at least an 8GB data card. Nevertheless, it seemed like an excellent deal for me, since I could sell my single-purpose satnav unit (also from Navigon) and come out of the overall deal about £20 in profit.

And a good deal it proved to be for the rest of the year, but then I didn’t travel for a bit so the Android phone got a rest. Next time I got it out, several apps (including Wyse’s excellent Pocket Cloud RDP client) had pending updates. Leaving it on charge and updating, I went to pack, and threw the travel kit in a lightweight laptop bag (pre-checked to remove sharp implements, tools and network cable testers – airport security people simply interpret them as Semtex, so far as I can tell).

So when I sat down in the hire car at Zurich airport, I got a nasty shock: “Activation failure,” said Navigon for Android. “There has been a connectivity failure.” While waiting in the queue to change to a more expensive car with included “Navi”, I proved there jolly well wasn’t a connectivity failure, by surfing the net and looking up the address to fire off a complaint, via the Android Market, to Navigon. I might as well have tucked my complaint in the Schnapps barrel of a passing St Bernard – it vanished.

I could go back to the credit card company and invoke the Sale of Goods Act – except it was an update, several months after the purchase, which interfered with the functionality of my property. I can’t even find a rollback button, which is the kind of thing one might expect after we’ve been through 40 years user interfaces and software delivery.

A truly international marketplace also means there’s little likelihood of a consistent approach to regulation. My Motorola DEFY picks up the central Android Market and the transaction is in sterling, so the actual relevant legal domicile for calling these people to account could be California (for Google), or the UK, or Germany (for Navigon) – except that the app store makes no provision for escalating this kind of failure.

So while app stores show every sign of being the way forward, my experience shows that the current invocations leave much to be desired when it comes to the traditional balance between the rights of the vendor and the rights of the customer. In fact, I’m thinking of proposing a new PC Pro award. I’ll call it the Customer Responsiveness APP Award – or CRAPPA for short.

As we discussed in the new interface section, Windows 8 now supports two different kind of applications: the new Metro Style apps and conventional desktop software. What’s more, Microsoft is launching its own Store to sell them both from.

Metro Style apps

The full-screen Metro Style apps are likely to be web apps; the kind you would typically expect to find on a tablet. Things such as Twitter clients, video players and news readers, rather than full-blown desktop software such as Office or Photoshop.

Although they can be coded in conventional programming languages such as C and C++, they can also be created using standard web technologies such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript (but not, rather controversially, Microsoft’s own Silverlight). And because they are based on web technologies, they are the only applications that can be used across both the x86 and ARM-based versions of Windows 8 without any recompiling.

Microsoft has created a completely new app model and set of APIs for these Metro apps, and they open up some interesting possibilities.

Metro Style apps can, for example, talk to one another. Pictures stored in a photo app can be easily shared with a social networking app. Likewise, you can click the “share” button whilst in Internet Explorer 10, and post a link to straight to a Twitter or email client. “Two apps can share data between them, without the two apps knowing anything about one another,” said Jensen Harris, Microsoft’s director of program management.

The good news for developers is these apps are relatively simple to create. Microsoft showed just how easy it was to create a Metro app using HTML/JavaScript, with an on-stage demonstration that saw a relatively sophisticated drawing app coded in less than 30 minutes using Visual Studio.

There are advantages for users, too. Metro Style apps can be synchronised in the cloud from device to device. Not only does this mean you get the same set of apps across all your Windows devices, but it allows you to pick up where you left off. So if you were half-way through a game on your home desktop, you can continue playing on your tablet on the way to work.

Microsoft app Store

As you would expect, Microsoft will sell both the new Metro apps and conventional desktop software via its own App Store. Indeed, that will be the only way you can get hold of Metro Style apps.

Windows 8 in depth:
Find out about the new interface, apps and the store, performance and Windows 8 on ARM

Like Apple, Microsoft will vet and digitally sign Metro apps before they appear on the Store. All applications will have to pass security, technical and content compliance checks, but in a thinly-veiled swipe at Apple, Microsoft claimed the vetting procedure would take a matter of hours – not days and weeks – and that developers will be kept fully abreast on the progress of their apps.

