FuelRod Locator for Android

Mobile development is hard.

Native development is general is difficult - regardless of platform. Working with something like XML to get what you want when you're just starting out is a little challenging. Adding on top of that the weird challenges that come with working in something like Java, and you get a delightfully messy first mobile app.

The idea was relatively simple - use the existing service/api I had put together for the Pebble app, display all the data in an easy-to-see way, and place a banner ad at the bottom to help fund the hosting. Luckily for me, pretty much every mobile app tutorial is something along the lines of "Here's how to make an interactive list of a bunch of data," so it was relatively simple to take it from idea to execution. I ended up with this:

Every location is listed from closest to furthest, with a little icon showing which part of WDW/DLR it is a part of. Add in a little functionality that still shows the data when you turn off GPS functionality, and a little extra details page when you tap on a location, and it's done!

I even added in a little Google Maps display to show you exactly where that location was!

I released it, it garnerd some regular use, never made the required minimum for me to claim ad revenue, but it was nice.

I've since taken it down from the Google Play store, and also shut down the data hosting service after about five years of use. I was still getting the occasionall access of the data, but not enogh to warrant the hosting I was paying for.

I also worked on making an iOS version, through the use of a macOS service that let me remote-in to a virtual mac machine and evelop on it.

I never published it, thanks to the cost of iOS development, but it gave me a little experience with native iOS development.

My experience with native development of these applications actually pushed me to working with Flutter for future projects, which I'm grateful for.

As an extra aside, before publishing the Android application I had sent an email to FuelRod asking the legality of my application. One day, in my high school band class, I received a call from their legal department. Turns out everything would be okay as long as I made it clear that it was not I who created or owned either FuelRod or the Disney stuff, and am not associated with them. Exactly what I had thought, but it was nice to hear it from someone.

In addition, leaving class in high school to talk to a lawyer about a programming project was a fun experience.