BBC News App Hits UK Android Devices
Android users are finally getting the BBC News app iOS users have had for nearly a year, but those with Honeycomb devices still won’t be able to use it.
The Beeb’s iPhone and iPad application has been insanely popular since it launched in July of 2010. It’s been downloaded a total of six million times since it was made available and half of those downloads were by users in the UK. Still, however successful the app was, Android users were left out in the cold and had been asking about an Android-compatible version for months. Today, the BBC announced that UK Android users are finally able to join the BBC News App Party. An international version is also being scheduled for release.
"So, I'm delighted to announce that from today the BBC News app will be available to download from Android Market in the UK. BBC Worldwide will soon be launching an international version of the app for audiences around the world,” the Beeb’s Anthony Sullivan wrote on the broadcaster’s blog.
Unfortunately, not all Android users will be able to download the app. Honeycomb isnt supported and the BBC has yet to explain why.
"The BBC News Android app is available on all Android phones and tablets running software versions 1.6 and above, but we're not yet supporting Honeycomb tablets (Android software version 3.0). The app's video experience is accessible to both Flash and non-Flash enabled devices, over wi-fi and 3G connections. In-story video is supported on Android devices versions 1.6 and above, and live streaming of the BBC News channel is possible on versions 2.2 and above which run Flash."
The app will offer users instant access to BBC News content and video, as well as the ability to share stories across social networks and personalise your feed, adding and taking away categories you’re not interested in.
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Wasn't there a BBC news app months ago? It was one of the first I installed on my droid in August. Is it just updated to the iP spec?
I was confused as well as I've had it months too. My app was written by Jim Blackler and supported by backstage.bbc.co.uk so it did seem quite official, however I've just done a check and the proper app is developed by Media Applications Technologies for the BBC, the very same team responsible for the iPlayer app.
There are actually 2 droid apps, one is the official one and the other is by a dev. Probably the dev one that you are refering too??
The Dev one is much better at the mo BUT i am sure that as the BBC one matures it will be great too.
The dev one does provide you with alerts, so if that's important to you, it's an easy decision.