Microsoft will also give app developers the opportunity to offer free trials of their applications, saving them from having to code separate “free” or “lite” versions of their apps. The software will be automatically removed from users’ machines when the trial period expires.

Developers of conventional desktop software won’t have to alter their code or licensing model to appear in Microsoft’s app Store. However, Microsoft didn’t reveal what cut it would take on apps sold via its Store.

The Microsoft Store is very much a work in progress – the Store link on the developer build of the operating system we’ve been supplied merely links to a holding page.

Now click here for further details on:

The new interface
Performance
Windows 8 on ARM

As the name suggests, it’s not a traditional satnav service. Instead, it’s a monitoring and diagnostic tool for your car, tracking your journey and serving up a wealth of details for inquisitive drivers.

The main screen — with a sleek, gunmetal grey UI — shows your average speed, distance travelled and total time for your current journey, and below these vital statistics sit bars that illustrate your accelleration, braking and variation to your average speed in real time. At the bottom of the screen is a graph that illustrates your speed, average speed and, if you choose, your current and average fuel economy.

More detailed fuel consumption figures are kept in a separate screen, and Mechanic’s profile screen allows for personalisation: detail the engine size, weight and type of vehicle and the results will be more accurate. And, if you’ve got a fleet of vehicles, it’s possible to add more profiles and select which car you’re using before you set off.

There’s one tab, though, that’s off-limits to all but the most devoted petrolheads. It’s used in conjunction with Garmin’s ecoRoute HD — a tiny dongle that plugs into your car’s engine computer and sends signals back to your phone using Bluetooth.

Originally designed for Garmin’s nuvi satnavs, it’ll add a host of features and make the app’s readings much more accurate, with real-time diagnostics, temperature information and engine performance data all available. There’s a couple of stumbling blocks, though: not all cars are compatible, and it’ll set you back £99 inc VAT.

Aside from this, there’s plenty to like about Garmin Mechanic. Its personalised car profiles enable a fine range of features, from fuel tracking to speed and distance monitoring, and it’s free in the Android Market.

Want more great Android apps? Check out our previous Android Apps of the Week or read our 36 Best Android Apps feature

That’s changed with the release of an official iPlayer app. It’s potentially one of the biggest apps to ever hit the market, and it’s been released simultaneously with the iPad edition.

Boot up the app and it’s immediately obvious this is something special. Featured programmes sit at the top of the screen, and scrolling down sees more fade into view smoothly. Switch your phone around and you’re able to scroll horizontally through Auntie’s top content.

Click on a show and the familiar iPlayer layout appears, with options to share the the show over any social-networking apps you’ve got installed or add it to your favourites for later viewing. Graphics illustrate the programme’s channel, duration and availability on iPlayer, and there are eight links to recommend shows at the bottom of the screen – just scroll through them horizontally and click.

The Radio tab is designed along the same lines, with the latest shows, exclusive live performances and (for older listeners) episodes of The Archers available.

At the top of the app sits an unobtrusive little button that’s actually key to the iPlayer experience. Click it and you’re able to browse through numerous programme categories, from comedy and drama to sports and documentaries, as well as divide shows by their channels: all the main stations are supported alongside more obscure ones such as BBC Parliament, BBC Radio 1Xtra and BBC Radio 7.

And then there’s the live TV and radio options, which stream current content. None of iPlayer’s playback options work on 3G, but our office wireless network coped admirably, quickly streaming BBC at fine quality. While it’s not what you’d expect from the corporation’s HD channels – or, frankly, its SD broadcasting – it’s certainly watchable.

Some of the Beeb’s archived content, though, didn’t fare so well. Top at the time of writing was a David Attenborough documentary, Madagascar, which proved difficult to watch as the app kept stopping to buffer images. The latest episode of Panorama was the same. This could be down to increased launch demand peaks or a temporary glitch on our wireless network, but it’s a shame to see such an impressive app potentially scuppered by outside forces.

