Android 1.5 and 1.6 Deprecation

[Paddy Foran]

Hi everyone, just a quick update.

We're currently beta testing a 2.1 release for our 2cloud software. We're pretty proud of it, but we're running into some bugs caused by OAuth. It's slowing us down a lot and keeping us from a release. All the suggestions for fixes we've gotten have come down to "Use the Accounts API". The problem is, the Accounts API is only available on Android 2.1. This has made our team do some thinking and soul searching, and we've come to a realisation: our support for 1.5 and 1.6 (roughly 200 users) is making the product worse for the rest of our users, who could have a much better client. Whose phones are capable of running a much better client.

From now on, we'll be focusing on supporting the future, not keeping the past alive. We're going to fix the issues in this current beta, then write an Android client that uses the tools and features made available by later Android releases. We'll write an up-to-date app that uses the latest and greatest, and is only available on phones running Eclair (2.1) or higher. We'll not be patching, adding features to, or updating the older app. We'll not be offering support for it. We'll update it if and only if our API changes. Anything else, the community will have to do if it wants the app updated.

We're going to focus on making the best app we possibly can.

You can find more information on our blog: http://goo.gl/1QzOw. I welcome you to engage in conversation in the blog comments, in the questions area of our help forum (linked to on the blog), or in the 2cloud mailing list (2cl...@googlegroups.com). To the 200 users getting left behind, I'm sorry. I wish we had the manpower to continue supporting you. We don't. And if you want someone to write an angry letter to, you only have to look at your cellphone provider. The fact that you are still running phone software that was released over 2 years ago, when there have been four major updates since, is shameful on their part.

Thanks,

Paddy Foran