CHAPTER 17: The Android Market
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immediately. You can generate your own codes at http://zxing.appspot.com/
generator.
Your DROID likely did not ship with a barcode reader, but it’s easy to get one. There are
countless apps in the Android Market that allow you to scan QR codes, including
Google Goggles and ZXing’s Barcode Scanner.
In this chapter, we’ll use QR codes whenever possible. If you’re reading this book with
your DROID and (and not reading this book on your DROID), just use the QR code to get
to a given app faster.
Browsing the Android Market
You can visit the Android Market Showcase on the
Web at www.android.com/market; however, this site
will only show you a fraction of the available apps.
Google has plans to change this in the future, but for
now you’ll need to use your phone to see the apps
available for DROID. Launch the Android Market app
from your phone’s application tray or desktop. The
initial page will look similar to the figure on the right,
with buttons for Apps, Games, and Verizon; a splash
banner; and a list of featured apps.
NOTE: You can also browse available apps on the Web
at www.androlib.com, www.appbrain.com, and
www.androidzoom.com. These are ad-sponsored
sites that pull data from the Android Market; however,
as third-party sites, they don’t always produce identical
search results.
Notice that each app lists a rating out of five stars, as well as the app’s price. You can
tap an app to read more details about it, including user reviews. Sometimes you may
want to browse through the featured apps to see what is new; sometimes you know
exactly what you want; and sometimes you want to browse, but only within a category,
such as productivity apps or shopping. Any of these approaches is valid.
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