Official BBC apps have been a long time coming but, now the first has arrived, we’re still impressed: iPlayer mimics its desktop cousin superbly and – when your wireless connection plays ball – offers a smooth and responsive experience. It’s free and available in the Android Market right now as long as you’re running Android 2.2 or above.

Want more great Android apps? Check out our previous Android Apps of the Week or read our 36 Best Android Apps feature.

Yet, the one that’s been so wildly abused that it deserves a sugary cup of tea and its own counsellor is the word “app”.

Until the iPhone came along, the word “application” largely meant a self-contained piece of software installed on a PC or Mac. Then Apple took ownership, trimmed it to three letters, and within months the word “app” became synonymous with small widgets of code for smartphones. Now, Google’s pushing the boundaries of the “app” definition even further.

Google Chrome users will have seen a new addition to their browser recently: the Chrome Web Store. Here, you’ll find dozens of “apps” to install and run directly from a handy icon on the browser’s home screen.

Except, these aren’t “apps” at all. They’re websites.

“Install” the astronomy app Planetarium, for example, and your browser is merely redirected to the Planetarium website. You can copy that URL and paste it into Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari and you get exactly the same experience. Google’s idea of “apps” are what we quaintly referred to in the good old days as “bookmarks”.

True, there are some “apps” that have been specifically redesigned for Chrome – presumably in advance of Chrome OS’s arrival on netbooks. For example, the smart-looking New York Times app, that looks much more accessible for small-screen readers than the newspaper’s website. But why restrict these to Chrome? That URL works on any netbook, in any browser. Is Google paying these companies to promote these sites as “Chrome apps”, perhaps?

I’ve even managed to write my own Chrome app in my lunch break, based on the PC Pro A List. I won’t pretend it was a gargantuan feat of coding: a few judicious edits of Google’s sample manifest file, and a little help from PC Pro’s art team to resize our logo to suit Google’s guidelines, and voila! A PC Pro A List app running in my web browser.

I’d upload it to the Chrome Web Store if I didn’t have to go through Google’s rather complex procedures to prove I run www.pcpro.co.uk and pay $5 for the privilege. That and deal with the crushing disappointment of PC Pro readers who see our “app” in the store, then realise it simply points to the A List section of our website.

Yes, Google does offer the opportunity to create “packaged apps”, with content that can be run when the browser’s offline, but trying to pass off bookmarks as “apps” is a little too close to snake oil for my liking.

You may think that Apple beat the PC world to the punch when it comes to desktop app stores, with the January launch of the Mac App Store. However, Intel actually unveiled its own AppUp store last year, although you’d be forgiven for missing its less dramatic arrival.

To help raise the Intel app platform’s profile, PC World and Currys are giving away free copies of Angry Birds. As I own the lovely but limited HTC Wildfire, I’m yet to play the game, so figured now’s my chance — and when deputy editor Barry Collins looks over at my screen and sees me faffing about with furious cartoon birds, I can genuinely say it’s for a news story.

But it wasn’t to be.

Back when the Mac App Store launched, I borrowed a MacBook from a colleague, installed the store and started downloading. It was so stupidly easy I accidentally downloaded a paid-for app I didn’t even want.

Compare that to today. I installed AppUp, signed up for an account, and handed over my credit card details. After clicking the “download” button, I was sent to a login page, which keeps bringing up this error:

No matter what I try, I can’t even log in, let alone download an app: the only angry bird here is me.

Our first Android App of the Week for 2011, though, takes this basic template – listing the latest posts from popular news and entertainment sites – and gives it a thorough makeover.

It’s called Pulse, is developed by Alphonso Labs, and formats the news in a grid rather than in a list: scroll down through different sources, and swipe from left to right through the stories available.

Each story is presented with a small headline and a bigger picture, and it’s all wrapped up in a clean UI with a black, blue and grey colour scheme.

