I just released a slightly newer version of Beta 5 that fixes 2 bugs: the most important issue resolved is that posting prices over 3G/Edge wasn’t working for some strange reason, though I didn’t change that code between releases at all. So I switched to a different method of communicating with the server and it seems to be working well again now. The other issue resolved is one that I had hoped would be in the initial Beta 5 release: you may now double tap on a location in the map to enter a gas price at that location. I’m still not 100% sure why this wasn’t working on Android 2.x but was on 1.6, though it may have to do with code obfuscation that is now being done. Whatever the cause, it’s fixed now.

I just want to give a quick status update on Gas Up Beta 5, so here we go:

As of about 5 minutes ago, double tapping on a location on the map will switch to the “Submit Price” tab, and attempt to look up the address of the tapped location. This is not fool proof, and it’s not guaranteed to get an address ever, let alone on the first try, simply because of network congestion, server latency, or even if Google simply doesn’t have an address for the tapped location. But, when it does work, it gives you the ability to submit gas prices at locations other than where you currently are. For best results, zoom in as closely as possible before double tapping.

The code to prevent double accidental duplicate price submissions caused by network lag is mostly done in the application. I still have a few loose ends to tie up in the app, and to handle on the server side of things, but so far so good.

I’m now considering downloading all current gas prices for the selected fuel type at once rather than doing it based on the viewable area in the map at designated intervals. Although I’m not too concerned about network traffic on the server side of things, the repeated querying, several times a minute, from all running clients can slow down overall performance for everyone, not to mention it could affect your bill if you don’t have an unlimited data package. What I will probably do is switch it to download all the price submissions once every 15 minutes for the selected fuel type, and if the app hasn’t checked in the last 15 minutes on start-up or when the fuel type is changed, to download updates immediately.

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Also under consideration, though not deeply yet, is the possibility of adding some kind of excitement to the app. I don’t know how many of you have even heard of it, but there’s a social mapping/gps app called Waze. It makes using the app at least somewhat fun by giving subscribed users points for exploring previously unexplored or not recently explored streets, and it maintains a leaderboard on a state by state and national basis. Perhaps something similar can be added to Gas Up with a little effort, but that would mean that I’d have to add account information, which in turn means that when a gas price is submitted, I’ll be associating that account with a location. Not to mention storing that location and user information. I’m a bit reluctant to do that, but I would appreciate getting some feedback from my user community on the issue. (Assuming there is a user community for Gas Up… 😉 )

November 30, 2010 8:27 pm

Just wanted to make an addendum. As of a few minutes ago, double tapping ton the location of a gas station already in the database will automatically load that gas station’s name, address, and coordinates (latitude/longitude) in addition to switching to the Submit tab. I’ll be applying the same thing for when you switch to the Submit tab normally as well. If the gas station isn’t in the database, you’ll still need to enter the information as before.

Also, I’m in the process of changing how the data is transferred to your device. When building or rebuilding the database, it [Beta 5] will now download all gas stations currently in the database, though I’ll probably change that to be all within the country that you’re currently located in. Yes, I’m considering opening this up to more countries now, but initially I’ll probably only expand the beta to Canada.

As a further note, I just updated the server side code to handle some of the new changes, and everything still seems to be working. Please let me know if something isn’t…

Although no one has asked,  some of you may be wondering where beta 5 of Gas Up is. Well the simple answer is that I’m not done with the changes yet, but the more accurate answer is that I’ve been too busy to work on it since I announced that I was working on it.

As you may or may not know, I’m currently enrolled in college and trying to change my career path. While I was enrolled last year as well, I didn’t begin development on Gas Up until the middle of this year’s summer semester, which I took off. Add to that the fact that my former employer asked me to do some work right after that “back to work” post, then maybe you have a good idea of how busy I’ve been over the last few months.

I’ve also begun to question the lifespan of the app as well. Despite the fact that the developer’s site states that there are over 400 installations at the moment, price submissions have dropped off to almost nothing. Without price submissions, Gas Up is useless.  I can only blame myself for it, because of the length of time between updates but I’m wondering if there’s still any interest.

Well, I will commit to completing beta 5, but I’ll reevaluate the situation several months after that release.  Give me your feedback either way!