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Google launches add-on stores for Google Docs and Sheets

Mar11

by Sindy Cator on March 11, 2014 at 5:11 pm

Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Google, Insider

Google today launched separate add-on stores for its Google Docs and Sheets products. You can check out the two stores here: Docs and Sheets.

To browse add-ons directly without navigating to the stores first, just hit “Get add-ons” in the Add-ons menu of any document or spreadsheet. Add-ons in the stores are created by developer partners that give users more features in their documents and spreadsheets.

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Once you install an add-on, it will become available across all of your documents or spreadsheets. Since Google Docs is in the cloud, you can start using the add-on in question right away; Docs and Sheets add-ons are powered by Google Apps Script, the company’s server-side JavaScript platform with virtually no startup time.

Developers should note add-ons are in preview right now, but the tools and APIs are available to everyone. You can build a prototype for Docs or Sheets and then apply to publish it.

If you create a script that is distributed as an add-on, Google promises the following benefits:

Better discovery: Apps Script has long been popular among programmers and other power users, but difficult for non-technical users to find and install. Add-ons let you distribute your code through a polished storefront—as well as direct links and even Google search results.

Sharing: When two people collaborate on a document and one of them uses an add-on, it appears in the Add-ons menu for both to see. Similarly, once you get an add-on from the store, it appears in the menu in every document you create or open, although your collaborators will only see it in documents where you use it. For more info on this sharing model, see the guide to the add-on authorization lifecycle.

Automatic updates: When you republish an add-on, the update pushes out automatically to all your users. There’s no more hounding people to switch to the latest version.

Share functionality without sharing code: Unlike regular Apps Script projects, add-ons don’t expose your source code for all to see. That’s reassuring both to less-technical users and to the keepers of your codebase’s secrets.

Enterprise features: If your company has its own Google Apps domain, you can publish add-ons restricted just to your employees. This private distribution channel is a great way for organizations that run on Google Apps to solve their own unique problems.

Google claims add-ons in the store “look and feel just like native features of Google Docs and Sheets.” The is largely thanks to the company providing a CSS package that applies standard Google styling to typography, buttons, and other form elements, as well as a UI style guide that offers guidance on designing a user experience similar to existing Google products.

Top Image Credit: Nicholas Kamm / Getty Images

└ Tags: syndicated

Google launches add-on stores for Google Docs and Sheets

Mar11

by Sindy Cator on March 11, 2014 at 5:11 pm

Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Google, Insider

Google today launched separate add-on stores for its Google Docs and Sheets products. You can check out the two stores here: Docs and Sheets.

)

Developers should note add-ons are in preview right now, but the tools and APIs are available to everyone. You can build a prototype for Docs or Sheets and then apply to publish it.

If you create a script that is distributed as an add-on, Google promises the following benefits:

Better discovery: Apps Script has long been popular among programmers and other power users, but difficult for non-technical users to find and install. Add-ons let you distribute your code through a polished storefront—as well as direct links and even Google search results.

Sharing: When two people collaborate on a document and one of them uses an add-on, it appears in the Add-ons menu for both to see. Similarly, once you get an add-on from the store, it appears in the menu in every document you create or open, although your collaborators will only see it in documents where you use it. For more info on this sharing model, see the guide to the add-on authorization lifecycle.

Automatic updates: When you republish an add-on, the update pushes out automatically to all your users. There’s no more hounding people to switch to the latest version.

Share functionality without sharing code: Unlike regular Apps Script projects, add-ons don’t expose your source code for all to see. That’s reassuring both to less-technical users and to the keepers of your codebase’s secrets.

Enterprise features: If your company has its own Google Apps domain, you can publish add-ons restricted just to your employees. This private distribution channel is a great way for organizations that run on Google Apps to solve their own unique problems.

Top Image Credit: Nicholas Kamm / Getty Images

└ Tags: syndicated

Instagram for Android gets faster, more responsive and a gorgeous flat redesign

Mar11

by Sindy Cator on March 11, 2014 at 5:02 pm

Posted In: Apps, Around the Web

Instagram today updated its Android app with a clean, flat redesign and a slew of under the hood changes designed to make it faster and more responsive than ever before.

From the moment you open the app, it’s clear the Instagram team has taken a lot of time finessing the aesthetics. While the layout and placement of virtual buttons is the same, almost all of the assets have been flattened or tweaked. The banner no longer has a gradient in the background, and the Instagram logo is now pure white. The refresh and Instagram Direct icons have also been changed, and a lighter font has been brought in for the timestamps attached to each photo in the top right-hand corner.