Adding a news source is as easy as clicking a button at the bottom of the list, and sources are divided into categories – from business, entertainment and fashion to food, gaming, music and tech. Each category’s packed with top titles, and Google Reader integration makes it easy to add your favourites. There’s even the option to use bump and trade your news sources with other Pulse users.

Pulse’s main advantage, though, is its design. I know it’s shallow, but I’ve been using this app more than any of its rivals simply because it looks nice: I’d rather scroll around a page of interesting pictures than a dull, static list of headlines.

It’s just as slick when you click a story, too, with previews displayed in Pulse’s own browser, alongside links to the full version and options to share the story on Facebook and Twitter. You’re also able to call up a small menu that’ll let you scroll through that particular site’s other stories.

It looks great and that’s just on my phone, which is hampered by a relatively low resolution – 320 x 480 – when compared to other Android smartphones and tablets. I can only imagine that the Pulse experience gets better when it’s loaded on a larger screen.

It’s this combination of attractive UI and efficient presentation of information that makes Pulse a worthy winner of our Android App of the Week title. It’s free in the Android market and, if you like your news more interesting than the average RSS reader, you should definitely take a look.

Want more great Android apps? Check out our previous Android Apps of the Week or read our 36 Best Android Apps feature

Apple’s Mac App Store opened its virtual doors today, and if it’s like any other Apple Store opening, hordes of fans will have flooded it to shop.

But is this an idea that’s going to take-off like the iPhone or sink like the Newton?

The store interface itself is as slick as anything designed by Apple, with much in common with the iPad App Store. One of the nicest features is the tabs along the top. While three offer ways to find and buy apps — featured, top charts and categories — the other two allow one click access to previous purchases and updates, which seems a handy organisational tool.

Annoyingly, you’ll need to upgrade to Snow Leopard if you haven’t already. And, you seem to need to verify payment before downloading, even for free apps (or at least I did, which might be because I’m using a different computer than normal). Once that’s sorted, clicking the “free” button or the item’s price kicks off the download. Be careful once you’re logged in with a valid credit card, though, as all it takes is one misplaced click to accidentally buy an app, which is how I came to own a copy of Courier.

Downloads take mere seconds, with a nice animated swoop sending your new software to the dock.

Unsurprisingly then, it looks good and is lovely to use. But is this really the way people will choose to buy software in the future?

Software choices

I wonder because many of the most popular downloads so far today are mind-boggling: StuffIt Expander, Pages, Twitter… even Solitaire. Were the Mac masses desperately awaiting an Apple-approved app to buy such apps? Because these seem like the sort of software you’d already have if you wanted it, given they’re all widely available online.

While a fair number of the 1,000-launch apps are for the Mac App Store only, much of the most downloaded software have long been available online for Macs, simply by heading to the developer’s website.

For example, Evernote is now available free on the Mac App Store. However, it’s long been free for Macs via the web. It’s hard to believe anyone choosing to use the notetaking software never found it appealing before today, but faced with a clean-and-easy interface instantly had the desire to download it. Maybe this is some weird launch day anomaly, where users download like mad just because they can (I did the same thing after my Kindle arrived, after all).

As our laptops editor Sasha Muller put it: “It’s like Steam. You buy things because you can, not because you need them.”

Either way, it’s proving to be a good move for Apple, with its own software making up over half of the top 12 grossing apps at the time of writing.

Its Aperture photo-editing package even managed to knock Angry Birds from the top spot. That software alone is worth upgrading to Snow Leopard to get your ticket in the door of the Mac App Store, as the photo editing software is normally priced at £173, but has been slashed to a ridiculous £44.99 for those inside Apple’s Snow Leopard walled garden.

There are other rewards to using the Mac App Store. Pages, Numbers and Keynote are £11.99 each, versus £72 for all three on the Apple UK web-based store. And  iMovie, GarageBand and iPhoto are slashed to £8.99 each, from £46 for the package deal online. On top of the savings, there’s the added benefit of being able to pay just for the software you’re going to use. Any Mac user would be wise to upgrade to Snow Leopard just for those savings — it’ll be interesting to watch if installations of the latest OS jump after today.

