David Johnston, the creator of Beebplayer, answers a few of our questions

There was no ‘lightbulb’ moment, per se. I just realised that there was no way to access iPlayer content on Android phones, despite every other major phone seemingly supporting it. As soon as firmware 1.5 came around, Android became able to play the 3G streams the BBC provide for phones like the N96, and so I went about putting together an interface for it. It was really only meant to be a stop-gap measure until the BBC release their own app, which will no doubt provide a far better experience.

Can you tell us a little bit about your development background and any other projects you have been involved in?

I’ve been developing mobile apps here and there for a few years. I wrote a few PocketPC apps a few years ago, whilst studying Software Engineering at Southampton University. I also worked on getting iPlayer onto the XBOX with XBMC and the ‘xbmc-iplayer’ script, which is what started it all! These days, I’m actually in the games industry as a level designer at Splash Damage working on ‘Brink’, although most people would probably know me as the author of the maps ‘de_dust’ and ‘de_dust2′ for Counter-Strike.

How long did it take you to put together Beebplayer, and were there any major headaches or stumbling blocks along the way?

It was pretty quick, as beebPlayer isn’t really all that complex. The first versions were simply a menu system which found the appropriate stream URLs from the BBC’s website, then launched Android’s built-in video player. Current versions have a skinned video player that offers more features, such as subtitles. The first major stumbling point was waiting for firmware 1.5, which allowed such streams to play – 1.0 and 1.1 wouldn’t work at all!There are still some major issues though – sometimes it won’t work at all, sometimes it only works for a few minutes, it won’t work with some WiFi routers… but these are seemingly low-level and as far as I can ascertain, not things I can simply fix in an update. I’m glad many people don’t encounter any issues, but I’m always trying to help those that do.

You could probably make a killing if you charged for Beebplayer. Am I correct in assuming that you can’t legally charge for an app which links to iPlayer?

Well, it wouldn’t feel right. I’m not sure about the legal standpoint, but even if I did charge, it wouldn’t be hard for another developer to reproduce what I’ve done for free. I really do it for the fun of it rather than profit.

You’ve also developed an app called Tweetabouts, which ties in to a phone’s location services to automatically update the user’s location on their Twitter profile. What was the inspiration behind it?

I simply saw many people had their location updated automatically by their various iPhone Twitter apps, and wanted my shiny new Android phone to do the same! I’m quite surprised so few Android Twitter clients support this.

Which Android devices do you use yourself?

I’ve owned a G1 since December 2008, although I’ve now got a Nexus One on a plane somewhere across the Atlantic.

Which is your favourite Android app (other than your own of course)?

It’s hard to say! I’ve fallen in love with Seesmic this week, taking the crown from Twigee. Although not really an app, I’m also very appreciative of Cyanogen and enomther’s ROMs.

How much potential do you personally feel the Google Android platform has?

An incredible amount. We’re still at the tip of the iceberg really, judging by the ever-increasing momentum and the ridiculous number of Android devices due out in the next few months. It’s open nature is really very attractive to hackers and tinkerers like myself!

What’s on your personal wish-list regarding Android apps or features? Is there something you feel the platform is sorely missing?

Universal multi-touch support. I used to think of it as a pretty minor feature, but it’s really like having an extra limb in terms of usefulness. Native development could also be improved, but I’ve only glanced at the NDK so I can’t really comment on it with any authority. I’m glad the Bluetooth support has improved in 2.0/2.1, that was my previous sore-point.

What drew you to developing in Android, and do you feel it is a powerful enough platform for developers?

It’s an exciting new platform, and back when I started, it was all very new and swish. It also helped that all I had to do was download the SDK, and I could begin. It’s a welcomingly low barrier to entry for anyone who knows Java.

The Android Market receives a lot of criticism from users and developers alike, how has your personal experience of publishing apps on the market been?

I love how simple it is. Dead simple. I’ve never had a problem with it, and it’s a very welcome change from the prehistoric model of directing potential users to a website, downloading executables and setup files, and then trying to keep them upto date!Although as a developer, I do wish it offered statistics like installs/downloads/uninstalls per day, firmware/device stats, that sort of thing. Flurry is filling this gap, but it really should be part of the market developer site.

What’s next for you – updates to Beebplayer or Tweetabouts or something entirely new?

A bit of all three. beebPlayer will continue to receive updates as long as I have stuff to add – like more thorough subtitles support, maybe a radio widget, and perhaps more streams if I can get to them. Tweetabouts is about as feature-ful as I want/need it, although it’s due a few tweaks here and there.

Any advice for aspiring Android devs?