Google angers Android masses

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 16 Jul 2008 at 09:47

Google has restricted access to the latest version of the Android SDK to just 50 developers, angering many of those left using a four month-old version.

The last publicly available version of the SDK was released in March, and access to the latest version has been restricted to winners of a recent development competition held by Google.

The move has caused further mutterings among an already frustrated community of programmers that had already begun calling for news on the progress of the SDK.

To make matters worse, every contestant was emailed and told that the latest build was now available, although it was meant to go out to just the privileged winners.

"We're pleased to announce that SDK build 84853 is now available on your private download site," announced the email, which disappointed hundreds of eager developers.

"I got excited when I saw this email, but I'm guessing it was mistakenly sent to losers. Unless now they're just taunting us for sport," says Seni Sangrujee on Google's Android discussion group.

Sangrujee is not alone, with many other developers voicing concerns over the amount of feedback they have received from Google.

"The problem is it has failed to nurture the relationship with the development community," say developer Ken Adair. "It has cut them off from the information that was once flowing and left them to speculate and wonder. In response, you are seeing many that feel cheated and betrayed. Google can fix this before it's too late, but it needs to act quickly."

Last month it emerged that handsets using Android may be delayed until the fourth quarter of this year.