As iLife comes pre-installed, it’s hard to believe most Mac Book owners don’t have a version of those already, but at least this makes upgrading to the 2011 versions in the store free and easy. On top of all that, there’s another benefit: anything you download can be automatically flipped to another computer if you upgrade to a new Mac, so no more hunting for discs or having to head back to every website just to reload a machine.

So it’s cheaper, easier for some, and can salvage your apps if your Mac Book dies. Considering Google already has its Chrome Marketplace and how unflinchingly we accept mobile apps stores — and even complain when we don’t have access to the best ones — don’t be surprised to see others following the lead of the Mac App Store soon.

It sounds like a complex procedure but, for virtually all Android handsets, it’s surprisingly easy: our own Technical Editor, Darien Graham-Smith, explained how to do it back in September, and instructions for major handsets – such as the HTC Desire, Samsung Galaxy S and Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 are easy enough to find, although you’ll be taking your phone and, perhaps, your warranty, into your own hands if you proceed.

Still, that’s not to say that you need a rooted handset to take advantages of some of these tweaks – here are ten of our favourite Android hacks and tricks, rooted or not:

Replace your car’s satnav system

This will only work if you’ve got a phone that can connect over a TV-out cable – that’ll restrict you to a mere handful of handsets, including the Samsung Galaxy S, HTC EVO 4G and Droid Incredible, which is used in this video – and a car that’ll display the signal on its screen.

If you tick those boxes, though, you could be in for a money-saving treat. Why invest in a satnav, after all, when you could use Google’s own software? It’s got undoubted pedigree: we put it through real-world road tests in the summer against many of its rivals and found it to be the best satnav option.

Satnav’s only the tip of the iceberg. Connect your phone to access your music collection, read your Twitter feed, check the latest headlines or perform any other function on your dashboard. While Android in cars has been mooted before, no concrete models have appeared, so this is the next best thing.

Run Android on your old iPhone

If you’ve still got an iPhone 2G or 3G gathering dust, it can be hard to know what to do with it – after all, you’ve likely replaced that older model with a snazzy new iPhone 4. If you’d like to experience the unrestricted pastures of Android, though – and perhaps try out apps that Steve Jobs has deemed unacceptable, such as the Wikileaks cables – then follow these steps, which begin with jailbreaking your phone.

You’re not restricted to installing Android on an old iPhone, either. Intrepid developers have busily ensured that a whole range of devices can be hacked to run Google’s OS: from the Windows Mobile-running HTC HD2 to an old netbook.

Overclock your handset

You’ll need to have rooted before trying this trick, but it’s worth it if your phone struggles when multi-tasking or running intensive applications.

Of course, as with a desktop PC, overclocking a phone comes with risks. The processor inside your handset’s been designed to run at a specific speed and, without any active cooling inside its chassis, running the chip at a faster pace will generate additional heat and use more power.

The versatility of these apps does mean that it’s possible to combat these symptoms by underclocking your phone’s processor, saving battery power and potentially prolonging the chip’s life in the process.

Play classic games

One potentially dubious benefit of Android’s open approach is that its market is full of software emulators for classic games consoles: a quick scan on AppBrain reveals software like SNesoid, GameBoid and Ataroid – apps that wear their retro allegiances firmly on their sleeves.

While these tools occupy some particularly murky legal ground, that hasn’t stopped several developers creating apps to download ROMs – the software needed to play classic games. Some have been even more imaginative, with one intrepid Dell Streak owner attaching a NES controller to his device for more realistic retro gaming action.

Install Ubuntu

Why settle for just only open-source OS on your device? We suspect that this particular trick won’t work if you own older and less powerful Android devices such as the HTC Hero, but owners of newer, faster handsets might want to take a gander at this guide.

It’s an impressive trick – just imagine pulling out your Nexus One at a (very, very geeky) party and booting into Ubuntu. As neat as it is, we’re struggling to think of practical uses for this trickery. After all, Ubuntu isn’t designed for touch interfaces and small smartphone screens could be problematic, too.

