If you navigate with Google Maps you have no friends

update: bug is fixed in version 5.9

Google Maps is still a long way behind Nokia Maps, but it might get there eventually. The maps in Google Maps are pretty good, its navigation usually works OK and it's free, and the recently added ability to preload some maps to your phone makes offline navigation possible as long as you don't stray too far from your precalculated route. Public transport navigation is a nice feature too, just like searching for info on points of interest straight from the map.

Too bad that the app is infested with plenty of glitches, freezes, force closes and other nasty little bugs.

The update to Google Maps 5.8 added picture uploads and better bookmarks ("places"), but it came with an unwelcome surprise: all your friends are gone!

When you fire up Google Navigation and tap "contacts" it tells you that you don't have any, even though your address book is filled from cover to cover.

Let's see if your friends and enemies come back in the next version of Google Maps, and which new species of bugs will crawl out of the woodwork.

If your phone runs a version of Google Maps that works the way it should, always make a backup before you update (that's why you rooted your phone and installed Titanium Backup). You never know what nasty surprises the next version will bring, so make sure you have a way to go back.

update: bug is fixed in version 5.9

• Google Maps (Android Market)

Is GO Launcher EX trying to kill itself?

GO Launcher EX is one of the best Android launchers out there, but it's trying to become one of the worst.

It started with cluttering the menu with useless shortcuts to spamvertise the app to your friends and buy stuff in the GOStore. Then stability started to suffer. Old versions of GO always worked, recent versions often draw a blank and have to rebuild your home screens when you return from another app.

The latest update (version 2.38) forces its screen indicator on your display. You can choose between the old indicator and a new version with new looks, but the option "no screen indicator" is gone. Autohide after a couple of seconds is the only choice left.
Edit: the option to remove the indicator returned, but it doesn't always work.

But the worst part about the new edition is the folder layout. It displays less icons and hides the missing entries behind a swipe gesture (more clicks to get to your apps!). The new folders try to disguise themselves as a pulldown bars. It wouldn't be so bad if this horrible and counter-intuitive folder layout was optional, but GO Launcher gives us no choice. The crippled layout is the only folder display option in the new version of GO.

GO Launcher EX is plagued by a bad case of featuritis. Once upon a time is was a clean, efficient, lightweight, fast launcher, but its makers threw in so much junk that it has become bloatware.

Time for the GO team to make a light version of their launcher which sticks to its core business, instead of cluttering the app with junk and bloat.

And maybe they remove the "phone home" behaviour of the app? GO Launcher EX tries to go online everytime I boot my phone. Of course I blocked it with DroidWall and LBE Privacy Guard, but why does a launcher need to call its maker all by itself? What data does it send out, and why is there no "off" switch in the settings menu?

If you want a vintage version of GO Launcher EX from the good old days, go here:

• old versions of GO Launcher EX: v2.27 (uncluttered menu) and v2.37 (old folder layout)

Nokia Maps on Android, sort of

Android would be much better if it would run Nokia Maps. It doesn't, but maybe that will change?

If your phone runs Froyo or newer, fire up any Android web browser that supports HTML5 (stock browser, Dolphin, etc.) and go to http://maps.nokia.com to get a preview of what Nokia Maps on Android could be like. It also works on iPhones.

If you allow your browser to access your location it will show your position on the map. It can calculate and display routes, together with a rough estimate of how long it will take you to walk or drive from A to B. It also shows public transport lines, and you can search for tourist attractions, bars, restaurants, banks, brothels, etc.

It doesn't do voice navigation (yet?), and you'll need to be online to search for places, calculate routes, and see the map. In its present state you're better off with Google Maps for online navigation or a real (but usually expensive) offline navigation app like Navigon or CoPilot.

But that might change. Maybe we're lucky and the future will bring us a true Android port of one of the few apps that makes me keep my old Nokia as a backup phone. A Symbian emulator might also do the job.

• http://maps.nokia.com

Viber: a VoIP app that won't shut up

Viber for Android finished its closed beta testing phase. The open test version has made it to the Android Market.

Free calls and SMSs

Viber is a VoIP app that lets you call and SMS other Viber users for free. No need to sign up, because your phone number is your account name. To make sure others don't abuse your number Viber sends you a verification code by SMS. That SMS never arrived on my phone, but the backup method (giving you the code in a phone call) worked.

Calling and texting works as expected. Sound quality is comparable to VoIP apps like CSipSimple and much better than Skype, Nimbuzz, or fring. It almost makes you forget the horrible purple interface and lack of video calls.

Calls consume 0.25 MB per minute each way. Half a megabyte per minute adds up to 30 MB per hour, so even without an unlimited data plan it can work out cheaper than regular phone calls. When you're not making calls Viber uses very little data, but some bytes trickle in the background to keep the connection alive. And it does stay alive, whether you like it or not.

Won't shut up

The competition knows that you don't want to be available 24/7, and therefore comes with an off switch. Apps like CSipSimple, Skype, Nimbuzz, and fring also let you choose whether you want them to autostart or wait until you launch them yourself.

Not so for Viber. It's set to autostart and won't let you change it. It doesn't let you sign out, quit, exit, or otherwise tell the app to shut up when you want to be unavailable without disabling your mobile internet connection. You can kill it with a task manager or force-stop it from the Android settings, but even then it relaunches itself after a while.

It seems that Viber Media, Inc. thinks its app is so great that nobody would ever want to switch it off. The Android Market comments clearly show that many people disagree. And rightly so: you may want to be available on Wi-Fi but not on 3G. Viber doesn't give you that choice.

When you install Viber it asks for many many many Android permissions. Most of them make sense (all VoIP apps want access to your contacts and permission to go online), but why does Viber want access to my location?

Future of Viber

In its present state Viber is totally free. No fees, no ads, not a single way to make Viber Media, Inc. earn a single penny. That's how Nimbuzz and fring started, and then they introduced ads and paid services on top of the free features. Viber will go the same route. Once its user base is large enough to do business they will add premium services to feed their programmers.

A Viber employee wrote on several blogs and forums:
So why is Viber free?
For now, Viber's focus is on adding platforms, adding features (such as text messages) and improving overall system performance. At the same time, we are working on additional future premium services that will generate revenues. The basic Viber service - Viber to Viber phone calls, and soon text messages, will always be free.

You can only use the VoIP features of Viber to connect to other Viber users, and it only runs on Android and iPhone. The good news is that Viber is working on Blackberry and Symbian versions, and on a PC client too. No word about Windows phones yet, though. Viber would be a lot better if it would use open standards so that it can integrate with other VoIP, SMS, and chat apps. Unfortunately they've chosen the closed Skype business model. Maybe they'll release an api so other apps (like CSipSimple) can connect to Viber? It would be nice to have all my VoIP options together in one app, just like I have all my chat contacts in a single multi network messenger.

The verdict

Viber has potential, but without an off switch it's too intrusive. I've removed Viber from my phone. I'll only put it back if its makers add an exit button and an option to stop it from starting automatically.

Edit: according to a Viber employee on the xda forum:
"Anyway, very soon we will add 2 new improvements:
1. An "Exit" button that will allow user to shut off Viber when they need.
2. We will reduce the frequency of requests to connect to the server from Viber."
No word yet on making autostarting optional, but it seems that Viber is willing to listen to its users. Maybe they'll add a switch to control autostarting too.

• Viber Media, Inc.
• Viber (Android Market)