Announcing the Winners of ADC 2

Back in May at Google I/O, we announced ADC 2 -- the second Android Developer Challenge -- to encourage the development of cool apps that delight mobile users. We received many interesting and high-quality applications -- everything from exciting arcade games to nifty productivity utilities. We also saw apps that took advantage of openness of Android to enhance system behavior at a deep level to provide users with a greater degree of customization and utility. We were particularly pleased to see submissions from many smaller and independent developers.

Over the last couple of months, tens of thousands of Android users around the world reviewed and scored these applications. There were many great apps and the scores were very close. Together with our official panel of judges, these users have spoken and selected our winners!

I am pleased to present the ADC 2 winners gallery, which includes not only the top winners overall and in each category, but also all of the applications that made it to the top 200. There are a lot of great applications in addition to the top winners.

Thanks to everyone who submitted applications or helped us judge the entrants. We encourage all developers to submit their applications to Android Market where their app can be downloaded and enjoyed by Android users around the world.

ADC 2 Public Judging is now closed

Thanks to tens of thousands of Android users around the world who participated in the review of ADC 2 finalist applications, we have now collected sufficient scores to complete Round 2 of public judging.

We are reviewing the final results and will announce the top winners this coming Monday, November 30. Thanks to all who've participated in ADC 2 and good luck to all the finalists.

ADC 2 Round 2 Voting Open

The results from ADC 2 Round 1 are now tabulated and verified. With the top 200 applications identified, it's time to begin the final round judging. Be sure to download the ADC 2 judging application, or update your existing application, and help us select the final winners!

For the final round, both users and a Google-selected panel of industry judges will provide votes to determine the final winners. Prizes will be distributed to the top 3 entrants in each of the 10 categories, and the top 3 overall entrants will receive additional prizes. Please see our reference page for full challenge information.

Your vote is critical! We will keep voting open until we have received sufficient votes for all of the applications. We encourage you to download the ADC 2 judging application and evaluate entrants for yourself.

Download Android Developer Challenge 2:

ADC 2 Round 1 Scoring Complete

The response to round one of the Android Developer Challenge 2 has been phenomenal! We originally expected that it would take two weeks to get all the necessary data to complete scoring. Over the last 10 days, more than 26,000 Android users reviewed and submitted our target of over 100 scores per application. With this enthusiastic support of the Android community, we are closing the first round of ADC 2 judging today.

We will now be reviewing the results and preparing for round 2. Please stay tuned for information about round 2, where the community, combined with a panel of judges, will narrow down the top 20 applications in each category to determine the final winners. Until then, users with the ADC 2 judging application currently installed will get a notice saying that round 1 is over. When round 2 opens, the judging application will resume giving out new submissions to score. We look forward to seeing the results of the final round and hope that you choose to help us score these top apps as well!

ADC 2 Judging Has Begun!

I am happy to announce that Android Developer Challenge 2's first round of judging has begun!

As a reminder, user voting determines which apps will make it to the second round. Voting will occur through an application called Android Developer Challenge 2, which is now available for download from Android Market. Android Developer Challenge 2 presents apps for each user to download and score according to a set of criteria, such as originality and effective use of the Android platform, among others. The first round of judging will last at least two weeks from today. Judging will continue until we receive a sufficient number of votes to identify the top 20 applications in each of the 10 categories (200 apps total) that qualify for the second round.

During the second round, judging will occur through a combination of user voting and input from a panel of industry experts. User voting will continue to occur via Android Developer Challenge 2 and will account for 40% of the final score that each app receives in round two. The remaining 60% of the final score will be determined by the industry expert panel.

It has been a little less than a year since the first Android-powered phones became available. Today, there are more than 10,000 applications available in Android Market. We are pleased by the energy and commitment demonstrated by developers in such a short period of time. Our goal with Android Developer Challenge 2 is to inspire the developer community to produce even more innovative apps for Android. Now on to the voting!

Download Android Developer Challenge 2:

ADC2 Submissions Closing Monday!

Don't forget to submit your ADC2 apps by midnight PST on Monday, August 31! Remember that this is Pacific time in the US (GMT - 7) so be sure to convert the deadline into your local timezone.

Also, even if you've already submitted your apps, please double check and make sure that your app is in the "Submitted" state in the UI! If it says "Unsubmitted", it will NOT be considered as an entry.

Android Developer Challenge 2 open for submissions

The time has come! The submission site for Android Developer Challenge 2 is now open. You can now submit applications for the Challenge at http://market.android.com/adc. Full instructions are also available on the site.

The key thing to remember is that all submissions must be entered by 11:59:59pm Pacific Time in the United States on August 31, 2009. If your applications are not submitted by that time, they won't be eligible for participation. Please carefully note what time that is in your local time zone.

It's very important that your apps only use published APIs. Some users might be judging your submissions on new phones you haven't seen or tested. If your apps depend on unpublished APIs, they might not work on some of these phones. Please note that you won't be able to submit new versions of your apps after the deadline!

Since you'll be competing against developers around the world for users' attention, it is important to focus on the fit and finish of your app. Your apps will be judged by users as a final product and not just a cool demo.

As a final note, if you've uploaded a version of your app to Android Market, you'll need to use a different Android package name for the version you submit to the Challenge.

I look forward to see all the great apps and innovations from you all.

ADC 2 Updates

Since the announcement of Android Developer Challenge 2 in May, Android phones continue to be deployed in countries worldwide. Android phones are currently available in over 20 countries, with more on the way. As I've mentioned earlier, we'll be including real-world users of these phones to help review and score your submissions. It is important to remember that your apps will be reviewed by judges around the world on actual devices; thus, be sure to make it extremely easy for users/judges to access your apps with minimum setup.

Some of you have been asking for clarifications on what we mean by "open only to applications that have not been published". To be specific, applications that are available on Android Market before August 1, 2009 will not be eligible to participate in the contest. Users have already been providing comments for apps that are currently available on Android Market, so it wouldn't make sense for them to "judge" the same apps again in this contest. In addition, apps that include or that are based on open source projects are fully welcomed, as long as the application itself is not on Android Market until August 1, 2009.

If you want to find out more details about ADC 2, you can find everything at the ADC 2 page along with the Terms and Conditions. For the moment, the most important thing to know is that ADC 2 submissions will be due August 31. I can't wait to see what you all come up with this time.

Happy coding -- and good luck!

Calling all developers for Android Developer Challenge 2!

I'm excited to announce the second Android Developer Challenge (ADC)! The first challenge was a huge success with over 1,700 entries that resulted in 50 excellent winners. With the recent release of Android 1.5, as well as the availability of devices in multiple markets around the world, I'm pleased to announce the second ADC.

We've expanded ADC 2 to involve a very important part of the Android community—the users who will be running these applications. Users of Android-powered devices with Android Market will be able to download a special Android judging application and use it to download and rank applications submitted to the Challenge. The results from this round will determine the top ranking applications in each of the 10 categories. These top applications will then be ranked by a combination of users and a panel of Google selected judges through a similar process as the first round to determine the final winners.

I've already seen a lot of great apps on Android and I look forward to seeing even more innovative and unexpected cool apps that will come out of this Challenge! For more details on ADC 2, please see the official site. Start your engines and good luck!