Change your look

Android is the most versatile mobile OS around. Don’t believe us? Take a look at the sheer number of apps, themes and graphics that are available for customising your phone. Numerous apps are designed to replace Android’s stock front-end or manufacturer-provided software, with tools such as LauncherPro, Home++ and HelixLauncher just three of many in the Market.

That’s just the start. Basic modifications like wallpaper changes can be livened up with animated backgrounds, and new icons can be downloaded if you don’t like the standard ones included with your home screen replacement. Tools such as Beautiful Widgets have their own communities churning out hundreds of stylish skins for its software.

It’s also worth taking a gander at some of the home screens posted on Reddit’s Android forum: with examples such as this, this and this regularly making the rounds, it’s no surprise that Google’s OS is doing so well for itself.

Install root-only apps

Rooting your phone opens it up to a whole new world of options, not least the chance to install apps that aren’t available in the regular Market. Plenty of these allow extra control over the behind-the-scenes operations of your phone: some provide quick booting options, others allow your system to access extra memory, and more permit developers to access and edit the SQL databases used by most standard apps.

Plenty of root apps prove themselves useful in other ways. Screenshot tools will prove invaluable if you’re used to the faff of getting screenshots from a stock Android phone, which involves installing the Android SDK and jumping through several dozen hoops. Backup tools, Wi-Fi tethering and battery-management and conservation utilities are all commonplace, too. Root apps tend to be on the geeky end of the spectrum, but they’re very useful.

Control your media centre

Having a smartphone means that your media collection needn’t be limited to your PC. Install an app like Gmote alongside its PC server software and you’ll see what we mean: by using Wi-Fi streaming it’ll grant access to your entire media collection.

Its slick interface makes navigating your media collection a doddle and a couple of options mean that you can choose to play files on your PC or on your phone. It’s also possible to switch to a touchpad-style interface that allows you to take control of your PC from your touchscreen.

Open your garage door

Yes, seriously. It’s the work of one imaginative Android owner, and it’s brilliant.

Get the latest Android versions, fast

Every Android user is familiar with the seemingly endless waiting that punctuates every OS update: while Google might announce that the latest version is available, handset owners still have to twiddle their thumbs while their manufacturer and phone network tweak the software and add plenty of crapware before releasing it to paying customers.

If you’ve rooted your phone, though, then you don’t have to go through any of that hassle; instead, merely wait for an eager developer to release a ROM of the latest Android build and you’re good to go. It certainly beats waiting months for HTC to release the 2.1 update for the Hero.

While Posterous has a fully functional mobile site, we’re surprised that it’s taken this long for an Android app to appear, especially since the iPhone version was launched in August 2009.

We’re pleased it has, though, because the new app makes using this simple service even more convenient. Open the app and click the button marked Post and you’re presented with a simple blogging interface, with title and body copy boxes alongside a couple of option buttons: the former allows you to add tags and location information, and the latter facilitates photo or video attachments.

The app lets you post to several different sites – handy if you’ve got one to post news about your favourite sports team, for instance, and another for personal links and musings – and a range of settings means you can choose different levels of picture and video quality to conserve bandwidth.

Posterous’ new app automatically presents sites optimised for mobile browsing if they’re available, and works well in landscape mode too, but we can’t help but feel that some features are missing. There’s no way to customise your profile and autopost settings – which permits Posterous to post links to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more than a dozen other social networking sites simultaneously – are missing, too.

Still, these are all concerns that Posterous is aware of, and the firm’s promising to improve on this first version of its app with the full range of desktop settings, alongside support for notifications, a broader range of file types and full commenting.

It’s very much a work in progress, then, but the arrival of this minimal blogging service on Android is an exciting development worthy of our Android App of the Week – after all, few other apps allow you to publish pictures, videos, text entries and more so quickly and across so many sites and networks.

Want more great Android apps? Check out our previous Android Apps of the Week or read our 36 Best Android Apps feature