The new visuals permeate through the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen too. All of the icons have been changed and perhaps most importantly, the Instagram logo in the center has been switched to the minimalist square and circle combo found in the Instagram for iOS app.

The Explore section has been trimmed to give photos even greater space on screen, while the mess of boxes and lines has thankfully been cleared from user profiles. All round, it’s a lighter, more beautiful design.

From a design standpoint the iOS and Android apps feel closer than ever before, but dig deeper and you’ll notice some differences. Text alignment at the top of the app isn’t consistent between the two and while editing, you can see four tiny lines splitting the various editing tools. They’re small details, but it shows the team hasn’t just cloned what it shipped for the iOS app.

The updated Android app is also faster. Instagram says profile pages should now load twice as fast. The overall app size has been halved too to optimize speed across the board. “In taking time to polish our designs, we’ve worked to make sure that Instagram feels native and at home on any Android device,” the company said. While it doesn’t offer anything in the way of new features, this is an important update that should appeal to all users.

➤ Instagram | Google Play

└ Tags: facebook, syndicated

Chrome Web Store gets new publishing and monetization options for packaged apps, extensions, and themes

Mar11

by Sindy Cator on March 11, 2014 at 4:22 pm

Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Design & Dev, Google, Insider

Google today announced new tools and services for publishing and monetizing items in the Chrome Web Store. The company says it wants to make both processes as easy as possible for developers so they can focus on creation rather than managing overhead.

First of all, Google has made it easier to manage content thanks to an update to the Chrome Web Store API; it now lets developers programmatically create, update, and publish items. For those that already have an automated build and deployment process, the API can be added into their publishing flow.

Next, Google has added new monetization methods. While hosted apps already supported all four types (free trial, paid up-front, subscription, and in-app payments), now package apps, extensions, and themes have received more options:

The Managed In-App Payments now supports Chrome packaged apps and extensions. Themes were excluded for obvious reasons.

The tool also now lets developers create and manage all of their in-app products directly in the developer dashboard, instead of having to embed or dynamically generate and serve a payment token for each sale. As you can see above, developers can enable or disable products, provide localized descriptions, and set prices for different regions, while the Chrome Web Store takes care of licensing.

The Free Trial feature has also been expanded to packaged apps and extensions. As you might expect, it allows a developer to specify that an item can be used for a limited time before it must be purchased, allowing users to try paid items before deciding whether to buy them.

Overall, extensions have gained the most options, so if you’ve been developing add-ons for Chrome, you may want to consider those projects as a new revenue stream. This is especially noteworthy given the upcoming ban for extensions on Windows not in the Chrome Web Store.

Top Image Credit: Kimihiro Hoshino/AFP/Getty Images

└ Tags: syndicated

Appsfire launches in-stream ad product ‘Sashimi,’ which it says produces Facebook ads on steroids

Mar11

by Sindy Cator on March 11, 2014 at 4:00 pm

Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider, mobile advertising, Product Launches

Last year, Appsfire announced it was ditching its renowned app discovery service on iOS and Android, seeking to shift its business towards a mobile advertising solution.

Following that, it unveiled URA MAKI, which it described as an entirely new ad experience that gives users more control over their ads. Today, Appsfire launched ‘Sashimi’ — in-stream advertising formats for mobile apps — as it takes a deeper dive into mobile native ads.

Appsfire acknowledges that in-stream mobile ads have already been done by other companies, including Facebook — but the ads are currently proprietary to them. Sashimi ads, on the other hand, are automatically generated, produced, translated and formatted into any type of app with feeds of content. In short, Appsfire calls Sashimi ads “Facebook ads on steroids.”

Appsfire launches in stream ad product Sashimi, which it says produces Facebook ads on steroids

Appsfire claims that Sashimi provides the first ever in-feed ad format that fits the design of any app. It provides a set of templates for its Sashimi ads, and also simple ways to reformat the set of elements and content of a Sashimi ad in any way, so it can fit an app according to the frame, shape, font, or order of content. Furthermore, no creatives are required for creating Sashimi ads, which means it’s simple for advertisers to adopt the format and scale easily.

Sashimi ads are supported on iOS devices today, with Android and HTML5 landing in the coming weeks. An app that has already incorporated Sashimi ads is Newsfire, a free news aggregator.

Headline image via Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP/Getty Images