Android (Rooted): Those of us outside the US know how difficult it can be to get hold of apps on sale in Amazon’s app store (or other US-only sites such as carrier stores). Market Unlocker is an Android app for rooted devices that makes your phone appear to the Android Market and to the Amazon App Store as a US-based Verizon Wireless phone, so you can browse, buy, and download apps to your heart’s content.
The Android Market web interface just got an update that brings extra filtering powers to the user reviews section, letting you filter by the device of the reviewer, the star rating they gave, and the version of the app they used.
Android: Google is rolling out a new version of the Android Market to select phones with the ability to set all apps to update automatically by default, only update over Wi-Fi, and automatically add shortcuts for new apps to the home screen so you don’t have to. If you don’t want to wait until the official release to get it, the APK is available now.
The new web-based Android Market is nifty, but it still lacks for the great sorting, recommendation and discovery tools of AppBrain. Luckily, the field is evened out, as AppBrain users can once again make instant web-to-phone app installations. [via Mobiputing]
Earlier this month we told you how Google hadn’t yet set up a mechanism to pay Australian Android developers even though payments can be made in Australian currency. Fortunately, Google seems to have finally gotten its act together.
It seemed like good news when Australian Android developers were finally allowed to sell apps through the Android Market last month. However, it turns out that there’s a nasty twist in the tale: Google hasn’t set up any facilities to let developers link their bank accounts to the payment system, meaning they can’t access any revenue from their creations.
Google’s Market for Android apps has the distinct advantage of being more open than Apple’s App Store. But more users and developers are noticing the drawbacks. We’re wondering where you’d like to see Google use a stronger hand in the Market.
