On Wed, Apr 24, 2013 at 4:01 PM, Indicator Veritatis <mej1...@yahoo.com>wrote:
> There is a world of a difference, Ian, between "updating our software" and > completely breaking an entire set of APIs. Google did the latter. Many > other companies instead keep the old APIs working for years, encouraging > developers to develop only for the new API set. But we *are* keeping the old APIs working for years. The deprecation is following the normal Google policy. Existing users will be supported for some time to come--something on the order of three years, if I recall correctly. What we're not doing is issuing new keys. I'm unable to think of a way of deprecating an API that's significantly more fair than that. > > Now Google may have had a good reason for completely scrapping v1 and > forcing everyone to migrate to v2 with no backwards compatibility -- but > did Google ever communicate this to developers? I never saw this. > Evidently, neither did a number of contributors to this thread. > We did communicate this via G+ and a fairly prominent paragraph on the Maps API page. We probably could have done more communicating directly from the Android team. As it was, we let the Maps team communicate the change, and perhaps missed many Android developers. > > Finally, why are you even asking if he got a v1 API key? Even his first > post should have made it clear that he got further than that in the > development process. For you to insinuate that he did not even get this far > shows both laziness on your part and contempt for Google's customers and > partners, developers. > I think you're being overly harsh with me and overly kind to the OP. I'm not familiar with his development process, but I'm fairly certain that had he requested a key, it would still be operational (see my comments about the deprecation policy, above). If I understood the original post, the developer claimed that he fully developed an app, waited for a period of several months, and then requested a key just before he intended to go live. Perhaps he used someone else's key during development? In any case, you appear to be assuming that we shut down a service without informing its users. This is not the case. We stopped accepting new users into a service which we intend to keep online for a period of several years. No existing users were affected by this change. No users who obtained an API key before beginning development (as they were clearly instructed to do) should have been affected. Hence, my question. If the OP has a key that is not working, then I will do everything within my power to fix that for him. However, it appears that what he has is no key, and no plausible reason for why he didn't obtain a key when it was possible for him to do so. That's significantly more difficult for me to fix. Thanks Ian > > > On Tuesday, April 23, 2013 8:38:09 AM UTC-7, Ian Ni-Lewis wrote: >> >> You say that "My career doesn't revolve around only Google, and I have >> other things to do than checking each x months if one API has been >> discontinuated and I need to develop everything again." We do occasionally >> need to update our software, and although we do try very hard to avoid >> breaking changes, they do sometimes happen. How would you prefer to be >> notified of these changes? Have you ever obtained a v1 API key or uploaded >> an app to Google Play? If not, then how would Google have communicated this >> important information to you? >> Ian >> >> >> On Tuesday, April 23, 2013 2:59:07 AM UTC-7, user123 wrote: >>> >>> Yes, in moments like this, I ask myself why I'm an Android developer :) >>> I think I started basically because I didn't/don't like Apple. But >>> reconsidering this position. >>> >>> Another thing I found quite annoying during this experience, is that >>> there's not even a direct contact possibility. All I found was an email >>> Address of Googe Play, then I got an automatic e-Mail in response, which >>> told me, to answer directly if this doesn't solve the problem, I did, and >>> then I got: >>> >>> "Thank you for your note. If you're looking for information regarding Google >>> Maps Android API, please visit our Google Play Android Developer site: >>> http://developer.android.com/**google/play-services/maps.html<http://developer.android.com/google/play-services/maps.html> >>> **" >>> >>> I probably can't call this "bad costumer service", since I'm only a >>> stupid developer, not a costumer, and I don't deserve any direct >>> communication with Google. And not to dream about the possibility to get >>> some human-generated consideration about my case and a key for v1. >>> >>> And I'm not afraid of writing this, because Google will not even read it >>> :) >>> >>> So I'll delay my release and post soon my questions about v2. And try my >>> best to keep my motivation to be an Android developer. >>> >>> >>> Am Dienstag, 23. April 2013 03:07:00 UTC+2 schrieb Indicator Veritatis: >>>> >>>> In your message starting this thread, you say: "The context: I >>>> finished an app a few months ago. I want to release it now." >>>> >>>> Well, it appears Google has, in its infinite wisdom, decided during >>>> those "few months" not to give anyone a v1 key. Of course, this is >>>> inconsiderate to developers, but Google is like that. Even in its worst >>>> days, Apple had better relations with independent developers. >>>> >>>> But no doubt Google would ask, "well, what were you doing in those 'few >>>> months' that you did not notice the need to update your app for the new >>>> API?" Android developers have to roll with the punches and live with this >>>> kind of abuse from Google, we cannot change it. >>>> >>>> Complain if you have to to get it out of your system, but then move on. >>>> Either drop the app or rewrite it to use the new API. >>>> >>>> On Monday, April 22, 2013 3:47:10 AM UTC-7, user123 wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Can you please stop using this conversation (only) to promote yourself >>>>> :) thanks. >>>>> >>>>> I can google the information myself. This is not any serious help. >>>>> What I need is an API key for v1 to release my finished app. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Am Montag, 22. April 2013 12:27:57 UTC+2 schrieb VenomVendor™: >>>>>> >>>>>> There is no other way, than porting to MapsV2. >>>>>> If you find any difficulty in anypart of MapsV2, We as a developer >>>>>> will support you to the best. >>>>>> I suggest you to post in the same thread rather than creating new >>>>>> thread. >>>>>> Before you Post, Search in >>>>>> StackOverflow<http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/android-maps-v2> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> *To start with MapsV2.* >>>>>> >>>>>> Here are few links to start with MapsV2 >> Getting Started with >>>>>> Google >>>>>> MapsV2<http://venomvendor.blogspot.in/2013/04/getting-started-with-google-mapv2-for.html> >>>>>> To create a custom overlay with custom typeface, I suggest you to see >>>>>> this >> Using Custom Typeface in Maps >>>>>> V2<http://stackoverflow.com/q/15668430/1008278> >>>>>> If you want any help, let us know, Sharing is Caring. >>>>>> >>>>>> My Android Apps-(Rate & >>>>>> Review<https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=VenomVendor> >>>>>> ) >>>>>> >>>>>> -- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Android Developers" group. > To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "Android Developers" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/android-developers/R2dwCWyC3TQ/unsubscribe?hl=en > . > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- Ian Ni-Lewis Staff Developer Programs Engineer Android Developer Relations -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. 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